One clue to DarkSide origins

One Clue to dark side’s origins is that the problems are deeper and not as dark as some make out.  Dark makes it sound like there is not enough light obscuring what’s going on in attacks like the one on Colonial Pipelines.  There is more than knowledge among individuals, saavy businesses and regulatory authorities to stop the kinds of attacks that take down business and agencies.  It’s not easy and wading through the details is tedious and time consuming afterwards.  Here is a snip from a story from the NY Times about the hack of Colonial Pipeline services company. (FBI Confirms DarkSide as Colonial Pipeline Hacker – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

“One clue to DarkSide’s [the group believed responsible for the attack] origins lies in its code. Private researchers note DarkSide’s ransomware asks victims’ computers for their default language setting, and if it is Russian, the group moves along to other victims. It also seems to avoid victims that speak Ukrainian, Georgian and Belarusian.”

This group of criminals has a history and should have been stopped.  “According to a top Reuters cybersecurity reporter, DarkSide has its own website on the dark web that features an array of leaked data from victims who it claims failed to pay ransom. It claims that the group has made millions from cyber extortion.:

From <https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russian-criminal-group-may-be-responsible-colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-n1266793>

Its not just the nations states and organized criminals. All those who allow large networks to function where user’s information can be harvested and pilfered are complicit.  That includes companies, governments amd individuals.  Kudo’s to Apple for their latest iOS update that stops Apps from being harvested for personal and private information, iOS 14.5 update: iPhone users can stop apps from tracking their behaviour. Here’s how (livemint.com).  Let’s see more in the tech industry doing the same. Let’s shun companies like Google and Facebook whose business model is expressly that of pirates.