August 17, 2002

10:50 AM

The FBI on hacking vs. The RussiansThat is crazy! 100 hundred years for hacking computers when there are people that actually hurt other people - maliciously...rapists, murderers, US politicians... "If Russian hackers can be convicted on evidence obtained by the Americans through hacking, it means the U.S. secret services may use further illegal means of obtaining information in Russia and in other countries," an FSB spokesman told Interfax on Thursday. Not only that, but the seriously...can this sort of thing just slide by?
posted by Kodel (2 comments total)

Don't be an apologist for criminals. Are you suggesting crimes are minor simply because a computer was involved? I suppose that isn't your "real" money over at Paypal, then. Better not be. They were not just harmless hackers; they were engaged in:
* theft of sensitive data
* identity theft
* extortion
* fraud

Judging by the FBI's interest, this had been going on for some time, too. It's only barely conceivable that they were not working for/with Russian mafia.

Here's an article about the sting, and Gorshkov's conviction. The Russians have been objecting to the American investigation and arrest since the day it happened; they claim Gorshkov and Ivanov were security consultants, white-hat crackers who were informing American companies of problems they found. (In fact, it sounds to me like a shakedown.) According to this article, Gorshkov has in fact been sentenced -- not to 100 years (presumably if the 20 counts were to be served consecutively) but 10.
posted by dhartung at 11:30 AM on August 17, 2002

It just seems that what the FBI did was not correct for hacking into the Russian server; hacking for hacking. Perhaps there might be some connection with the Russian mafia. Man, it is different from all over, it seems!
posted by Kodel at 12:08 PM on August 17, 2002