Google has unleashed its legal fury on hackers and scammers
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This week we look into Google’s claims that its “affirmative litigation” deters and raises awareness of bad behavior, and we speak to its skeptics who wonder whether these suits are too small a gesture.
About three years ago, some of Google’s security engineers came to company attorneys with a gigantic mess.
The security team had discovered that Google unwittingly was enabling the spread of malicious software known as Glupteba. The malware had corrupted more than 1 million Windows computers, turning them into vehicles to mine cryptocurrency and spy on users. By hijacking Google accounts, purchasing Google ads to lure in users, and misusing Google cloud tools, the hackers behind the operation were on their way to infecting even more computers.
Tech giants such as Google long have had a playbook for destroying botnets like Glupteba. They call up fellow companies and US authorities and together coordinate a massive takedown operation. Sometimes, the cops file criminal charges. But this time around, Google’s legal team recommended an approach that the company hadn’t pursued in years: Sue the hackers for money.
The eventual lawsuit against two Russian men and a dozen unnamed individuals allegedly behind Glupteba would be the first of a run of at least eight cases that Google has filed against various hackers and scammers, adding to a sporadic few filings in the past. The tactic, which Google calls affirmative litigation, is meant to scare off would-be fraudsters and generate public awareness about scams. Now, for the first time, Google is opening up about this strategy.
Leaders of Google’s security and legal teams tell WIRED they believe going after people in court has paid off. Google hasn’t yet lost a case; it has collected almost all of the more than $2 million that it has won through the legal process, and forced hundreds of companies or websites to shut down. The awards are trivial to Google and its parent Alphabet, a $2 trillion company, but can be devastating for the defendants.
Some attorneys who’ve studied how the private sector uses litigation to enforce the law are skeptical about the payoff for the plaintiffs. David Noll, a Rutgers University law professor and author of a forthcoming book on state-supported private enforcement, Vigilante Nation, says it’s difficult to imagine that companies could bring the volume of cases needed to significantly stop abuse. “The fact that there is a small chance you might be named in a suit isn’t really going to deter you,” he says.
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This is really important, thank you for sharing
Welder/Piledriver at Trucano Construction
3 周Can regulR people get in on the action. LOL?
Carpenter at Wybenga contracting
1 个月Insightful!
CxO chez 199a Consulting
1 个月Bon à savoir?!
Chief Executive Officer at Amp labs LTD
1 个月The near future is cyber plundering of wed based data and individual computers. Anything on line will be predated. The cyber security company‘s capabilities will be ravaged by super AI and super computers. I do not enjoy making these prediction, however, it has been already employed by the powers-to-be and will only accelerate in the future.