Re:Hacker in Snowflake Extortions May Be a U.S. Soldier
by close04 on Wednesday November 27, 2024 @09:35AM
(#42256404)
> False attribution is a core lesson in malice 101
I was always surprised to see security researchers confidently attributing some attack to a specific group based on easily falsifiable things like localization, alphabet, time zone, coding "style", specific targets, etc.
Even if researchers can undeniably link one attack to a certain group (like when they publicly take responsibility) and can label their style accordingly, all those indicators become at least semi-public. If the researchers have access to them, so do other other actors who are free to fake or imitate them. The confidence is probably more for the media reporting.
I was always surprised to see security researchers confidently attributing some attack to a specific group based on easily falsifiable things like localization, alphabet, time zone, coding "style", specific targets, etc.
Even if researchers can undeniably link one attack to a certain group (like when they publicly take responsibility) and can label their style accordingly, all those indicators become at least semi-public. If the researchers have access to them, so do other other actors who are free to fake or imitate them. The confidence is probably more for the media reporting.