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