Turns out to be another one of those pesky “conspiracy theories” that are true……. So conspira-fact?
Russian researchers at Kaspersky Lab, out of Moscow told German news agency Reuters about it.
According to the article- “Kaspersky said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or 
more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said. (reut.rs/1L5knm0)”
Apparently similar to the Stuxnet set up of Middle Eastern infamy (and NSA child) Kaspersky Lab declined to reveal which country actually set up these drives. The drives infected from their research from samples taken from over 30 countries -Reuters-“the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen 
and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said. (reut.rs/1L5knm0)”.
Some of the big name hard drive manufacturers (who also claim to not know anything about it) are Seagate, Western Digital and Micron.
Kaspersky Lab calls the shadowy group (thinly veiled reference to NSA, lol) the “Equation Group“.
The Equation Group has also been labeled as the “Death Star” of malmare…ouch. Not sure if that’s really a compliment.
CNET asked NSA to comment on this story and got this reply:
“We are aware of the recently released report. We are not going to comment publicly on any allegations that the report raises, or discuss any details. On January 17, 2014, the President gave a detailed address about our signals intelligence activities, and he also issued Presidential Policy Directive 28 (PPD-28). As we have affirmed publicly many times, we continue to abide by the commitments made in the President’s speech and PPD-28. The U.S. Government calls on our intelligence agencies to protect the United States, its citizens, and its allies from a wide array of serious threats – including terrorist plots from al-Qaeda, ISIL, and others; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; foreign aggression against ourselves and our allies; and international criminal organizations.” -end quote
Wow “the good old days”, if they ever really existed, lol. Yeah thanks for the lawyer speak. Blah Blah, terrorism, crime and whatever.
I’ve heard over the years many ways (and theories) that “the government” spies on our computers, most of them bullshit, but enough of them worth looking into and a few that check out. Actually more than a few that check out and not in a good way.
Is there any kind of cyber Kung-Fu we can use against this intrusion? Why are we having to protect ourselves from “the good guys“?
So now down to brass tacks. How do I get rid of that shit?! Assuming you have the skills to find out if it’s on your hard drive that is. Short answer…. you don’t. Take that fucking thing out of your tower (after saving what you need) and smash it with a brick in the driveway!
If we can figure anything out in the future dealing with this I will amend it here. For now those wanting a bit more meat and potatoes about the hows and whys can check out WIRED’s article here.
Stay tuned, Evil von Scary
