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[Message Precedent sur la mailing][Message Suivant sur la mailing][Precedent dans le fil][Prochain dans le fil][Index par Date][Index par fil] [funsec] Links Between Phorm & Russian Organized Crime?

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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Sure, I have heard all about Phorm, and the saga that has been playing out in the UK regarding "overly invasive" advertizement insertion via deep-packet Inspection (DPI): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorm But aside from that, I hadn't really done any background fact checking aside from the stories in the popular trade press (my day job keeps me pretty busy :-) But rsk dropped a bombshell on my today, via a message to the NANOG mailing list, which almost made my explode: http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/msg08091.html Maybe I've had my head in the sand on this particular issue, but this is the first I had heard of this claim: "Phorm Linked to RBN" http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=489948&cid=22777122 So I did some digging (just a little -- a couple of Google searches) to see what else I could dig up.

Caveat: I can neither vouch or validate any of these assertions, but they do highlight some very, very questionable background.

The /. commentary does not provide any references, but a quick Google search yeilded an article in The (UK) Mail on Sunday: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_ id=430955&in_page_id= And, of course, The Register has done a great job in covering Phorm (formerly known as 121Media) in "The Phorm Files": http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/29/phorm_roundup/ But I've also run across this: "The Russian Mafia is Raising its Ugly Head - this Time in Sheep?s Clothing" http://blog.cytrap.eu/?p=349 ..and also other sundry links on Kent Ertugrul (CEO of Phorm and 121Media), etc: Kent Ertugrul Phorm CEO http://www.phorm.com/about/exec_ertugrul.php Rootkit-spyware pusher ContextPlus shuts down http://blogs.zdnet.com/Spyware/?p=820 ...and this from http://www.badphorm.co.uk/ : "Someone said Phorm was linked to Russia, is it true?" "Yes, there is a clear link between Phorm and Russia.

Phorm employ Russian programmers: "The development team for the new software was recruited from Moscow's elite Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering, a vital part of of the Cold War spying effort and still a centre for developing Russia's 'national security' computer systems." So, while none of this provides any concrete evidence of links to Russian organized crime, it does kind leave you wondering.

- - ferg -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Desktop 9.6.3 (Build 3017) wj8DBQFILJitq1pz9mNUZTMRAslNAJwITqv4TXvWCzY/VRILIB+vK5Yp3ACglAQv ZA82TxjntVgKjT/ukjJ1Tw0= =dEyy -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg(at)netzero.net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.

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• Precedent par Date: Re: [funsec] Origin of: Soft & Gooey, Hard & Crunchy
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• Precedent par fil : [funsec] Connecting The Dots: RBN - Partners Official Sponsors of ICANN?
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