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'Scarlet Mimic' Hackers Snoop On Minority Activists In China
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RetiredUser
RetiredUser,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/25/2016 | 11:21:04 PM
Sophistication in Big Brother's (or Comrade's) Evolution
I was just reading the press release from Palo Alto Networks on this story.  This is a good case study in combative hacking techniques that can be used both for good and bad (depending on your POV) group monitoring activities.  The use of bait that is well-researched and targeted in content demonstrates the care that has gone into the development of this system.

Malware Tracker, Kaspersky - many others - have great data on Tran Duy Linh and it's worth the time to read the history there.  I look forward to reading the full length papers on this from PAN soon.
Jason Echols
Jason Echols,
 User Rank: Apprentice
1/26/2016 | 10:38:11 AM
Sandboxing for the win?
If you knew you were being directly targeted by a powerful state actor, I wonder if it would be feasible to run from a virtual OS/App environment like VirtualBox that you started fresh daily? Cloud services could keep your files synced as most of these attacks seem to be aimed at the OS or apps. It's more work, but may be worth it to avoid tracking/jail for these folks.
RetiredUser
RetiredUser,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/28/2016 | 11:36:54 AM
Re: Sandboxing for the win?
While VM sounds like a feasible solution, you have to assume your cloud account won't also be targeted - which it will be.  A toss-away VM only works if the data you need to work with is not under threat of compromise, too.  That said, this is where Tor comes in and while the networks have long been hit with negative press due to the "dark net", Tor could be the answer to keeping activists safe.  

In addition to the problems above you need to realize that not all activists are tech-savvy.  A critical component of any activist group should be a hacktivist who can guide users to safer computing practices and to head off attacks (either through offensive tactics, or diversion through social hacks) like those detailed in the article.    


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