The Mob's IT Department(bloomberg.com)
bloomberg.com
The Mob's IT Department
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-mob-technology-consultants-help-drug-traffickers/
14 comments
I have to counter your detractor(s). Your message is calm, to the point, and thought provoking in an almost disconnected way. If anything I would have a hard time with the measure of professionalism you speak of the situation with. In other words, if anyone is to say you are too callous, let ME clarify: you are not callous enough.
If anyone is stupid enough to get involved with such crimes as their selfish money-making empire, I will disrespect them and their choices for good reason. Leave kids out of it, or disrespect should be the mildest form of punishment to be endured, socially or formally. Try to bargain or reason with someone you care about making bad decisions, I'm all about trying to help friend or family, right up until they gamble with someone else's life.
If anyone is stupid enough to get involved with such crimes as their selfish money-making empire, I will disrespect them and their choices for good reason. Leave kids out of it, or disrespect should be the mildest form of punishment to be endured, socially or formally. Try to bargain or reason with someone you care about making bad decisions, I'm all about trying to help friend or family, right up until they gamble with someone else's life.
My cousin's husband grew up with a few people that ended up a part of Whitey Bulger's operation. He never directly involved, as far as we knew, but he could make things happen.
One time my Aunt visited him and her daughter in Boston, a good 150 miles away for a week or so. On the last night her car was broken into, driver side window smashed and the stereo was stolen. The son-in-law said he would take care of it if they would stay for another couple of days. My Aunt had had enough of the city and didn't want to stay at all so they went back home as planned.
That night, back home, 150 miles away, the car was "broken into" again. This time, the driver window was replaced and a new stereo was installed.
Over the next couple of weeks a total of 8 car stereos randomly appeared overnight in the driveway, on the front steps or in the mailbox.
One time my Aunt visited him and her daughter in Boston, a good 150 miles away for a week or so. On the last night her car was broken into, driver side window smashed and the stereo was stolen. The son-in-law said he would take care of it if they would stay for another couple of days. My Aunt had had enough of the city and didn't want to stay at all so they went back home as planned.
That night, back home, 150 miles away, the car was "broken into" again. This time, the driver window was replaced and a new stereo was installed.
Over the next couple of weeks a total of 8 car stereos randomly appeared overnight in the driveway, on the front steps or in the mailbox.
When he was younger, and long before I was born, my father used to hang out at a bar in Chicago after work. There was another regular there and eventually, after a few weeks, the two of them started up into friendly conversation and became good acquaintances. My father was running a small business at the time and easily joked about the agony of running a business, the other guy never really talked much about what he did.
One day my father came home, and his wife at the time mentioned that a delivery many had just come by and dropped off an age-appropriate gift for their son (my oldest brother) the day before his birthday.
My father had never mentioned where he lived, that he had a family or a son, his son's age, or birthday.
He never went back to that bar again.
One day my father came home, and his wife at the time mentioned that a delivery many had just come by and dropped off an age-appropriate gift for their son (my oldest brother) the day before his birthday.
My father had never mentioned where he lived, that he had a family or a son, his son's age, or birthday.
He never went back to that bar again.
Some people just can't understand what it's like to have a worthless human being in the family. You don't start out thinking they're worthless, out of callousness - they prove it to you, over and over and over again.
I don't think you sound callousness. Life is too short to commit crimes and spend it in prison, or be killed because of those crimes... and worse than that bring your family into it.
You made the right call.
You made the right call.
I know a few things that no one else does, as well as some that others are reluctant to discuss.
A few years ago I dropped a dime to the FBI to request they tap my phone. This led to my iPhone's return less than five minutes after it was stolen.
"Don't lose your iPhone," said the officer, "that's how we're keeping track of you."
I once threatened to murder a Vancouver PD officer when he refused to take my report when I wanted to report a drug informant hit. Hilarity ensued.
For unrelated reasons I am concerned that my days are numbered so tomorrow afternoon Im going to drop by the FBI field station here so I can sing like a bird.
I dont really know but speculate that my uncle died because he decided not to run for office rather than move legislation for Boswell Cotton Corporation. My father's older brother was VP of accounting.
A few years ago I dropped a dime to the FBI to request they tap my phone. This led to my iPhone's return less than five minutes after it was stolen.
"Don't lose your iPhone," said the officer, "that's how we're keeping track of you."
I once threatened to murder a Vancouver PD officer when he refused to take my report when I wanted to report a drug informant hit. Hilarity ensued.
For unrelated reasons I am concerned that my days are numbered so tomorrow afternoon Im going to drop by the FBI field station here so I can sing like a bird.
I dont really know but speculate that my uncle died because he decided not to run for office rather than move legislation for Boswell Cotton Corporation. My father's older brother was VP of accounting.
I was in a situation kind of like this. I was brought on to a Canadian company to make and end to end software system for gambling kiosks. They kept on making odd requests of me like being able to reseed random numbers on units until they found a set they liked (our games were deterministic). IE ones that payed out how they want. Also wanted me to not use encryption for various portions of the system that handled money.
Eventually I got a picture of the business where they were defrauding their investors by winning their own games or through exploiting purposeful holes in the system. Eventually I just delivered them a functioning and secure system. Refused to go down to the Dominican to install it (Since they had considerable pull down there) and walked away. It was really the first large project I had done and walking away hurt me considerably. But it was the right thing to do.
Those guys are in jail now and the investors pulled the plug. So at least I have some vague sense of Schadenfreude over the whole thing.
Unfortunately ethical software developer isn't exactly a winning eye popping line item on the resume.
Eventually I got a picture of the business where they were defrauding their investors by winning their own games or through exploiting purposeful holes in the system. Eventually I just delivered them a functioning and secure system. Refused to go down to the Dominican to install it (Since they had considerable pull down there) and walked away. It was really the first large project I had done and walking away hurt me considerably. But it was the right thing to do.
Those guys are in jail now and the investors pulled the plug. So at least I have some vague sense of Schadenfreude over the whole thing.
Unfortunately ethical software developer isn't exactly a winning eye popping line item on the resume.
I used to work at a steamship line, a competitor to MSC, at a US port office. The port terminals take security very seriously, but some of the steamship lines' offices are a bit lax. It doesn't surprise me at all that they were able to sneak in and install this equipment and malware, although I think social engineering (calling import customer service pretending to be the consignee and scamming them into giving you the pickup numbers) would be more effective.
Fascinating article though, and the story would make a good movie.
Fascinating article though, and the story would make a good movie.
There are distracting writing failures--technical stuff.
The phrase "[he] connected the battery to an antenna" breaks the flow of the story because it leads the reader to the wrong idea, then the reader has to backtrack...
An IRC channel with 100k users in 1996? Look, freenode has 85k users today, spread across 40k channels... Even worse, the Wikipedia page for securax indicates that it was an online community that had newsletter with 90k subscribers.
The phrase "[he] connected the battery to an antenna" breaks the flow of the story because it leads the reader to the wrong idea, then the reader has to backtrack...
An IRC channel with 100k users in 1996? Look, freenode has 85k users today, spread across 40k channels... Even worse, the Wikipedia page for securax indicates that it was an online community that had newsletter with 90k subscribers.
I was a regular at that IRC channel back then (for a long time - when it was run from a member's home pc, on EFNet, and the new channel names later on), and was at several of the meets that came from it. The channel had 10-20 regular at most, few enough that I knew all of them by handle and their real names (but I haven't seen any of them for almost 15 years). The whole 'security' angle was a joke, yes it was fun to root some boxes when a sploit hit bugtraq or attrition, but I don't remember anyone got much further than some DoS 'advisories' (at that time). Already then there was more money in scaremongering than there was in actual work...
The newsletter had many subscribers. The channel itself was much smaller.
This must be the craziest startup story I have ever read...
You complain about VC's but these guys.
TLDR; physical security at second and third-tier European ports is bad.
Bing Image Search.
The ITU's Child Online Protection initiative notifies Google of child pornography links. Google prmptly removes them from its index.
I expect Microsoft is so notified as well but Satya Nadella doesnt remove the links nor cached images, despite the original servers having been dead for years.
I am convinced that kim dotcom's bust gad nothing to do with copyright but that much of the, uh, "digital media" was distributed from his servers; however most is encrypted, but typically with very obvious or easily brute forced passwords.
More or less you start with bing then pay for a premier account with a filesharing service.
There is also "link protection" mostly our of India, which hides the referring page. One can earn decent coin by promoting a popular ptotected link.
Most of those links are found on what should be dead forums but whose servers are still operating.
An easy way to rain on the mob's parade would be to scout around for threads that go on for hundreds of pages.
http://www.warplife.com/jonathan-swift/books/software-proble...
The ITU's Child Online Protection initiative notifies Google of child pornography links. Google prmptly removes them from its index.
I expect Microsoft is so notified as well but Satya Nadella doesnt remove the links nor cached images, despite the original servers having been dead for years.
I am convinced that kim dotcom's bust gad nothing to do with copyright but that much of the, uh, "digital media" was distributed from his servers; however most is encrypted, but typically with very obvious or easily brute forced passwords.
More or less you start with bing then pay for a premier account with a filesharing service.
There is also "link protection" mostly our of India, which hides the referring page. One can earn decent coin by promoting a popular ptotected link.
Most of those links are found on what should be dead forums but whose servers are still operating.
An easy way to rain on the mob's parade would be to scout around for threads that go on for hundreds of pages.
http://www.warplife.com/jonathan-swift/books/software-proble...
Don't ever get involved with organized crime. It will never ... ever ... end up well for you.
^This!
A long time ago, I worked in a computer store and I had a couple of customers whom I suspected were involved in organized crime. They were polite and personable but something about them made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I hated working with them. It was a great day when I found a new job and didn't have to deal with them again.
A long time ago, I worked in a computer store and I had a couple of customers whom I suspected were involved in organized crime. They were polite and personable but something about them made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I hated working with them. It was a great day when I found a new job and didn't have to deal with them again.
Does the law create the criminal by perverting incentives, driving up price due to risk in a market that refuses to go away even when made illegal (see Prohibition)... or are sociopaths simply drawn to any high-risk/high-reward/non-society-cooperative work, becoming criminals?
Or is it a bit of both?
Or is it a bit of both?
It's people who are either too stupid to know better or people that consistently feel they are smarter than everybody else, in either case they'll have a sense of entitlement.
Sounds like all the criminals I've known.
No matter what laws are in place there will be those who exploit others for financial gain.
> They decided the prudent course was to let the whole bizarre incident go and hope Maertens never heard from them again.
I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it. I find it interesting that Van De Moere and Maertens show the same tendency here. A reasonable person would go to the police to report an assault. These two men were likely selected because Adibelli sensed that they could be manipulated.
I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it. I find it interesting that Van De Moere and Maertens show the same tendency here. A reasonable person would go to the police to report an assault. These two men were likely selected because Adibelli sensed that they could be manipulated.
The article makes it sound a lot like they were innocent up until that point, but I'd put good money on them already having some skin in the game.
You can put it down to being non-confrontational but what kind of non-confrontational nerd happily goes straight back into a room where they were previously assaulted?
EDIT: Also it's worth keeping in mind that this is just their version of the story, it might be 100% lies.
You can put it down to being non-confrontational but what kind of non-confrontational nerd happily goes straight back into a room where they were previously assaulted?
EDIT: Also it's worth keeping in mind that this is just their version of the story, it might be 100% lies.
We nerds believe in plausible deniability. And that we can outsmart. Usually we are wrong.
Always three sides to every story. My side, your side and the truth
:-)
:-)
> I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it.
"Standing up" to the mafia is not going to end well for most people.
"Standing up" to the mafia is not going to end well for most people.
I honestly don't think it's limited to IT workers. Some people just aren't confrontational people and would rather make an easy life for themselves.
Plus, you have to only consider the repercussions of being confrontational in certain situations.
Plus, you have to only consider the repercussions of being confrontational in certain situations.
Good people are easy to intimidate. Being raised in eastern Europe I have seen it a lot.
I haven't had problems though - those kinds of people sense I am with the lawful evil alignment.
I haven't had problems though - those kinds of people sense I am with the lawful evil alignment.
"Demons run when a good man goes to war"
That said, predators of all types usually spend time selecting their prey.
Sadly the only way to deal with predators is to prey on them.
A metaphor that I am fond of is that there are Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs. Wolves avoid Sheepdogs. Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog; even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; it's easier for the Wolf to just go and find unguarded Sheep because sometimes the Sheepdog wins.
What I always see left out of this metaphor is mention that a sheepdog feeds on a daily allotment of mutton.
This always gets me thinking about a documentary on the Falklands War that i watched, where at one point they were talking to soldiers that were on the ground on the islands.
One of them mentioned that there was 3 kinds of soldiers.
First was the one that would refuse to leave his foxhole once the shooting started.
Second was the kind that would storm the enemy at every chance.
Third would also storm, but only if it meant that his probable death could save the life of his fellow soldiers (and/or civilians).
His final remark was that the British army needed less of the first two and more of the third.
One of them mentioned that there was 3 kinds of soldiers.
First was the one that would refuse to leave his foxhole once the shooting started.
Second was the kind that would storm the enemy at every chance.
Third would also storm, but only if it meant that his probable death could save the life of his fellow soldiers (and/or civilians).
His final remark was that the British army needed less of the first two and more of the third.
>Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog;even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end;
It is not, it won't
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog
I have seen these guys in action.
It is not, it won't
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog
I have seen these guys in action.
And these...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_Shepherd
I know someone that has four of them. Conversations in the room with the dogs present tend to be very friendly ;)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_Shepherd
I know someone that has four of them. Conversations in the room with the dogs present tend to be very friendly ;)
As the saying goes, there is an exception to every rule.
I was thinking more along these lines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor
I was thinking more along these lines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor
You think that dog can't handle a wolf? That it can't do one of the things it was bred for?
A livestock guard dog that can't hold its own against a wolf would be a very bad guard dog.
A livestock guard dog that can't hold its own against a wolf would be a very bad guard dog.
His function isn't necessarily to defeat the wolf. If he can discourage it or delay it long enough for the shepherd to come, he has done his job.
Well, that very wikipedia says:
> An athletic dog, the Komondor is fast and powerful and will leap at a predator to drive it off or knock it down. It can be used successfully to guard sheep against wolves or bears.
I dunno. Further googling:
> Bred to drive away predators, not hunt them, the powerful Komondor will try to kill any animal that foolishly chooses to fight back.
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inac...
I dunno. It seems they kill coyotes not too infrequently, but it doesn't seem like wolves usually stick around long enough to kill or be killed by a Komondor, indeed. Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back, which I guess is the message of the original aphorism. But if the wolf stayed to fight, the Komondor would fight it to the death one way or another, and their ridiculous looking coat is apparently actually pretty good defense against predator's teeth, and they've got very powerful jaws. At any rate, it's clear the Komondor is a fearsome fighter, despite looking like a stuffed animal to us, heh. And it doesn't protect the herd merely by sounding the alarm, but by being powerful enough to defend against wolves, for sure.
Wait, what's this thread about again?
> An athletic dog, the Komondor is fast and powerful and will leap at a predator to drive it off or knock it down. It can be used successfully to guard sheep against wolves or bears.
I dunno. Further googling:
> Bred to drive away predators, not hunt them, the powerful Komondor will try to kill any animal that foolishly chooses to fight back.
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inac...
I dunno. It seems they kill coyotes not too infrequently, but it doesn't seem like wolves usually stick around long enough to kill or be killed by a Komondor, indeed. Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back, which I guess is the message of the original aphorism. But if the wolf stayed to fight, the Komondor would fight it to the death one way or another, and their ridiculous looking coat is apparently actually pretty good defense against predator's teeth, and they've got very powerful jaws. At any rate, it's clear the Komondor is a fearsome fighter, despite looking like a stuffed animal to us, heh. And it doesn't protect the herd merely by sounding the alarm, but by being powerful enough to defend against wolves, for sure.
Wait, what's this thread about again?
> Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back
... but Liam Neeson!
(for those that don't get it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1601913 )
... but Liam Neeson!
(for those that don't get it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1601913 )
This is a nice witticism but I'm afraid it's not very connected to reality.
I'm pretty non-confrontational, but if someone beat me up in a business meeting, I'd change my cell phone and rat them out to the police as fast possible.
Erm... if it were the mob, I'm not sure changing the cell phone is enough, sounds more like the witness protection program kind of deal. Confrontational or not, I think few know what they'd do in such a situation, and I certainly hope I'll never find out what I'd do.
No, that's just most people in general. There is a lot of difficulty getting people to testify even when the crime has been committed against them. They just want the problems to go away.
> How two technology consultants helped drug traffickers hack the Port of Antwerp
A fascinating read, thanks for sharing.
A fascinating read, thanks for sharing.
As being Dutch I've seen (parts of) this story before. It reminds me a bit of the Silk Road story, as in: who is who, are they indeed victims as they say, or not...
I recently read the "Mocro Mafia"; a Dutch non-fiction book about the 'war' that's still going on in Amsterdam (and Antwerpen too) between two groups of criminals dealing with drugs-import. It's all based on facts (and of course a lot of hearsay) and police-reports, but it reads like a script for a Hollywood-movie. I don't know about an English version, but don't be surprised if it turns up next to the "Heineken Kidnapping"-book.
I recently read the "Mocro Mafia"; a Dutch non-fiction book about the 'war' that's still going on in Amsterdam (and Antwerpen too) between two groups of criminals dealing with drugs-import. It's all based on facts (and of course a lot of hearsay) and police-reports, but it reads like a script for a Hollywood-movie. I don't know about an English version, but don't be surprised if it turns up next to the "Heineken Kidnapping"-book.
> It reminds me a bit of the Silk Road story, as in: who is who, are they indeed victims as they say, or not
I dunno. This sounds more plausible than the Silk Road conspiracy theories.
I dunno. This sounds more plausible than the Silk Road conspiracy theories.
"The sole decoration was a poster of a dozen varieties of mangoes"
That's so cliche. Ha. I can imagine that conversation "Our front is a fruit import/export legitimate business. We should hang up some posters of fruit. That will make it totally legit looking."
That's so cliche. Ha. I can imagine that conversation "Our front is a fruit import/export legitimate business. We should hang up some posters of fruit. That will make it totally legit looking."
When I was a teenager, several of my friends and I went to several businesses in our neighborhood to inquire about jobs. One place was "Folino Bros. Fruits & Vegetables", as I remember, it was a wholesale market. But, on the inside, we didn't see many fruits or vegetables. It was arid, dark and dusty with very little inventory. When we asked about jobs, we were led to a back room where this burly man wearing a three piece suit and a fedora was smoking a cigar, he explained to us that they weren't currently hiring then gave each of us an apple and thanked us for the interest.
When we walked away, we waited until long after we were out of earshot and we all stopped and looked at each other and confirmed that we were all wondering the same thing. "Is that a mafia front?"
When we walked away, we waited until long after we were out of earshot and we all stopped and looked at each other and confirmed that we were all wondering the same thing. "Is that a mafia front?"
Well, the guy had apples. Must have been legit!
I wonder if it was someone's "clever" way of referencing the man with the mustache.
sidenote: what kind of organization does bloomberg.com have going on? this is under '/graphics/'?
It looks like "graphics" is their term/brand for articles that make essential use of "rich"/interactive content.
If I had to take a wild guess, the author/editor of the article might've wanted some fancy stuff (like the header videos and scroll behavior, for instance) and it was easiest to do that on this platform.
If I had to take a wild guess, the author/editor of the article might've wanted some fancy stuff (like the header videos and scroll behavior, for instance) and it was easiest to do that on this platform.
> If I had to take a wild guess, the author/editor of the article might've wanted some fancy stuff (like the header videos and scroll behavior, for instance) and it was easiest to do that on this platform.
Yup. We set up a system for publishing git repos with static html/css/js to /graphics for our interactive charts.
When the features desk for the new site started up a few months ago it was much easier for them to piggyback on our stack.
Yup. We set up a system for publishing git repos with static html/css/js to /graphics for our interactive charts.
When the features desk for the new site started up a few months ago it was much easier for them to piggyback on our stack.
Traditionally at newspapers, the 'graphics desk' handled any charts or data viz.
Many journalism organizations (including bloomberg and NYT) have kept the nomenclature for their special feature and 'interactives' groups who do pieces like this in non-traditional layouts with custom art and interactivity.
Many journalism organizations (including bloomberg and NYT) have kept the nomenclature for their special feature and 'interactives' groups who do pieces like this in non-traditional layouts with custom art and interactivity.
I wonder if they (or other drug smugglers) used exploits that the NSA was aware of but chose to leave open?
Probably not. Few places have strong IT security as a core value of their business.
Yes, this is true, but I imagine the NSA to have more interest in this sort of target than in the general case (owning logistics networks seems very useful).
They were using metasploit according to the article, so I doubt that they were sniffing out 0days, meaning that "everyone" knew of the exploits, not just the NSA.
Secondly, if you're trying to state that the NSA specifically knew that these specific companies were open to these specific exploits, but chose not to do anything, then that's a stretch. Were the NSA doing it's job of helping to secure networks, it would only be attempting to secure domestic networks. I doubt very much they would drop an email to a foreign company stating that they found their network security to be lacking.
Secondly, if you're trying to state that the NSA specifically knew that these specific companies were open to these specific exploits, but chose not to do anything, then that's a stretch. Were the NSA doing it's job of helping to secure networks, it would only be attempting to secure domestic networks. I doubt very much they would drop an email to a foreign company stating that they found their network security to be lacking.
Well, I imagine there's a lot of commonality between the Dutch and American logistics software stack. I would hope that securing America's ports falls within the NSA's purview.
I could of course be wrong, but hey. Obviously you're right that the technical level of expertise is a little below this level in this case anyway, but I just wanted to emphasize that this is the sort of societal impact of having a policy of subverting network security.
I could of course be wrong, but hey. Obviously you're right that the technical level of expertise is a little below this level in this case anyway, but I just wanted to emphasize that this is the sort of societal impact of having a policy of subverting network security.
> Well, I imagine there's a lot of commonality between the Dutch and American logistics software stack. I would hope that securing America's ports falls within the NSA's purview.
If the Dutch logistics companies were running unpatched versions of Windows (for example) that seems more like an operations failure than anything else. Not necessarily something that is a broken part of the "stack."
If the Dutch logistics companies were running unpatched versions of Windows (for example) that seems more like an operations failure than anything else. Not necessarily something that is a broken part of the "stack."
I refused the job in the politest way possible and got on with my life and I cut that whole branch of the family tree out of my life.
When I was a kid he'd always show off how much money he had, in the end it cost him the life of his son (killed by another mobster) and his family. I hope the money was worth it to him but I doubt it.
edit: so, I just received a message via email about my 'callousness' with this comment, let me clarify: if you push your wife, son, daughter into crime, get your son killed and attempt to recruit other family members into your crime empire then the world is (much) better off without you.