Greek Banks Under Cyberattack, Face Ransom Demands (ft.com) 42
An anonymous reader writes: Hackers have targeted three Greek banks for a third time in five days, demanding a ransom from each lender of 20,000 bitcoin (€7m), according to Greek police and the country's central bank. A group calling itself the Armada Collective demanded the bitcoin ransom after staging its first attacks last Thursday, and then threatened a full collapse of the unnamed banks' websites if they refused to pay up. These initial attacks took the form of a distributed denial of service — flooding the banks' websites with requests so that they crashed under the strain. On Thursday, they succeeded in disrupting electronic transactions at all three banks for a short period, but customer information was protected, a police official said.
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I immediately thought of U2, but there's plenty more [billboard.com].
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A bit old-school, but how about Enya [wikipedia.org]?
Or else *WHAT*? Wreck the Greek economy? (Score:1)
This is like approaching the owner of a rust-and-bondo 1977 Pinto after he parks and demanding $100 or else "something might happen to the car's paint job".
Kinda makes you wonder just how stupid the extortionists are...
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They should have targeted the boss of all imaginary currencies...The Federal Reserve.
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That same thought struck me as well. If you're robbing a bank, why not target one that actually has cash?
Why not target institutions of OPEC countries, which actually have cash to burn?
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Where's Willie Sutton [wikipedia.org] when they need him?
Re:greek banks (Score:4, Insightful)
Haha I was thinking the same thing. Blackmail a bankrupt country. Brilliant plan.
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Should we suppose the banks in Greece are substantially different from those the world over??
Sure, the customers are out of viable currency...
Can someone remind me, please... (Score:2)
Can someone remind me, please... why do banks need web sites, when there are ATMs everywhere?
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Can someone remind me, please... why do banks need web sites, when there are ATMs everywhere?
So I can manage my money without having to go to an ATM?
Also. it's a whole lot easier to set up automated payments for a biller when I can type the biller's info on a full keyboard.
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Can someone remind me, please... why do banks need web sites, when there are ATMs everywhere?
So I can manage my money without having to go to an ATM?
Also. it's a whole lot easier to set up automated payments for a biller when I can type the biller's info on a full keyboard.
You mean like the ones they have at your local bank branch?
Or are you arguing that a convenience is worth paying the ransom on your account?
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Let's see, which would I prefer...
Go out in the rain, stand in line for an ATM. Then, when it's my turn, get out the piece of paper on which I printed the info, awkwardly type it in while a bunch of impatient people are waiting behind me and looking over my shoulder. Hope I won't get mugged. Then back into the rain to go back home.
Or...
Stay right here on my sofa, go to the bank website, securely enter my credentials, copy/paste the payment info, send. Done before I would have had my coat and shoes on.
Frankl
Angela Merkel (Score:2)
Plz go.
Kick me when I'm down (Score:2)
Attacking the Greek banks is like taking food from a homeless person. Sure, it's easy, but why be so vicious?
If a Greek bank collapses, real people suffer. Blameless people suffer. It's like kicking a dying dog: there's no excuse for it, it's just mean.
Someone should identify the perps and make them endure the equivalent hardship to what they are causing.
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You stole my post title!
Who are these no lives? Are they the same guys who off with a beggars hat full of coins?
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The blind beggar's hat at that.
Don't worry, everyone! (Score:2)
When the country collapses, I'm sure the bankers will be the first to be lined up against the wall. There's always a silver lining!