Meet the men who spy on women through their webcams

[DainBramaged]

The Remote Administration Tool is the revolver of the Internet's Wild West.


"See! That shit keeps popping up on my fucking computer!" says a blond woman as she leans back on a couch, bottle-feeding a baby on her lap.

The woman is visible from thousands of miles away on a hacker's computer. The hacker has infected her machine with a remote administration tool (RAT) that gives him access to the woman's screen, to her webcam, to her files, to her microphone. He watches her and the baby through a small control window open on his Windows PC, then he decides to have a little fun. He enters a series of shock and pornographic websites and watches them appear on the woman's computer.

The woman is startled. "Did it scare you?" she asks someone off camera. A young man steps into the webcam frame. "Yes," he says. Both stare at the computer in horrified fascination. A picture of old naked men appears in their Web browser, then vanishes as a McAfee security product blocks a "dangerous site."

"I think someone hacked into our computer," says the young man.

Far away, the hacker opens his "Fun Manager" control panel, which provides a host of tools for messing with his RAT victims. He can hide their Windows "Start" button or the taskbar or the clock or the desktop, badly confusing many casual Windows users. He can have their computer speak to them. Instead, he settles for popping open the remote computer's optical drive.




http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet-the-men-who-spy-on-women-through-their-webcams/

[seabeyond]

1. a girl, no problem, not really even a person, but a child crying. that is a line. HE is a person

that counts.

and morals...? why the hell should anyone challenge what another does. who is it our place to dare give our morals to another.

really

a fucked up world.

[tkmorris]

10. Are you trying to imply...

Are you trying to imply that no one cares about the woman getting hacked and spied upon, and the only reason this matters to some people is that there is a male infant involved? I'm trying to interpret your post in some other way and I just can't do it.

[redqueen]

17. Did you read the article? nt

[petronius]

2. Seriously nasty - would be nice to see some severe consequences for people

like this. Public exposure if nothing else, like that creep from reddit last year...

[Xithras]

24. There are serious consequences, but they're rarely caught.

The intrusion alone can net you up to 30 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, and that's before you even get into the sex and voyeurism offenses.

The problem is that they're incredibly hard to catch. Unless you get taken over by someone in your hometown, it's improbable that the police are going to go through the trouble of identifying the person on the other end, issuing warrants, and extraditing them from wherever they happen to be.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

61. This is a good case for Anonymous.

[Mr Dixon]

70. Agreed

[lame54]

3. Is that a picture of the old man in the bottom left corner?

[Dpm12]

4. JESUS!

That's fucked up

[snooper2]

5. so the baby's first word will be fuck?

[redqueen]

6. WTF is wrong with these 'people'? (I of course use that term loosely.) nt

[Johonny]

13. I'd like to see a psychological profile of the average person that does this

[redqueen]

15. The mindset behind this, and other related things, is out. of. control.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/sep/22/creepshots-revenge-porn-paparazzi-women

[Johonny]

37. can you control it?

or is this the by product of total information awareness. Can you cheer one hacker that releases sensitive government information; like the Iraq torture tapes and then condemn someone that hacks your personal emails and posts them online like the fake crisis of Climategate. People that believe in information libertarianism want to make all information fair game. They have no internal self censor. We live in a society with cameras everywhere. It is really impossible to not be photographed in public because just about anyone has a camera on their pad, cell phone etc... more to the point we want to photograph ourselves and share them with friends. We live in a false sense of privacy, but that era looks to be coming to an end.

In wasn't that long ago the press was just about the only place to release information to the mass market. The press had an internal self censor that for instance ignored stories on presidential affairs... of course we know in the Internet age anyone can or could release anything. Eventually I imagine you will see a backlash and the word "hacker" and paparazzi will become more and more negative and ugly terms.

[redqueen]

39. The gendered differences with respect to victimizers and victims indicates to me that we can

influence these behaviors, at least.

At present, little to nothing is being done.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. First thing I did when I got my new laptop was tape a paper dot over the webcam.

I know I could still be hacked, but it sure made me feel better.

[Blue_Tires]

30. I especially did that for work-issued laptops...

[Hekate]

46. Small post-it note does it for me

After the incident with the school administrator playing Peeping Tom on adolescent kids with take-home laptops. Ewwwww.

[bettyellen]

8. Ewww, the ones stalking women they call friends? Über creepy shit.

Get a clue dude- she would HATE you if she knew you were doing it to anyone. And of she knew you were doing it to her, she's report your pathetic ass to the police.

The disturbing part is they get off on the unwilling victim thing. Imposing their desires on others. And being cheered on in the process. Disturbing micro culture.

' By finding their way to forums filled with other ratters, these men—and they appear to be almost exclusively men—gain community validation for their actions. "lol I have some good news for u guys we will all die sometime, really glad to know that there are other people like me who do this shit," one poster wrote. "Always thought it was some kind of wierd sick fetish because i enjoy messing with my girl slaves."'

[freshwest]

21. 'Imposing their desires on others. And being cheered on in the process...' Their 'rights,' huh...

[hobbit709]

9. first thing I turn OFF on any computer is Remote Access.

then I go from there on security.

[Initech]

20. Yup remote access and uninstalling the web can drivers.

That's the first thing you do on *ANY* laptop you buy, no exception!!

[redqueen]

31. What if you use the webcam? Isn't removing the drivers overkill? nt

[jeff47]

43. Just cover the lens.

If you don't need the webcam, remove it. Removing the drivers is not nearly as effective - the software being used by the "hackers" can re-install the drivers.

If you do need the webcam, just cover the lens when you aren't using it. A band-aid is an extremely cheap and effective tool for this - you don't want to get adhesive on the lens, so the pad in the middle of the band-aid comes in handy.

[freshwest]

22. I keep getting 'updates' for it and refuse them all. Taped the cam, shut off input speakers.

[99Forever]

11. I abhor violence...

... but sometimes I could make an exception.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

12. I've seen the online communities that openly discuss doing this.

Some seriously fucked up people on there.

[L0oniX]

14. Never fear ...MS will surely fix this ...too ...again ...and again. n/t

[JVS]

16. Electrical tape and the power button are your friends.

Keeping your computer clean is even better.

[badtoworse]

18. I'll go you one better

How about this guy?

http://www.wmur.com/Man-Pulled-From-Women-s-Outhouse-Tank/-/9858568/11827380/-/t6klqe/-/index.html

[JVS]

23. An example truly worthy of your name.

[Jokerman]

19. Built-in web cams should have a physical cover that can be closed.

Simply turning it off is not enough.

[Ed Suspicious]

29. My ASUS Laptop has just this functionality. There is a slider labeled from on to off. A shutter

that looks like the aperture in a camera lens closes completely over the lens in the off position. Now I understand why this is helpful.

[11 Bravo]

25. Damn, there are some fucked-up people in this world!

I'm not big on vigilante justice, but if someone kicked that hacker's ass, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[Sissyk]

26. This is just sick.

[gollygee]

27. I didn't know this existed

I don't even know what to say.

[mikeysnot]

28. Put a sticker over your camera eye.

Keep your computer clean and running anti-virus and run malwarebytes...

[gollygee]

32. I just put some tape over the camera on my daughter's computer

Why do I think there are probably sickos who specifically look for underage girls? Sigh.

I have an iPad. This is not probably something that can be installed on an iPad?

People suck.

[jeff47]

53. Assuming you haven't jailbroken the iPad

then no, they should not be able to get access to the camera without it prompting you.

If you don't know what "jailbroken" means, then you haven't.

[gollygee]

55. LOL

I know vaguely what it means. Thanks.

[redqueen]

33. All the advice posted here is in the article.

I'm not sure why its being posted repeatedly in the thread.

The article is more about the sick subhumans who do this, though advice about how to avoid being victimized is also included. The clue is in the title. I'm curious as to why there isn't more discussion about the perpetrators.

[gollygee]

35. Yeah I noticed that too

it's like the rape threads were talking about. all advice about how not to be raped, none about rapists.

[redqueen]

36. Victims overwhelmingly female, perpetrators almost exclusively male...

And the same dynamic at play.

By finding their way to forums filled with other ratters, these men—and they appear to be almost exclusively men—gain community validation for their actions. "lol I have some good news for u guys we will all die sometime, really glad to know that there are other people like me who do this shit," one poster wrote. "Always thought it was some kind of wierd sick fetish because i enjoy messing with my girl slaves."'

[bettyellen]

40. Same mental calculus involved with rapists....

There are bad girls who deserve to be shamed and traded with strangers (easier marks) , nice girls who they should only violate stealthily.
The only concern is how much they can get away with. They've convinced themselves its not sick or perverted because one of their peers do it. That's the rape culture, in full effect.

[redqueen]

41. Yes.

It sure would be nice to see more discussions about changing that culture, and fewer repeated listings of the methods we should take to shield ourselves from its many manifestations.

[bettyellen]

47. I'm tired of people pretending these peer groups don't exist

The lone sociopath theory doesn't cover it.
But it's a convienient way to avoid talking about these parts of our culture.

[jeff47]

44. Because there really isn't a practical way to get the perpetrators

It's unlikely that law enforcement will take the time to track down and arrest the perpetrators. And there's no way they will be caught if it involves more than one country. In law enforcement's defense, they just don't have the budget nor expertise. The people that do are going after much larger targets.

As a result, we're left with trying to prevent the attacks ourselves.

[bettyellen]

50. I'm wondering what laws are in the books-

Especially concerning is the creeps who are targeting girls they know. It's frightening that they could use this as a tool to stalk them. The penalties should be really harsh for this, and there should be cyber crime units as there are for child pornographers.
These guys treat it like a fucking joke, only because they know law enforcement will too.

[jeff47]

51. There's some quite brutal penalties on the books.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaay harsher than stalking outside a computer. A real-world stalker will get, at best, 5-ish years. The federal penalty for hacking into the computer is 30 years. The state penalty varies by state.

there should be cyber crime units as there are for child pornographers.

Such people cost money. Local PD hasn't been getting much. And that's assuming the investigation can remain local. Getting the law enforcement of other countries to help the investigation isn't exactly easy.

[bettyellen]

63. I thought he penalty was pretty low when I read about that creep who hacked in trying to broadcast

His roomie having sex. I remember some chatter that this was fairly new ground.
That kid got off pretty easy.

[jeff47]

65. He wasn't charged for the hacking.

Mostly because he didn't hack anything. He had been given access to the computer.

[bettyellen]

72. oh right, it was his own computer. the charge was something weak, like invasion of privacy.

It reminded me of that Powell guy in Oregon with all the pics of neighborhood kids he took with telephotos. He victimized a lot of neighbors kids and did very little time for it. I think they could only slap him with invasion of privacy also.

[arcane1]

34. Kicking to read later

I already have the heeby-jeebies from reading just the excerpt

[d_r]

38. why don't more people use linux?

it's free, it's easy, it's secure, it's stable, it's free, I don't get it.

[DainBramaged]

52. Stop, your strawman is simply ridiculous

[jeff47]

54. But he hasn't heard about any malware for Linux, so it must not exit!! (nt)

[d_r]

59. dude I'm sorry

but these script kiddies aren't jacking linux boxes for their bot swarms.

[jeff47]

67. Sure, keep thinking that.

It'll make the surprise so much more fun.

[d_r]

68. could a script take over a linux pc?

of course. Of course it could. You'd have to give it root and install it. So the best way to get someone to do it would be to trick them in to thinking it was an ap and getting them to install it for you. You could put it in as a trojan to an ap that does something else. It wouldn't make it to the software repositories though. That's one of the benefits of open source software. Everybody can see the source code.

You could write something in java and if someone had open permissions to java aps that would work. But then you'd be relying on them having open permission to java aps.

Of course you could go in to someone's office and physically put it on their computer if you had their root password.

So yes, it is absolutely possible, but even if you went to the trouble of writing that the community would shut it down if it got employed widely enough to be noticed.

Here, ask the scripters - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:shNdS-74a5YJ:www.hackforums.net/showthread.php%3Ftid%3D1214568+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=ubuntu

Remember he is actually asking to run the RAT interface FROM linux to windows, the answer being to use wine.


But, anyway, linux is clearly more secure than windows so the idea that it is possible to create a script for linux doesn't get to my question of why more people don't use linux?

[jeff47]

71. No, linux is rarer than windows

So it's targeted less often.

Your argument would declare MacOS X to be more secure than Linux - there's less Mac malware than Linux malware. And NetBSD as the most secure system ever.

But if you succeed in Linux becoming the dominant operating system, it will end up being attacked as frequently as Windows is today.

You'd have to give it root and install it.

And there's privilege escalation bugs in Linux, just like there's privilege escalation bugs in Windows.

[d_r]

73. that is certainly true

Jeff,
I agree with you that linux is targeted less often because it is employed less often, and so there is less threat. But that isn't the only factor - lack of root and community updating are also important.

I'm wondering where you get the data concerning Mac vs. Linux. Most of the linux malware that exists was created as proof of concept to demonstrate vulnerabilities and never existed "in the wild." I don't really follow macs, but I remember a couple of major freakouts about mac vulnerabilities. The cross-platform vulnerabilities like java exploits would impact macs as well as linux.

[d_r]

60. has to be an argument to be a strawman

[DainBramaged]

62. It's the same Linoox fanboi ARGUMENT posted in EVERY windows thread

Instead of having the balls to start a "why not install Linoox" thread, they come to these threads and piss on them and run away.

And I guarantee I won't bother posting in the Linoox threads.


It is an argument, you just aren't around enough to notice.


Have a nice evening




PS this thread isn't about you BTW or didn't you notice, it's about fucked up people who take advantage of non-technologically capable people who can't install your blessed OS..


PSS one who thinks he knows


Linux malware includes viruses, trojans, worms and other types of malware that affect the Linux operating system. Linux, Unix and other Unix-like computer operating systems are generally regarded as very well-protected, but not immune, from computer viruses.[1][2]

There has not yet been a widespread Linux malware threat of the type that Microsoft Windows software faces; this is commonly attributed to the small number of users running Linux as a desktop operating system,[1] the malware's lack of root access and fast updates to most Linux vulnerabilities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_malware


"SMALL" user enviornment. I'm sure that contributes to the LACK of confidence by the "script kiddies"

[d_r]

64. wow

I wasn't trying to ask a rhetorical question or be argumentative or any of that.

I really just don't get it.

I mean I get why more people don't use macs, they cost money. But I don't get why more people don't use linux.

I was making a comment on a message board because I was curious. And you really didn't answer the question of "why?" you just sort of went off.

But I apologize for getting you worked up, I wasn't meaning to.

DR

[geek tragedy]

42. Hackers have gotten lionized due to Anonymous etc as some kind of

counter-cultural freedom warriors.

99% of them are just creeps.

They're all criminals.

Why the government hasn't cracked down on those forums is beyond my understanding. Plenty of evidence for prosecutions.

[arely staircase]

45. i started keeping mine covered (built in to laptop) when not in use

when i heard the stories about that high school that was snooping on students through laptops checked out from school.

[gollygee]

48. Yeah I remember that story

But I thought, none of our computers are from a school, so we're OK. I didn't think random hateful people could get access to our computer like that.

[JPZenger]

49. Instructions to turn off remote access for MS Vista users

http://www.ehow.com/how_7232402_disable-remote-access-vista.html

[JI7]

56. these people are fucked up

i hope something horrible happens to them.

[arely staircase]

57. just read the full article. how ironic is this?

"Welcome to the weird world of the ratters. They operate quite openly online, sharing the best techniques for picking up new female slaves (and avoiding that most unwanted of creatures, "old perverted men&quot in public forums."

funny how they see others as perverts.

[winter is coming]

66. Funny how they call women "slaves" instead of "victims".

Maybe that's the only way they can be the "master" of anything.

[arely staircase]

69. masters of mom's basement

eom

[smirkymonkey]

58. K&R