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UK and US to ‘Strikeback’ on Eastern Hackers

According to a news published in ComputerWeekly on June 8, 2009, the governments of United States and United Kingdom are getting ready to attack hackers who are trying to steal business and national secrets.

Therefore, hackers who plan to attack computers containing commercial or defense data in the two countries may soon face counter attacks. The defense agencies and police have been authorized to execute these attacks in order to obstruct the perpetrators or even eliminate them permanently from the Web.

These counter assaults could involve planting of malware like a Trojan horse on offending computers and establishing DOS (denial-of-service) attacks to counter the spying networks.

The furtive schemes are a reaction to a stupendous rise in computer crimes from East Asia, targeting politically or commercially sensitive data. These schemes are termed as "strikeback," and meant to attack the computers of hackers for a permanent halt.

According to reports, 'strikeback' preparations have already started in the United Kingdom, with the SOCA (Serious Organized Crime Agency) and the e-crime unit of the Metropolitan police concentrating on organizing teams. The country is adopting these measures to halt the number of attacks from hacking gangs in Russia, North Korea and China that are thought to be state sponsored.

An SOCA spokeswoman said that the agency employed a variety of tactics in the purview of legal frameworks, suitable for each investigation, as reported by ComputerWeekly on June 8, 2009. The spokeswoman said that the agency wouldn't disclose anything about the use of the different tactics.

Moreover, plans to strike back against offshore hacking gangs have taken lead in cyberspace related topics discussed by intelligence groups operating in Washington DC. An ex-CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) officer said the preparations for 'strikeback' schemes are considered a chief activity. According to him, this is the latest high-priority discussion that means an enormous deal in Washington. He added that the country was being infiltrated and they wouldn't just sit back doing nothing, as reported by Guardian on June 4, 2009.

The officer further said once the perpetrators are identified, his country would backfire using a payload, which would knock them out.

Related article: US Passes Baton to Asia in Spam Relay

» SPAMfighter News - 6/12/2009

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