Huffington Magazine Issue 62 | Page 30

ROBB SCOTT/.NET MAGAZINE VIA GETTY IMAGES Voices have countries that don’t really treat this as serious,” Chertoff said. “That’s got to change.” In Russia, fugitive hackers often live in plain sight. One alleged cyber criminal responsible for unleashing a virus on Facebook routinely posted his location on Foursquare, according to researchers who investigated him. For the most part, Russian officials have not cracked down on hackers because they do not attack computer systems in Russia, and therefore are not violating laws in that country, according to E.J. Hilbert, a former FBI agent who investigated cybercrime. “What most people don’t understand is these are sovereign countries with laws that are completely different than ours,” Hilbert said. “They’ve done nothing illegal in their country, therefore they can’t be arrested, and that makes it really, really difficult.” Without assistance from Russian police, Facebook last year took the unusual step of publicly releasing the names, aliases and photographs of five Russian cybercriminals accused of operating a virus known as “Koobface.” The Koobface virus prompted Facebook users to install software GERRY SMITH HUFFINGTON 08.18.13 We still have countries that don’t really treat this as serious. That’s got to change.” to watch a video and thereby installed malware on th