Cisco security researchers disable big distributor of ransomware

reuters.com

34 points·uptown··6 comments

My question is, if they located the servers, do they have the private keys for those affected? And will they open a system to help those people?

A friend of my mom's, a person who is not computer-savvy at all, lost the photos of her recently-deceased mother to this malware. She couldn't pay the ransom.

Why do companies like Cisco carry out this type of work ? Do they do this out of the goodness of their hearts ?

It's in the interest of the industry to keep the internetworks as free of malware, scams, blackmail, etc. as possible in order to keep the confidence of an open system. This is why Cisco, Google, Microsoft, fsecure, etc. are out there contributing to making the internetworks more secure from criminal activity. (note this is different from the eff agenda, which is on a different plane) this is more commercial concern versus rights concerns, but equally valid.

Cisco sells security products and services to enterprise customers; this is essentially marketing.

1. because somebody there wants to solve a challenge

2. because somebody there wants to fix a problem

3. because somebody there wants to help other people

4. because somebody there wants to wave their org's flag everywhere this good news goes

5. because somebody there wants to make the world a better place

I love reading these stories. Hat tip to the faceless white hat

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