Thread: New firearms agency sneaks in...

This new agency had a booth at the field days. Just in-between corrections and the fire department. As I walked past I noticed fire and then right back off the lane a tent with a gun safe that caught my attention. Looked at the signs oh yer thats it. I didn't go in as I didn't want my day ruined.

Originally Posted by quentin

One can only hope that a website hosted by Redshield Security Limited, will remain secure.
The weakest link will most likely come from "inside". i.e. ineptitude, negligence, or inappropriate use.

Redshield won't be hosting the site.

The chumps haven’t done any QA on the site…

The FRM43A form on the new site doesn’t work correctly either, when populating it electronically. When you enter either the sellers or buyers licence expiry date, and then tab to the next box, it rearranges the digits.

Better to use the old form until they sort it, or populate the new form by hand.

Do it all by hand, always. Make them work for it.

Originally Posted by Rushy

I woke at 04:58 this morning and have been as woke as ever since. Especially since I had a coffee. Ha ha ha ha
Oh and to plagiarise Shakespeare, “What's in a name? That which we call Police, by any other word would still be Police”..”

Or somehting.....

hol hum -news out yesterday of hackers breaching govt dept computer systems. this new arms agency has got to be a plumb target for an aspiring hacker do you think???

Originally Posted by kotuku

hol hum -news out yesterday of hackers breaching govt dept computer systems. this new arms agency has got to be a plumb target for an aspiring hacker do you think???

I don't think it I know it.

The hacked firearms registry information becomes a shopping list for criminals.

What/where firearms are. Who the owner is.

Originally Posted by kotuku

hol hum -news out yesterday of hackers breaching govt dept computer systems. this new arms agency has got to be a plumb target for an aspiring hacker do you think???

That's not really correct. Mercury IT appear to have been the subject of a ransomware attack. It appears they host some database systems for a range of organizations.

Ransomware is not really a "hacker" thing. Usually (94% of the time) it's kicked off with a phishing email which is usually part of a broad (not targetted) operation. Ransomware gets in, encrypts your files, and you get prompted to pay up to get your data back.

It's disappointing as ransomware is easily defended against, and indicates a failure of their systems and processes at multiple levels.

Originally Posted by Tommy

When you jazz something up with ethnic names, it always works better, it's a recipe for success, everytime

Yet more evidence of the "transparent" labour government that all the disciples voted for

Originally Posted by vulcannz

That's not really correct. Mercury IT appear to have been the subject of a ransomware attack. It appears they host some database systems for a range of organizations.

Ransomware is not really a "hacker" thing. Usually (94% of the time) it's kicked off with a phishing email which is usually part of a broad (not targetted) operation. Ransomware gets in, encrypts your files, and you get prompted to pay up to get your data back.

It's disappointing as ransomware is easily defended against, and indicates a failure of their systems and processes at multiple levels.

....I think you're being a little disingenuous, or maybe overcritical of @kotuku here.... Paraphrasing the comment: "New Arms Agency Online..... prime target....." - The real issue as rightly highlighted, is that the "registry" is a prime target for hacking...(hackers....whatever the tech-geeks call them).
Either you've missed the point or seek to spin a genuine concern....?

Mmmm yeah maybe. Hackers are motivated either by financial gain (money), activism (usually defacing a website), or by nation state motives. For a hacker to attack such a site there would be little change of financial gain, sure the gangs would love a shopping list but would they pay enough to make the effort worthwhile - unlikely. I'd actually see hacktivism being the most likely threat, e.g. one of the local anti gun groups - but would they pay for a hacker to have a go - again I think it's unlikely (or maybe some pro-gun group could have a go). So while many of us may consider such a database a prime target the reality is quite the opposite.

But back to kotukus post, it's neither a hacker attack (so far) nor government department systems - that was my point.

Originally Posted by vulcannz

Mmmm yeah maybe. Hackers are motivated either by financial gain (money), activism (usually defacing a website), or by nation state motives. For a hacker to attack such a site there would be little change of financial gain, sure the gangs would love a shopping list but would they pay enough to make the effort worthwhile - unlikely. I'd actually see hacktivism being the most likely threat, e.g. one of the local anti gun groups - but would they pay for a hacker to have a go - again I think it's unlikely (or maybe some pro-gun group could have a go). So while many of us may consider such a database a prime target the reality is quite the opposite.

But back to kotukus post, it's neither a hacker attack (so far) nor government department systems - that was my point.

Question springing out of your response: what do you suppose a hacker gains out of hacking DHB records? refer: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...b-cyber-attack
Based on your response; do you think it's:
a) Financial gain? (Any suggestion where the $ comes from?)
b) Activism? (What kind of wanker targets a health provider?)

I'm not having a dig, just trying to point out that:
a) FAL holders don't currently have the exposure that WILL occur as a result of any registry - no matter how much reassurance is provided.
b) While you don't believe the incentives are there for gangs to "pay enough to make the effort worthwhile" - there are several examples of police being extorted/corrupted in our current system..... throw in access to a broader database of information and I'm sure you can see the concern.

Have a lovely day.

One of the drivers in hacking for monetary gain is the low likelihood of prosecution. Hence most hacking groups operate in countries that are out of reach of the targets law enforcement. So extorting/corruption is unlikely. Keep in mind good hacking groups are making anything up to millions of dollars, and are looking for least effort opportunities.

The question you ask - what wanker targets a health provider. A lot of ransomware doesn't explicitly target anybody, think of it like leaflet drop. They just drop a bunch of emails and see what bites. To some extent the processes are automated. So when you see these healthcare providers getting hit what has happened is some numpty has clicked on an email link which has led to the ransomware. The first the bad guys usually know about it is when they either get someone wanting to pay or their bots start exfiltrating large amounts of data.

A lot of ransomware systems operate as a service. So you have a guy that writes the code, then sells it to someone who distributes it to others who pay for it (there are usually options like rent it for a month, pay for the program outright etc). It all operates under a proper business model with support and all sorts of good shit. There is that much money involved.

Cert NZ have just released their latest report: https://www.cert.govt.nz/about/quart...insights-2022/ , have a look at the incident categories. You can see in the actual "hacky" categories there is not much activity.

Originally Posted by vulcannz

One of the drivers in hacking for monetary gain is the low likelihood of prosecution. Hence most hacking groups operate in countries that are out of reach of the targets law enforcement. So extorting/corruption is unlikely. Keep in mind good hacking groups are making anything up to millions of dollars, and are looking for least effort opportunities.

The question you ask - what wanker targets a health provider. A lot of ransomware doesn't explicitly target anybody, think of it like leaflet drop. They just drop a bunch of emails and see what bites. To some extent the processes are automated. So when you see these healthcare providers getting hit what has happened is some numpty has clicked on an email link which has led to the ransomware. The first the bad guys usually know about it is when they either get someone wanting to pay or their bots start exfiltrating large amounts of data.

A lot of ransomware systems operate as a service. So you have a guy that writes the code, then sells it to someone who distributes it to others who pay for it (there are usually options like rent it for a month, pay for the program outright etc). It all operates under a proper business model with support and all sorts of good shit. There is that much money involved.

Cert NZ have just released their latest report: https://www.cert.govt.nz/about/quart...insights-2022/ , have a look at the incident categories. You can see in the actual "hacky" categories there is not much activity.

.....I'm feeling so much better now that my information will be in a database that will be hacked by someone treating the harvesting of information as a business....