Germans hacked

[nightmarex]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25825784 This maybe old news but it's the first I have heard of it. Does anyone have more info on this? I will assume a Windows exploit because there isn't a way in hell there are that many Linux users in Germany.

[rbmorse]

I thought the Munich(?) Muni Government went all Linux a few years ago. Whoever it was did a good job of making the transition work and were quite positive of the outcome.

[droste]

I'm pretty sure it's windows malware. They haven't shared much details but they think that about 8million users got their email account data stolen [1]. With about 80million people in germany this is about 10% which would be way to much for linux users.
They also say that these accounts were collected over years so there's a chance that some data is outdated.

[1] http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldu...u-2093423.html

[brosis]

I'm pretty sure it's windows malware. They haven't shared much details but they think that about 8million users got their email account data stolen [1]. With about 80million people in germany this is about 10% which would be way to much for linux users.
They also say that these accounts were collected over years so there's a chance that some data is outdated.

[1] http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldu...u-2093423.html

This is nothing, but BSI spreading FUD and harvesting emails+IP connections.
If email DB with md5+salt/whatever would be stolen, then it would be just one provider as they all have own DBs.
Unless they periodically send their DBs together, say to BSI, which makes no sense.

[droste]

This is nothing, but BSI spreading FUD and harvesting emails+IP connections.
If email DB with md5+salt/whatever would be stolen, then it would be just one provider as they all have own DBs.
Unless they periodically send their DBs together, say to BSI, which makes no sense.

I fail to see the advantage of having the connection to an email address and the current IP the user has (the IP for that user changes at least 1 time every 24h for most of the users in germany).
It would be way easier to monitor the network traffic to have this connection.
Also in an update they said it's actually email+password combinations for different services (with passwords in cleartext).

[brosis]

I fail to see the advantage of having the connection to an email address and the current IP the user has (the IP for that user changes at least 1 time every 24h for most of the users in germany).
It would be way easier to monitor the network traffic to have this connection.
Also in an update they said it's actually email+password combinations for different services (with passwords in cleartext).

For first part of your message, you never know. Perhaps collection is a requirement for some operation they currently have.
For second part, if its not BSI datamining, then its a usual windows garbage. Worms that steal Fx passwords, grep text and registry for emails and contacts are known since forever. Anyone using secure OS is safe, and its per-user not per-company case, so no ground to claim Germany is hacked
Anyone using windows has consciously agreed upon being pwned.

[revabhardwaj]

Thanks for share this post.