Now to point a stern finger...

Am I getting warm?

  • Maybe, maybe not.

    Votes: 43 37.1%
  • Newb.

    Votes: 15 12.9%
  • *sizzle*

    Votes: 58 50.0%

  • Total voters
    116
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Originally posted by G1ZM0
It's not like there's an FBI strike team waiting to raid your house at the drop of a hat.
Actually, a search warrant is easy to get for the FBI, especially when there is hard evidence. And once they have that warrant, they WILL be waiting outside the person's home, ready to raid, given the word.
 
I find it infinitely hilarious the way everyone here is spouting about the legality of looking at the source code and copyright protection.

Ill bet all the $$ I have that most of those people have copyrighted music, movies, or games on their own hard drives that they did not "purchase"...
 
FYI.

The Computer Abuse and Fraud Act (47 USC 1030), provides that the maximum penalty for one instance of hacking is five-years and a fine.

For the first time offender, a minimum of six-months in prison. For repeat offenders it's 10-years and a fine. Fines can range from up to $250,000.

If you downloaded the code, you might be in breach of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (covering online copyright infringement) which can carry a maximum criminal penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

Oh, and the FBI work with many other law enforcement agencies in other countries (resulting in similar penalties.)
 
Originally posted by madCoder
Actually, a search warrant is easy to get for the FBI, especially when there is hard evidence. And once they have that warrant, they WILL be waiting outside the person's home, ready to raid, given the word.

I was refering to the part where he said.

Originally posted by Pjort
With nicknames on IRC and especially if they are online, you can track down a physical address of a person in minutes and raid that house within 15 minutes or so.

I'm not disputing the fact that they can get the warrants. It's the time frame. I would think it's more like days or weeks instead of minutes.

I'm putting my money on no arrests or searches.

I'll be watching, same bat time , same bat station.
 
Funny guys, really funny. Nice story was great. Back to reality thanks :D
 
Chance of this thread being true: 3%
Chance of one user creating almost all of the names in this topic and having fun with themself in the meanwhile: 52%
Chance of this being a prank: 45%
Chance of this post being more BS than this thread: 0%

It adds up. Something has to be right.
 
this goes a WHOLE lot deeper than you'd think I'd say
I'm gonna quote a friend of mine (no names though)

I have a friend that is an artist at Valve working on HL2. Yesterday afternoon I was looking for him online to confirm if this was really a code leak. He came on much later in the day than I expected and from home not work. The FBI siezed all of Valve's PCs yesterday and is going through with an investigation.

yeah...it gets deep...
 
Hackers to Face Tougher Sentences


By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, October 2, 2003; 4:24 PM

Convicted hackers and virus writers soon will face significantly harsher penalties under new guidelines that dictate how the government punishes computer crimes.

Starting in November, federal judges will begin handing out the expanded penalties, which were developed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Congress ordered the changes last year, saying that sentences for convicted computer criminals should reflect the seriousness of their crimes.

"The increases in penalties are a reflection of the fact that these offenses are not just fun and games, that there are real world consequences for potentially devastating computer hacking and virus cases," said John G. Malcolm, deputy assistant attorney general and head of the U.S. Justice Department's computer crimes section. "Thus far, the penalties have not been commensurate with the harm that these hacking cases have caused to real victims."

There are multiple factors that a judge depends on to determine whether to send someone to prison and for how long, but most maximum prison sentences handed down for computer crime range from one year to 10 years. Hackers whose exploits result in injury or death -- if they disable emergency response networks or destroy electronic medical records, for example -- face 20 years to life in prison.

Hackers will face up to a 25 percent increase in their sentences if they hijack e-mail accounts or steal personal data -- including financial and medical records and digital photographs. Convicted virus and worm authors face a 50 percent increase.

Sentences also will increase by 50 percent for hackers who share stolen personal data with anyone. The sentences will double if the information is posted on the Internet. More than half of the sentences handed out under federal computer crime laws would be lengthened by this change alone, according to a Sentencing Commission report released in April.

Jail time also will double for hackers who break into government and military computers or networks tied to the power grid or telecommunications network.

Hackers who electronically break into bank accounts can be sentenced based on how much money is in the account, even if they don't take any of it. Under the new guidelines, however, judges can tack on a 50 percent increase to the sentence if the hacker did steal money.

Prosecutors traditionally had to show that computer criminals caused at least $5,000 in actual losses to win a conviction. The new guidelines let victims tally financial loss based on the costs of restoring data, fixing security holes, conducting damage assessments and lost revenue.

"Some computer crimes are more serious than others, and these new guidelines reflect that critical infrastructures need to be protected and that invasions of privacy need to be treated as seriously as invasions of our pocketbooks," said Mark Rasch, former director of the Justice Department's computer crimes division and chief security counsel for Solutionary Inc., an Internet security company in Tysons Corner, Va.

Kevin Mitnick, a well known former hacker who spent almost six years in prison, said he doubts the increased penalties would deter hackers.

"The person who's carrying out the act doesn't think about the consequences, and certainly doesn't think they're going to get caught," Mitnick said. "I really can't see people researching what the penalties are before they do something."

The new guidelines will not apply to sentences handed out or prosecutions underway before Nov. 1. This includes the high-profile case of Adrian Lamo, the 22-year-old computer hacker who stands accused of infiltrating and damaging the New York Times Co.'s source list and computer network.

In addition, the guidelines generally will not apply to juveniles, who normally are charged in state courts. In one notable exception, the government last week charged a North Carolina youth as an adult for releasing a version of the Blaster worm.

Most computer criminals are well educated, have little or no criminal history, commit their crimes on the job and often are seeking financial gain, according to Sentencing Commission documents. Of the 116 federal computer crime convictions in 2001 and 2002, about half involved disgruntled workers who used their knowledge to steal from or to discredit their former employers.

Jennifer Granick, an attorney who represents one of those criminals, said that they are unfairly singled out for tougher sentences than other white-collar perpetrators.

"In most cases, the use of a computer is the trigger for prosecution or for greater sentencing, because so many upward adjustments apply once a computer is involved in the case," said Granick, director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society.

Her client is Bret McDanel, a 30-year-old California man sentenced in March to 16 months in prison for revealing sensitive security information about his former employer's computer network. Federal prosecutors said McDanel, who worked as a computer security staffer for the now-defunct Tornado Development Inc., sent the information to Tornado's 5,000 customers in September 2000, crashing the company's server.

McDanel would have faced two years in jail under the new sentencing guidelines, said Granick, who argued that it is difficult to place a real dollar loss on computer crimes so judges typically impose harsher sentences than necessary.

Granick also said prosecutors could manipulate the damage amount to appear much larger than it really is, giving the government an advantage in plea bargaining.

Malcolm, the Justice Department's computer crimes chief, said that the department does not give prosecutors suggestions on determining damage amounts, and that prosecutors pursue plea bargain negotiations on a case-by-case basis.

Internet security expert Rasch said that the number of computer-related prosecutions could rise as federal prosecutors try to tie them into otherwise unrelated crimes. He said this is especially possible in light of a recent memo from Attorney General John Ashcroft urging prosecutors to seek more convictions and stronger sentences based on the most serious charges they can find.

"We could soon end up seeing a greater number of ordinary crimes prosecuted as computer crime in an effort to get more leverage for a plea, just because somehow, somewhere there's a computer involved," Rasch said.

Malcolm said this is unlikely.

"In your run-of-the-mill cases where the computer is only a tangential part of the crime, there are not going to be significant enhancements," he said.

If there is an increase, he added, it is because "whether they're drug dealers, embezzlers, hackers or software pirates... people who commit crimes use computers more than they used to."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35261-2003Oct2.html
 
Ruroni is like, the ultimate manipulator of minds, he is the master negotiator, he has always had that gift since ive known him, its creepy. People open up to him like facking Barbra Walters.
 
Originally posted by skaytorre
im not very up to date on law but i do have pretty good knowledge of computers and isnt it a federal crime to do what, according to valve, they did? Or is it too hard to charge them with something because it was partially valves fault ( for not having ran Windows Update which had a fix for the Outlook Express exploit ).

So you are saying that if I happen to leave my Ferarri unlocked on the street and you drive away in it, you didn't actually steal it?

Even if Valve had the source code open on an open ftp server, it still clearly states it is copyrighted material and that means if you take it, you steal it.
 
Originally posted by Sacha
Chance of this thread being true: 3%
Chance of one user creating almost all of the names in this topic and having fun with themself in the meanwhile: 52%
Chance of this being a prank: 45%
Chance of this post being more BS than this thread: 0%

It adds up. Something has to be right.


*sigh*

I suppose people dont read from page 1 to the end before they post. So, I will summarize, to please everyone. And stop with all the late "its a prank!!!" stuff, its getting really lame and annoying.

---
Guys, quite simply, some of it is true, some of it isnt. Everyone was asking for info, hell I was too. When everyone first heard of the leak, there was chaos. I was trying to get people from spreading the code myself infact. Everyone was pointing at *****, and cursing them. So then, (i know by a longshot in most people's minds), I recognized, that a few *****s where on a network I used to frequent maybe 4 months ago. Thing is, the people on this network are very capable people. So it was just a big sign pointing me there. I get there, and maybe 30 mins later, t0y joins. I'm like :OOOO. "It must be true". So, I check on a clan member, EyeReesh, because I have spoken to him a few times, months ago. So, I talk to him, he trys to blow me off, then when I mention SourceX, he simply rattles off he doesnt know anything about Source, his computer is too dated to run it, etc, before I even ask.

So later, he changed his name to dirtysolicitor1, and I almost lost my mind. Simply because thats the name of the first site hosting the HL source. First pics and everything. And t0y was under his site, so obviously truth was in that network.

I come here, post my stuff, and people are skeptical as hell. For one, my first post was gold. That is proof imho, that a few ***** members are involved to the point that they know who leaked it. Many of the ***** members are just pure idiots though.

And yes, I did talk to someone, and yes, I do feel that I could trust that person, to an extent. Trust only goes so far. I was sent around, and looked around, idling under different nicks. And saw some things, and arguing. Plenty of things.

But what do I know? That many tried to lie to me, to make my posts seem so rediculous, that I didnt even talk to them. Many kept pm'n me in IRC, "you will never know who did it", etc. And many cursing PMs. So yeah, there is some involvement, and that first post brushed alot of people VERY close. Like, "hey, this mother ****er knows a little too much". I know this all is hard to believe, and yes some of what was posted is untrue, but all I could do was post it, I was tired of the naggin.
-----

To summarize what we know, if you do believe that im not 'pranking' you:

1. Valve has/had a box on the network that is unfirewalled. This box was probably put on the network late, and someone scanned it. As Gabe said, they were getting many attacks on them.

2. This problem spread over the network. And the person or people, found Gabe's and bugged it to hell. Gabe mentioned a problem with his mouse clicks, crashing programs, etc. Some rootkits, etc, mess with the system that way. And I know that many of the rootkits in the network I frequent did that. You have a gang of people who are capable of doing this. Many of them happy that Valve got what they got.

3. ***** involvement: There was obviously some involvement. You arent the first to host the source for no reason. It was deep enough that most of the members didnt know shit, just that they for some reason had source. Im gonna go on the limb and say that most of them are just script kiddies, although a few are actually talented enough to be capable of something like this.

-----

Other than that, there isnt anything you can put proof on. I already know there are gonna be more "ITS A HOAX" posts. Simply because most just skim a few pages and tell what they got to say.

I didnt post my info for attention. I posted it because I wanted to point everyone in the proper direction. And I think if you take a second to add things up, that it is the proper direction. Its just a matter of putting the blame on someone, which is very hard to do, and people are very capable of lying, which I already said like in page 8 or something. Yet, the complaints still come.

Now, putting all the other posts aside besides my first post, and this post, what is there to argue? Valid points please.

Keep it civil. :\
 
Originally posted by G1ZM0
Yeah that might work OK on TV, but in the real world there are laws that require warrants. It's not like there's an FBI strike team waiting to raid your house at the drop of a hat.

Of course they would get a search warrant first.

It is not the first time FIB or police would raid someone looking for evidence on computers. It has happened many times before, including international law enforcement cooperation like over a year ago in the lovebug(?) virus where they police in Taiwan arrested and searched the writers home in no time after they knew who it was.
 
Ruroni, I read every page, every comment on this thread, i was a believer in the first half, but it started to get really sus.
I beleive the three points you posted as they are obvious and everyone knows about it. But you say you had involvement, talking with valve etc.. which I do not believe at all. So if that's what you mean then I believe you, haha. I believe it was a prank, I agree :D
 
"But you say you had involvement, talking with valve etc.. which I do not believe at all."

No such thing, I think you misread one of my posts. I would never say anything like that.
 
But the posted logs ... some guys actually being with Gabe on the phone and things like that, that is obvioulsy not true -> prank.
 
ive read all 34 pages... holy ****in shit guys. wow.
its like a massive conspiracy! literally.
 
Ruroni....

I appreciate your attempts at finding the truth of this base form of online theft, but aside from informing VALVe directly, you should not have posted anything else.

By posting your copies of chat log's you have alerted the would be criminals to possible knowledge of their identities (if this turns out to be accurate). These perps will now torch their hardrives to remove any incriminating evidence and law enforcement will have lost their element of surprise.

It's not just the HL2 source code they would be concerned with but what other break-in's this group could be responsible for, if they have the huge bot army you claim they have.

Basically you should have kept your mouth shut about things that at this point are nothing but idle gossip and heresay, and left the real detective work to the professionals. The truth will come out in the end, and that should be enough satisfaction for you and the rest of us.

Again I think you did a fine job at trying to get to the truth of this matter (this is not a flame) but aside from reporting your suspicions to VALVe you should have remained quiet.
 
Originally posted by Helstrom
Ruroni....

I appreciate your attempts at finding the truth of this base form of online theft, but aside from informing VALVe directly, you should not have posted anything else.

By posting your copies of chat log's you have alerted the would be criminals to possible knowledge of their identities (if this turns out to be accurate). These perps will now torch their hardrives to remove any incriminating evidence and law enforcement will have lost their element of surprise.

It's not just the HL2 source code they would be concerned with but what other break-in's this group could be responsible for, if they have the huge bot army you claim they have.

Basically you should have kept your mouth shut about things that at this point are nothing but idle gossip and heresay, and left the real detective work to the professionals. The truth will come out in the end, and that should be enough satisfaction for you and the rest of us.

Again I think you did a fine job at trying to get to the truth of this matter (this is not a flame) but aside from reporting your suspicions to VALVe you should have remained quiet.

Couldent of said it better myself.. pitty Rur made it public
 
What a ridiculous hoax - the only thing sadder than this are the dolts who believe it

Sheesh, mister wannabe investigator, you're so full of [beep] even Chanel No 5 won't kill the smell. What is it now? Gabe Newell calling one of the possible suspects on the phone and chatting with him about the details of the investigation? Jeesus, that's rich. The ONLY question is - are you deliberately trying to pull of this lame and very unconvincing hoax, or are YOU being hoaxed and in your teeny excitement, while peeing your pants in the joy you felt when imagining yourself as a "detective", YOU are passing this stupid prank on here as the truth? My guess is that it's actually the latter, that you're just an incredibly gullible dummy who imagines himself to be the "undercover investigator" and who got caught by nose and is being led by it and pranked by a bunch of kids probably younger than you are. Furthermore, I think at this point you already KNOW you were mercilessly hoaxed BUT you're trying to keep it up in a hopelessly stupid attempt of keeping some of the kiddies you convinced on your side. Hence, your recently posted "fresh details" of the hack (Valve's box was scanned, blah blah blah) that you got from Gabe's posts. Give it up, you already made yourself look like a sad fool don't go further down to being a disgusting fool.

Everyone else, consider what this guy "found":

- He found out that the nnygots are a clan that likes to fork around with Half Life and Valve. Big discovery. In other fresh news - World War II is over.

- He went to the public nnygot website and to their public IRC channel and asked about the hack there. Now, I admit, it might be courageous to go talk to nnygots, considering that they will usually respond by flaming or DDoS-ing people. But in your case, it was probably stupidity rather than bravery. Besides, the nnygots are constantly looking for naive marks to prank ("pwn", in their language), and you were a perfect dummy for that purpose.

- Now witness this - according to the fairy tales of our "uber detective", the nnygots are instantly VERY willing to help this unexpected newcomer who by his own admission went there to spy on them. "Yes, buddy, we know who did the hack - here, have his full name and address". And they hand him a name of a guy who apparently is a member of a clan with which the nnygots are at war, and which probably is their biggest enemy now.

It's probably just my paranoid nature, but ISN'T IT A BIT SUSPICIOUS that the nnygots apparently name THEIR BIGGEST ENEMY as the perpetrator of a crime and currently the top of the Most Wanted list in Valve, thereby putting him in a Really Deep Craphole (TM)? Maybe, just MAYBE they simply tried to frame an "enemy" dolt who, they knew, likes to "h4x0r CS" and happened to have downloaded the source? And for this, they used this kiddie "detective", who took everything they shoved down his throat, swallowed it, thanked them and asked for more?

Nb - you posted some genuine-looking address there. If it's a nonexistent one, that is fine, it's just a "yoke", I assume. But if it's real, then regardless if the name posted along with it is the person who actually lives there, you still broke the law, even if you just REposted the information, AND you may be responsible for something far worse... because it may have been "just a prank" on your side or a nnygot attempt at framing their enemy, but if it's an innocent person living there (OR, of course, if s/he's guilty, too - same rules apply, regardless of the person's guilt or innocence), and one of the violent nuts screaming around this forum (or other forums, as it was reposted and relinked) that they'll "go there and break his legs" actually does harm to that person or their property, then YOU, my dear, are royally screwed for providing a criminal with the victim's address and inciting the crime.

Now how about a suggestion - if it was a hack, it was a crime, and REAL investigators will be on it. So how about this - why don't you, all the Ruronis and other sad children who are jumping up for attention right now (the fact that you posted this idiotic poll along with your idiotic first post is a great proof of how attention-desperate you are... doesn't mommy wuv wittwe Wuwoni enough?), go back to your sandboxes with your Matchbox cars, play Starsky and Hutch there, and leave the investigation to INVESTIGATORS? Ask any investigator who ever was on a big case, and you'll here that one of the WORST parts of it are moron wannabe armchair "detectives" who think they "cracked" the case and just NEED to share their nut theories with the investigator and take up his time that he could otherwise spend on REALLY cracking the case.

To all the pitiful idiots who believed this dolt for even a fraction of a second... I have four bridges and a bunch of oil wells in Iraq to sell you. Cash only.

Oh, BTW, what's that idiocy of you Ruroni "risking your name" by committing (or relaying) this lame hoax? You'll actually GET a name, enough to go on Jerry Springer or "Jackass". Heck, you can start your own "Jackass" - you already are one.
 
"If you downloaded the code, you might be in breach of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act"

The DMCA prohibits the circumvention of copyright protection methods. Other than extending already existing laws to digital media, that is all it does. Downloading the source and unzipping a rar file does not circumvent any copyright protection schemes.
 
more on our suspect:

Oh my!

I think I know that guy. We used to work together before I left for my undergrad education. Last I knew he moved down south and married his girlfriend. When I knew him back then (about 12 years ago) he was writing his own programs and was heavy into MUDDs. Interestingly enough, I had been trying to track him down for about a year.

The other thing was the guy was brilliant. He was not only a programmer he was an exceptional piano player too, a bit of a prodigy. I walked into his house one day and thought the radio was up too loud. Here it was my buddy playing away at the baby-grand in the parlor. He was incredible! It would be too bad if he got caught up in this sort of mess.
 
For one, CaveatEmptor, when I said my name, I meant my Online name, seeing as i've never seen it registered anywhere else.

Now, your point on the post about the enemy thing. Did I not just ****ING say that alot was a lie? And there is some true? And that many tried to mislead me? Or are you the one wants the attention? Stating things I have already admitted, and have agreed with with others.

"WOO WOO MR DETECTIVE WOO"

Shut the **** up.
 
Congrats Aknot :D.

Filled with so much shit you'll smell of it for weeks.
 
In any case of who is right or who is wrong, if the fbi is really involved (and I am sure valve contacted some branch of law enforcement) there will be people charged in the end. Its one thing to download music on kazza, and quite another to steal a program licensed by a company and then distribute it. My guess is that several people will be caught and pay the price for it. If you dont think its true, look at the people in court paying 10's of thousands in fines for online music theft. The fbi is well aware of online theft and is a major growing concern, I hope all those involved are publicly humiliated and end up paying hefty fines which they most justifiably deserve.
 
Its one thing to download music on kazza, and quite another to steal a program licensed by a company and then distribute it.


uhh.... no its not... its the same.. grow up... dee-jay...
 
Karma they are two different things. Downloading music off kazaa is copyright infringement. It is usually only a civil offense (meaning you can get sued) and can never be greater than a misdonimer. Breaking into someone's computers, copying their source, and distributing it is in violation of copyright law also, but is also in violation of many computer crime laws and so they can be charged with a felony.
 
7PM Oct 3, 2003 Basement of a run down shantie....

The door flys into the room from the swift butt of the police issue battering ram! Quickly filtering in comes 2 armed and kevlar covered FBI agents; fanning out and followed by another pair.

'Clear!' crys one to the rear guard that stands in wait outside the door.

A gentleman walks in smartly dressed. Behind him follows 2 more masked FBI agents. The well dressed FBI agent eyes begin to water and he stiffles a GAG.

'My god can't these hackers take baths? Well that's what you get when you live at home with your widowed mother who walks around in a Moo Moo all day. These hackers are worse then the shit that crawls out of the serwers.'

He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and puts it over his mouth as he walks further in the room. He plucks a pencil from his breast pocket and begins to gently turn over items in the room.

'Gay porn, Animal PORN?!?!? My god, these genetic jokes are a waste of space.'

'All right, call in the team, and warn them to wear HASMAT suits, because we have no idea what secretions these hacking rejects leave behind'

The agent walked toward the exit as an armed guard radioed for the inspection team, but stopped as something caught his eye. He leaned into a corner of the room to get a better view of a dimly lit poster. It was picture of Bin Laden bending over what apperaed to be a caricture of the PERP that they were currently investigation.

'That explains a lot' stated the FBI agent.

And as he left he could be heard stiffling another GAG.
 
Originally posted by Karma Harvest
uhh.... no its not... its the same.. grow up... dee-jay...

1. They are not the same.

2. I'm 29, quite grown up thank you.

3. Your a perfect example of the typical person who should keep one's thoughts to themselves instead of openly sharing their useless and utterly pointless thoughts.
 
In the end I believe this unfortunate incident will serve as a wake up call to all the professional game developers out there. I have little doubt that they will all conduct security checks on their systems to block off any possible threat of this happening to them.

The fact that something like this happened to a high profile game developer like VALVe proves that more serious attention needs to be paid to online security.

Hopefully VALVe will inform it's colleagues of the method used by it's attackers so that the whole industry can reap some kind of benefit from this fiasco.
 
Originally posted by PaNTi3

I know who did this and its not my place to get in the middle of it. However I would appreciate it if the ghey little kids he hangs out with would'nt point fingers at me. Instead of bragging that "valve has insecure boxes." please don't be upset for me quoting you SX. :) Why not take credit for your work?


You should have posted your address so they know where to send the supeona, hope you like bad coffee and stale donuts as you just made yourself a material witness.

Good luck.
 
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