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Hiep Dang

Hiep Dang
Hiep Dang is the director of operations for McAfee Labs. He is currently in charge of opening a new research & ...

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McAfee Labs :

"Avert Labs Darwin Award" Nomination

Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 4:29pm by Hiep Dang
Hiep Dang

This article literally made me laugh out loud, so I had to write about it.

I hope you’ve heard of the Darwin Awards. This would be my nomination for the Avert Labs Darwin Award (if we had such an award).

Evidently, a company called WorkSpace had a batch of their Apple computers stolen from their office. One of these computers had an application installed called Flickrbooth, which has the ability to automatically take snapshots with a webcam and upload them to a designated Flickr account.

Well, a few days ago, they discovered pictures of the new “owner” of their computers on their Flickr account. I present to you the face of today’s modern cybercriminal:

I guess this is a low-cost way of Lo-jacking your computer. :-)

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Comments (5)

  • Vesselin Bontchev October 8, 2007 11:25PM

    Not all Darwin Award entries result in demise – true, but in order to qualify for the award, the subject *must* remove himself from the gene pool. For instance, if he remains alive, he has to lose the ability to have children. Read the rules:
    http://darwinawards.com/rules/
    Rule #1 says: “Reproduction: Out of the gene pool: dead or sterile.”

    Reply
  • Ken Westin September 28, 2007 9:59AM

    There is software that you can install on your MacBook that will do this same thing, only without any user “accidentally” uploading their image. It actually takes a video of whoever is in front of the system if the device is stolen, as well as gathers network information, location and all nearby wireless networks. It is called GadgetTrak Verey ( http://www.gadgettrak.com )

    Reply
  • Hiep Dang September 28, 2007 9:24AM

    Not all Darwin Award entries result in demise. But I agree that this gentleman might not have necessarily committed the crime. That is up to the Legal System to decide.

    Reply
  • CopiaTECH SMB Security September 28, 2007 8:18AM

    Great find Hiep, I did a little more research, as I am blogging about this event as well, and as Paul Harvey would say…”Here is the rest of the story”… http://www.copiatech.com/%e2%80%9cavert-labs-darwin-award%e2%80%9d-nomination/

    Reply
  • Vesselin Bontchev September 27, 2007 11:18PM

    Doesn’t qualify for a Darwin – the perp did not remove himself from the gene pool. Besides, the new owner is not necessarily guilty or stupid in any way – perhaps the stolen computer was just sold to him.

    Reply