From The Blog
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ConnectWise Slash and Grab Flaw Once Again Shows the Value of Input Validation We talk to Huntress About its Impact
Written by Sean KalinichAlthough the news of the infamous ConnectWise flaw which allowed for the creation of admin accounts is a bit cold, it still is one that…Written on Tuesday, 19 March 2024 12:44 in Security Talk Read 710 times Read more...
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Social Manipulation as a Service – When the Bots on Twitter get their Check marks
Written by Sean KalinichWhen I started DecryptedTech it was to counter all the crap marketing I saw from component makers. I wanted to prove people with a clean…Written on Monday, 04 March 2024 16:17 in Editorials Read 1587 times Read more...
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To Release or not to Release a PoC or OST That is the Question
Written by Sean KalinichThere is (and always has been) a debate about the ethics and impact of the release of Proof-of-Concept Exploit for an identified vulnerability and Open-Source…Written on Monday, 26 February 2024 13:05 in Security Talk Read 1122 times Read more...
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There was an Important Lesson Learned in the LockBit Takedown and it was Not About Threat Groups
Written by Sean KalinichIn what could be called a fantastic move, global law enforcement agencies attacked and took down LockBit’s infrastructure. The day of the event was filled…Written on Thursday, 22 February 2024 12:20 in Security Talk Read 1096 times Read more...
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NetSPI’s Offensive Security Offering Leverages Subject Matter Experts to Enhance Pen Testing
Written by Sean KalinichBlack Hat 2023 Las Vegas. The term offensive security has always been an interesting one for me. On the surface is brings to mind reaching…Written on Tuesday, 12 September 2023 17:05 in Security Talk Read 2140 times Read more...
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Black Kite Looks to Offer a Better View of Risk in a Rapidly Changing Threat Landscape
Written by Sean KalinichBlack Hat 2023 – Las Vegas. Risk is an interesting subject and has many different meanings to many different people. For the most part Risk…Written on Tuesday, 12 September 2023 14:56 in Security Talk Read 1867 times Read more...
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Microsoft Finally Reveals how they Believe a Consumer Signing Key was Stollen
Written by Sean KalinichIn May of 2023 a few sensitive accounts reported to Microsoft that their environments appeared to be compromised. Due to the nature of these accounts,…Written on Thursday, 07 September 2023 14:40 in Security Talk Read 2138 times Read more...
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Mandiant Releases a Detailed Look at the Campaign Targeting Barracuda Email Security Gateways, I Take a Look at What this all Might Mean
Written by Sean KalinichThe recent attack that leveraged a 0-Day vulnerability to compromise a number of Barracuda Email Security Gateway appliances (physical and virtual, but not cloud) was…Written on Wednesday, 30 August 2023 16:09 in Security Talk Read 2107 times Read more...
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Threat Groups Return to Targeting Developers in Recent Software Supply Chain Attacks
Written by Sean KalinichThere is a topic of conversation that really needs to be talked about in the open. It is the danger of developer systems (personal and…Written on Wednesday, 30 August 2023 13:29 in Security Talk Read 1901 times Read more...
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Displaying items by tag: MPAA
The US Attorney Handling the Megaupload Case, Neil MacBride, Worked At the BSA Until His Appointment in 2009...
Well, well, well, it seems the plot thickens as things unravel in the case against Megaupload. This morning we noticed a post on Megaupload founder, Kim Dotcom’s Twitter feed asking if there was any truth to the claim that US District Attorney Neil MacBride was still employed by a lobbying agency within one year of his appointment. We took a look and found something rather interesting which could indicate a little bit of bias in the way MacBride is dealing with the case and also may lend a little validation to Dotcom’s claims that the whole case was cooked up by the copyright Lobby.
Kim Dotcom Promises A New Megaupload Will Arise , Stonger, Safer and More Secure...
The art of warfare has evolved over the centuries as each side (attacking and defending) has learned lessons from each battle. When towns were encircled by walls attackers developed methods for bringing them down or simply starving them out. From these tools and techniques the defenders learned to ensure that they could be self-sustaining by maintaining a water and food supply; you get the picture. The same thing has happened with just about any situation where there are two sides to the fight and it certainly is happening in the fight between Megaupload and the US Copyright Lobby. After losing their fight to put exceptionally draconian laws in place such as SOPA and PIPA the copyright industry used their influence to take out possibly the largest file sharing service on the Internet; Megaupload. There was no real evidence to support their attack on a site they (the MPAA and RIAA) once praised, instead it was a clear cut campaign to bankrupt the company and to seriously injure anyone involved with them (including the host and users of Megaupload servers).
No more IMAGiNE movies
Four members of the popular release group IMAGiNE were arrested earlier this year, and this week the last of them, Jeramiah Perkins, admitted that he was breaking copyright law. They were all found guilty and now face a sentence of 5 years in prison, along with $250,000 fine. Their arrests came after they were reported by the MPAA to the feds and after they stopped publishing new movies in September it was pretty obvious that something went wrong. Possibly the main reason that the group was caught is their private BitTorrent tracker, UnleashTheNet. After its launch it became very popular very quickly and probably led to the discovery of the founders true identity
New Zeland Courts Release Funds to Kim Dotcom For A Proper Defense
Late last night there was an interesting tweet from the flamboyant owner of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom. The tweet announced in excited tones: “BREAKING NEWS: The High Court just ruled the release of restrained assets to cover our legal fees in New Zealand.” This is a major victor for the besieged Dotcom and Megaupload. It means that the High Courts in New Zealand are seeing the same thing that many legal experts are seeing; the US with the backing of Hollywood has been trying to prevent Dotcom and Megaupload from offering a proper defense.
Kim Dotcom to bring Megaupload back
There was a lot of activity today on Kim Dotcom’s, the famous Megaupload owner, Twitter feed. Dotcom revealed in series of announcements that “We are building a massive global network, All non-US hosters will be able to connect servers & bandwidth. Get ready. ” and he didn’t forget to put in a word about legal services “They abused the wrong guy. I am going to turn this world upside down. Power to the people. Bye bye Echelon. Hello Freedom.“. After he told us in July that Megaupload will be back bigger, better, faster, free of charge and shielded from attacks, today he asked for “Developers of up/download & file managers, email & fax tools, VOIP & video apps“ to email him in case they are interested in getting early API access.
MPPA budget cut in half
The latest IRS tax filling for 2010 shows that the MPAA's revenue has been falling for a few years and it continues to do so. Over the last 3 years their anti-piracy budget has been reduced from $92.8 million to $49.6 million. This is a result of major Hollywood studios lowering MPAA funding. Membership dues precipitated from $84.7 million to $41.5 million, making it more than 50% decline in the same period.
Joel Tenenbaum 675,000 Dollar Fine Upheld in Latest Round With The RIAA
Joel Tenenbaum, the guys who was hit with a $675,000 bill for sharing 30 songs though the Kazaa network has had a major setback (again). After being found guilty of infringement back in 2009 the courts ruled that he owed the RIAA (Recording Industry Artists of America) cartel $22,500 per track which amounted to 675,000 in damages. We have talked about the interesting math that the MPAA and RIAA use (which is starting to trickle over into other areas), but still could not find out how they arrived at this figure for their original request for “statutory damages”.
The US Government Is Going After Mobile App Sites Now
Two days ago, (8-20-2012) we highlighted a new push by the copyright industry to stomp out piracy. It was something that we noticed with recent filings from the MPAA, RIAA and other companies that are interested in maintaining their copyright monopolies around the globe. This was the habit of adding in the words fraud, conspiracy, and anything that can make the case a larger issue and allow for asset seizure and harsher penalties against sites that the entertainment industry has targeted for removal. All of this started with the Megaupload case, which was the apparent test bed for this new push.
The Entertainment and Software Industry Opens A New Campaign Against File and Link Sharing
Although we have covered many aspects of the ridiculous charges and case against Megaupload and its founder we have only talked about how it could happen in minor detail. However, bolstered on the back of the success at using these tactics the entertainment industry has shifted its focus and is pushing these out across the globe to bring down as many sites as they can. It does not appear to matter if the sites in question are actually guilty of copyright infringement or even if they host any content. All that matters is that they want to prove conspiracy and when possible fraud and/or money laundering.
The Copyright Industry Has A Long History Of Abuse And It Will Only Get Worse
With the introduction of the Internet as a consumer product the world was changed forever. I am not just talking about new levels of communication and new revenue streams for companies that burst onto the scene, but the way that files were moved back and forth between systems. Although the sharing of applications, music and files was happening long before the internet existed this new medium made things easier to pass these files between users. The first of the sharing sites started to show up and the rest was history.