On exploiting security issues in botnet C&C software:
Hackers “are learning that it’s not so easy to write secure code,” Toro says. “Most of us in the business of securing our applications and systems know that bulletproofing software is an extremely expensive and exhaustive undertaking. Malware creators who have to look to their own defences would have to slow down the production of new attacks.”
FYI, if you want to know what it looks like when you hack a hacker, look no further than the seminal 1995 film Hackers.
Very interesting - both technically as well as looking into the moral justifications the botnet operator provides. But equally interesting is the discussion on Hacker News: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3960034. Especially the discussion on the Verified by Visa (3D Secure) system and how the goal is basically to move liability onto the consumer and off of the merchant or credit card company.
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