Regin, new computer spying bug, discovered by Symantec

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

A leading computer security company says it has discovered one of the most sophisticated pieces of malicious software ever seen.

Symantec says the bug, named Regin, was probably created by a government and has been used for six years against a range of targets around the world.

Once installed on a computer, it can do things like capture screenshots, steal passwords or recover deleted files.

Experts say computers in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Ireland have been hit most.


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30171614

[Skeowes28]

1. Wow

Regin is a racist word spelled backwards

[enlightenment]

2. No, it is not.

Unless you are spelling challenged.

[progree]

7. Here's Regin spelled backwards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger



Just to the south of Niger is Nigeria -- pretty racist too, I guess.

[freshwest]

10. No, it's phonetic for Ronny Ray-gen. RIH, Raygun!

[secondvariety]

3. Wonder why

Ireland was targeted.

[TexasProgresive]

4. It used to be that a lot of companies exported data processing to Ireland.

[secondvariety]

6. Well,

they should transcribe everything in Gaelic. That would slow the hackers down.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

5. Steal the Jameson recipe? Or possibly Guiness.

[DeSwiss]

11. !

[valerief]

14. I LOVE Joan Crawford doggie. I don't know what everyone doesn't draw eyebrows on their

light-colored, short-haired doggies.

[cprise]

8. Here is a way to protect yourself

Last edited Tue Nov 25, 2014, 11:07 PM - Edit history (1)

https://wiki.qubes-os.org/

It requires some technical skill and patience, but it does raise the barrier to attack considerably. Qubes is probably the first desktop OS to credibly claim "strong security".

[freshwest]

9. Eeek! Tried it and Firefox said it is 'untrusted.' Maybe Google doesn't like them.

[cprise]

15. No, I typed the link incorrectly...

Correct one is https://wiki.qubes-os.org . Their https cetificate starts with 'wiki' not 'www', and Firefox does not like that mismatch with the address I first posted.

[freshwest]

16. Yes, Firefox loves it now. Thanks for reposting the link.

But it does not go with my OS. Sigh...

[cprise]

17. You can run either Linux or Windows under it

IOW, Windows gets demoted to 'child' status. Still, it works...

[freshwest]

18. I've heard good things about Linux. What happens to Mac OSX files if converted to Linux?

I've got quite a few terrabytes of files I just refuse to give up. TIA, if you know.

[cprise]

19. OSX doesn't run inside a virtual machine

Not unless you use the OSX server edition, or undergo a lot of painful hacks. Its basically unsupported. Mac hardware also isn't recommended and there is a list of specific recommended computer systems that are considered compatible.

BTW, I came to Qubes from a Macbook. Its a compromise of some functionality in return for greater security. Things that don't work at this stage: 3D games and some internal Bluetooth cards.

[freshwest]

20. Thanks for the info. Did you ever use Boot Camp? I'm thinking I could get a larger hard drive and

partition it to run two operating systems on my Mac.

Boot Camp was designed to let an iMac run Windows and OSX, turn off one and 'boot' to the other.

That might let me do this.

[DeSwiss]

12. ''...was probably created by a government....''

Oh go on, don't be bashful. We all know who you're talking about. The question is, why are you letting us know, now? I mean, it's been six years, right? And used in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Ireland -- which means we're all supposed to be looking over there.

- Prestidigitation as governance. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3......



K&R

[Recursion]

21. Russia, SA, and Ireland says Israel to me

A lot of the security leadership in Israel is from former Soviet states, Saudi Arabia is obvious, and there was an Ireland/Palestine nexus for a long time.

[jakeXT]

13. Countries

http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/regin-top-tier-espionage-tool-enables-stealthy-surveillance