Japanese Cops Collar Malware-Carrying Cat 83
Orome1 writes "When imagining law enforcement officers investigating and searching for cyber criminals or evidence about their activities, the last thing that you can probably envision is them searching for a stray cat. But that was exactly what detectives of Japan's National Police Agency recently did as the last step in a complex 'treasure hunt' started on New Year's Day by a person (persons?) who is allegedly the mastermind behind the so-called 'Remote Control Virus.' The malware in question was instrumental in staging a continuous campaign of death and bomb threats sent to airline companies, kindergartens, schools, law offices, broadcasting networks and shrines."
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-A- is/was an alliance on EVE online (hundreds or thousands of players).
CFC is a coalition of EVE online alliances (tens of thousands of players).
Not entirely suprising that they turn up in a thread about kittens either.
Cop quote: (Score:1)
"I stopped it because it was acting catty."
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and the rookie was ordered to check the litter box
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It was in his wok.
Hang on, is that the Koreans?
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The victim does not need to be black [wikipedia.org].
How about "extracting" a confession out instead? (Score:3)
From TFA:
Japan's well-resourced National Police Agency (NPA) was embarrassed after it emerged officers had extracted "confessions" from four people who had nothing to do with the emails.
TFA does not mention the color of confessors' skin.
So it's a (Score:1)
Copy Cat
Re:CATS! (Score:5, Funny)
Kitty porn?
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If I were a cat, and if I were tired of you using photos of me on the web, and if I were to going to give you payback, then do you *really* think that I would give you free porn photos of me?
My master, on the hand...
Nice try cat... (Score:2)
Trying to make us think that a dog wrote that. Even referring to a human as your "master".
Dogs are not capable of conjuring such a deceitful line of thought without breaking into praise of balls, either organic or rubber ones. Several times.
The real crime... (Score:5, Interesting)
Having read the article it seems the real crime to be investigated here would come from:
In a particularly embarrassing episode of the investigation, the Japanese police arrested four of those unsuspecting individuals and extracted "confessions" from them, only for other institutions to receive threats containing details that only the real criminal behind the scheme would know - while the four were in custody.
Re:The real crime... (Score:5, Interesting)
But its ok.... every other confession they have gotten was totally legit, as will the next ones.
I have seen claims that standard LEO questioning techniques have been found to be able to extract confessions in up to 90% of cases, totally independentally of the persons innocence or guilt.
Yet, confessions continue to be held up as meaning something.
Re:The real crime... (Score:5, Funny)
It does seem like Low Earth Orbit questioning techniques would be effective, even on people not normally afraid of heights. Or oxygen deprivation.
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Low Earth Orbit nuking techniques are even more effective. One might even say it is the only way to be 100% effective.
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Is it a coincidence, that 90% of prisoners in the US are there on confessions alone?
[citation needed]
Plea bargins (Score:3)
Is it a coincidence, that 90% of prisoners in the US are there on confessions alone?
[citation needed]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plea_bargaining_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
Because of this, people who might have been acquitted because of lack of evidence, or who are in fact truly innocent, will often plead guilty to a charge. Why? In a word, fear.
Theoretical work based on the prisoner's dilemma is one reason why, in many countries (including mine), plea bargaining is illegal.
This is why you DON"T TALK TO POLICE (Score:5, Informative)
EVER, for ANY reason.
Doesn't matter if you are innocent
Doesn't matter if you are guilty
Doesn't matter if you are just a bystander
Doesn't matter if they are just canvasing the neighborhood
Don't talk to police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc [youtube.com]
Re:This is why you DON"T TALK TO POLICE (Score:5, Insightful)
If a kid goes missing in your neighbourhood, and you saw some guy cruising around the playground earlier, are you still going to refuse to talk to the cops on a matter of principle? How would you feel if it was your kid, and some self-righteous prick didn't talk?
It depends. How much do you want to bet on your not finding yourself in this scenario:
The cop you talked to, in front of the judge, months later: "Yes, your honor, he confessed to have been watching the playground earlier that day, and to have been carefully focusing on the movements of both minors and non-minors alike. No, your honor, he couldn't provided any proof of where he were between the moment he told he had been watching the kids and their parents in the playground and the moment he contacted us. Yes, your honor, that was the time frame that kid disappeared. Yes, your honor, we found 3 volumes of so called 'manga comics' depicting relationship and implied sexual intercourse with minors in his house. Yes, your honor, his computer was full of pornographic imagery too."
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Everything? But feel free to live your life like a scared little pussy if you want.
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Feel free to be an idiot and bet on the police being good people.
Mr. NSA employee.
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More then likely kid goes missing they start randomly pulling logs from everyones ISP in the neighborehood and you don't have to say shit. And your a fucking terrorist also if you bothered to use TOR to get your hentai or tranny jollies.
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Actually.... it can happen much simpler than that. In fact, this scenario comes from a lecture by a Law professor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik [youtube.com]
Scenario is simple... lets stick with a child abduction, but he uses a murder. So lets say you go to your mothers house and stay there for the night. During the trip, for the sake of argument, lets assume you had a full tank so didn't stop for gas or get any receipts or other corroborating evidence, and left your cell phone at home, or it was broken, o
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But its ok.... every other confession they have gotten was totally legit, as will the next ones.
I have seen claims that standard LEO questioning techniques have been found to be able to extract confessions in up to 90% of cases, totally independentally of the persons innocence or guilt.
Yet, confessions continue to be held up as meaning something.
Low Earth Orbit?
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Someone already made that joke :) LEO used to stand for Law Enforcement Officer aka the fuzz, bears, smokey, 5-0, po po, or my favorite: Pigs.
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Look up the 'Reid Technique'. Standard operating procedure for law enforcement, even though it coerces people into false confessions.
I got arrested a few years ago and told the police I was invoking my right to silence. They continued to 'interrogate' me for another three hours with endless questions and intimidation tactics. Apparently you have to re-assert your right to silence over and over again for hours until the police get tired. Luckily I am in Canada so I knew the cops probably wouldn't beat me
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Mostly, yes. Many East-Asian states have similar cultural quirks, but Japan is by far the most pronounced.
Obeying the authority is very deeply ingrained in their culture.
No, the real crime is the missed opportunity... (Score:2)
...by the hacker in question.
The discovery was made after messages were sent to newspapers and broadcasters, with the sender claiming details of a computer virus were strapped to a cat living on an island near Tokyo.
Wrong goddamn prefecture, wrong goddamn island. [wikipedia.org]
Hopefully, next time he will strap the memory card to a rabbit - on the correct island for that. [wikipedia.org]
Death by kitty (Score:1)
Stop right there criminal MEOW!
Re:Death by kitty (Score:5, Funny)
You stop laughing right meow!
Damn, that was a great flick...
Super Troopers (Score:1)
Foster and Mac have pulled a man over for speeding and are deciding what game to play]
Mac: All right, how about "Cat Game?"
Foster: Cat Game? What's the record?
Mac: Thorny did six, but I think you can do ten.
Foster: Ten? Starting right 'meow?'
[Mac laughs - they walk up to the car, and Foster taps on the driver side]
Larry Johnson: Sorry about the...
Foster: All right meow. (1) Hand over your license and registration.
[the man hands him his license]
Foster: Your registration? Hurry up meow. (2)
[Mac ticks off two
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Yes.
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That's actually quite a freaky payload, and I can imagine this would have big consequences if used in the US (and their over-reactions to anything terrorist-like). ...
Actually, can't wait to see massive outbreak of this in the US...
Fitting Puss with a cell-jammer as we speak, mwahahahaha!
Someone has to say it... (Score:5, Funny)
Does that make it a "script kitty"?
Re:Someone has to say it... (Score:4, Funny)
"Is that Perl, or just a fur-ball you coughed up?"
Re:Someone has to say it... (Score:5, Insightful)
The furball is more readable and maintainable.
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It's just 3D compressed Lisp
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Why would someone with C# experience write malware... to threaten random people? That seems... pointless.
Actually, it sounds redundant, not pointless.
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Cat in the ^Hat (Score:1)
I did not pirate on a boat
I did not pirate via goat (se)
I did not write too much code
and load the network up with bloat
I did not write green eggs* and spam
I did not write it, Sergent Ham!
* Easter
Brings back memory chips (Score:3, Funny)
I read "Puss 'N Reboots" as a kid.
Acoustic Kitty (Score:4, Informative)
Reminds me of the ill fated Acoustic Kitty in the 60s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty [wikipedia.org]
"Culprit may enjoy toying with investigators..." (Score:4, Funny)
/sunglasses
He's playing cat and mouse.
They scanned it with (Score:1)
Mcatfee
-5, too cheesy
The antivirus (Score:5, Funny)
The antivirus is on orion's belt.
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If it were caught in Kobe... (Score:2)
...the headline could read "Kobe Cops Collar Crookware-Carrying Cat".
This isn't new (Score:2)
Then again, we *are* living in the future now...! (Score:3)
Did they let the cat resume it's life? (Score:1)
Not a serious criminal (Score:1)
His only crime is making bomb threats from hacked machines. The police is stupid to participate in his game, they get what they deserve.
Same kitty? (Score:2)
is this the same criminal kitty recently spotted trying to help prisoners escape in Brazil?
Meow Meme v1.0 (Score:2)
WTF is up with cats recently? (Score:2)
First they caught one with drill bits, a cell phone and saw blades sneaking into a prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/americas/brazil-jailbreak-cat/index.html [cnn.com]
now this?
never liked cats.. now I know why.
HA! A real life Riddler (Score:2)
Slightly disappointed (Score:2)
From the summary, I was expecting a tiny battery-powered Wifi device stuck to the cat's collar, sending the anonymous threats by way of every unsecured access point the cat walked past and receiving C&C commands for its next strike.