From: Virus Guy <
Virus@Guy.C0M>
And somehow VirusTotal doesn't perform the same service?
"For example, while legitimate scanning services share data
about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify
their users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed
its users that they could upload files anonymously and
promised not to share information about the uploaded files
with the antivirus community."
It should not be a crime to be able to upload files anonymously, nor
should it be a crime to test the files against AV software and inform
only the uploader of the results. To criminalize this just further
erodes our individual personal freedom and liberty.
If gov't wants to put people in jail, they need look no further than Micro$haft and other irresponsible and incompetent software makers who
gov't has allowed to grow out of control to become monopolies in their respective markets.
Any malware developer can replicate this testing themselves if they run internet-isolated versions of AV software on their own systems.
This ruling means that anyone offering their own portal to AV submission testing, even with good intentions, must submit their results (to whom?)
or be similarly jailed?
=======================================
'Scan4Yyou' Operator Gets 14-Year Sentence
A Latvian “non-citizen,” meaning a citizen of the former USSR who
resided in Riga, Latvia, was sentenced to 168 months in prison today for offenses related to his operation of “Scan4you,” an online counter
antivirus service that helped computer hackers determine whether the
computer viruses and other malicious software they created would be
detected by antivirus software, announced Assistant Attorney General
Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal Division.
Ruslans Bondars, 38, was convicted on May 16, following a five-day jury
trial, of one count of conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and
Abuse Act, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count
of computer intrusion with intent to cause damage and aiding and abetting.
“Ruslans Bondars helped malware developers attack American businesses,”
said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “The Department of Justice
and its law enforcement partners make no distinction between service
providers like Scan4You and the hackers they assist: we will hold them accountable for all of the significant harm they cause and work
tirelessly to bring them to justice, wherever they may be located.”
“Ruslans Bondars designed and operated a service that provided essential
aid to some of the world's most destructive hackers,” said U.S. Attorney Terwilliger. “This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to combating
global computer crime by taking away the essential tools upon which
hackers rely.”
“We continue to face sophisticated cyber threats from state-sponsored
hackers, hackers for hire, organized cyber syndicates, and terrorists,”
said FBI Special Agent in Charge DeSarno. “This prosecution should serve
as an example to those who assist or facilitate criminal hacking
activity that they will be exposed and held accountable no matter where
they are in the world.”
According to testimony at trial and court documents, from at least 2009
until 2016, Bondars operated Scan4you, which for a fee provided computer hackers with information they used to determine whether their malware
would be detected by antivirus software, including and especially by
antivirus software used to protect major U.S. retailers, financial institutions and government agencies from computer intrusions.
A Scan4you customer, for example, used the service to test malware that
was subsequently used to steal approximately 40 million credit and debit
card numbers, as well as approximately 70 million addresses, phone
numbers and other pieces of personal identifying information, from
retail store locations throughout the United States, causing one
retailer approximately $292 million in expenses resulting from the
intrusion.
Another Scan4you customer used the service to assist the development of “Citadel,” a widely used malware strain that was used to infect over 11 million computers worldwide, including in the United States, and
resulted in over $500 million in fraud-related losses. The Citadel
developer took advantage of a special feature of Scan4you that allowed
its integration directly into the Citadel malware toolkit through an Application Programming Interface, or API. The API tool allowed
Scan4you users the flexibility to scan malware without the need to
directly submit the malware to Scan4you's website.
At its height, Scan4you was one of the largest services of its kind and
had at least thousands of users. Malware developed with the assistance
of Scan4you included some of the most prolific malware known to the FBI
and was used in major computer intrusions committed against American businesses.
Scan4you differed from legitimate antivirus scanning services in
multiple ways. For example, while legitimate scanning services share
data about uploaded files with the antivirus community and notify their
users that they will do so, Scan4you instead informed its users that
they could upload files anonymously and promised not to share
information about the uploaded files with the antivirus community.
In issuing the sentence, the court found a loss amount of $20.5 billion.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Liam
O'Grady ordered Bondars to serve three years of supervised release. A decision regarding forfeiture and payment of restitution to victims of
the offenses is forthcoming.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorneys
C. Alden Pelker and Ryan K. Dickey of the Criminal Division's Computer
Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Kellen Dwyer and Laura Fong of the Eastern District of
Virginia prosecuted the case. The Government of Latvia, including the
Latvia State Police International Cooperation Department, the Latvia
State Police Cybercrime Unit, and the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Latvia – International Cooperation Division, provided
assistance and support during the investigation. Additional assistance
was provided by the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs,
the FBI's Atlanta Field Office and the Operational Technology Division,
and the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the District of Minnesota and the
Northern District of Georgia.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/operator-counter-antivirus-service-scan4you-sentenced-14-years-prison
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)