ATM Vendors Threaten, Stop Research Presentation

An anonymous reader writes "A presentation about 'The Underground Economy,' by Italian white hat hacker and security expert Raoul Chiesa, was replaced at the last minute during last week's Hack In The Box conference. The reason behind this cancellation was that Chiesa received legal pressure from ATM vendors over the fact that the originally scheduled presentation covers details of various techniques and exploits of vulnerabilities that cyber criminals use to break into ATMs — flaws that have been known for a long time."

Re:Publish it on Piratebay instead

[countertrolling]

It's not illegal to speak or publish your thoughts.

It's not illegal to take pictures either, but people are still being harassed for it. Those rights are regularly violated, and not enough people stand up to it to take notice. Our rights don't mean much if nobody will defend them.

Why would he be in trouble?

Precedence. People have been arrested for revealing exploits. And several conferences have been canceled in the states over these issues in the past also.

The safest bet by far is to remain anonymous. The information is more important than the guy's ego.

It always backfires

[retardpicnic]

Remember when Jeff Moss had his talk cancelled, or Kim Zetter? All it did was make people salivate to read thier presentation when they released it online at a later date. The last thing you want to do to this demographic is tell them the info is "too dangerous (see awesome) for them to hear. It will be everywhere with in the week.

Re:This isn't dangerous in the way they claim

[Wowsers]

I don't trust ANY banks. As for ATM security, the new "chip / pin" on credit and debit cards in Europe is insecure, even more so as cards STILL have the magnetic strip on them, which has the exact same details in the chip on the magnetic strip, making the inclusion of the chip pointless.

Re:Publish it on Piratebay instead

[JockTroll]

It's not illegal, but Big Money makes and enforce its own laws. And the most important of those laws is: we're rich and powerful, obey us or else.

Too bad nobody calls their "else". People don't know their rights anymore, or are afraid to defend them. Unfortunately with good reason because there's plenty of both public and private uniformed thugs who make up the law on the spot and exercise their might with the power of the baton.

Another decade of this, or less, and the populace will have been forced into submission, ready to do anything if ordered to by an "authority figure".

Wise up, people: organize yourselves, gather in pro-rights associations and have lawyers on your side. When a person or group of people is harassed by uniformed or suited goons, take them to court. Have the fact publicized by the press or by any means necessary. Embarass them, ridicule them, nothing kills fear more than laughter. Nothing hurts more than a good lawsuit.

A guy I knew once was just touched by a private security guard at a mall who was trying to play Dirty Harry. He immediately fell to the ground screaming like a stuck pig. A friend nearby promptly shouted "MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!" He remained still on the ground and another friend (female) kept screaming "MURDERER! MURDERER!"

It was PRICELESS. All caught on tape. People around gathered, and this uniformed guy was probably thinking if he had better run away or gun down everyone. Manager got called. Ambulance was called. Police appeared. Although this guy wasn't hurt, the fact that he had been pushed by the guard with no reason (seen on the CCTV when the security firm tried to exculpate themselves) was ground for criminal charged against the guard and for a big lawsuit against the firm by the mall management. The bad publicity (thing ended up on TV and papers) caused the firm to lose all contracts throughout the city and collapsed in a couple of months.

Play hard. We can win, but gloves must come off. If they shit on you, you shit back. With some diarrhoea.

Funny

[acalltoreason]

Its funny that they think, I'm assuming, that not letting someone speak about it is helping them in any way. The more people who know about vulnerabilities the safer we are because while there will be more people working to exploit it, there are also more people working to patch it.

Re:you'd rather your bank was burgled?

[h4rr4r]

Says the moron that thinks ignoring the problem is as good as fixing it.

Re:Publish it on Piratebay instead

[justin12345]

The problem is you don't really have to be convicted of a crime to be thrown in jail, have your property confiscated, or have your life ruined. My aunt is a criminal defense attorney. She defends people the government (US not Italian) has declared potential criminals. According to her, unless you are a very wealthy individual, simply being accused of a serious crime will either land you in jail for a while, ruin you financially, or most likely both. If you have a generous family they might be able to sell a house to keep you out of jail on bail (assuming you are declared innocent). In the end, most people plea bargain, which usually results in some sort of parole arrangement where their every move is monitored by a bunch of thugs that got all Cs in high school.

The DMCA makes even knowing that number a crime. Publishing it here even more so. Though I doubt you will, you could spend the rest of your life and every penny you will ever make convincing a series of judges that the First Amendment supersedes the DMCA.

I'm not saying this is right. I'm specifically saying its wrong.