At least 100-years ago I had a friend that everyone called Mr. Skuzzy. Named after SCSI — a hard/storage drive — I think I heard he died maybe 20 years or so ago. SCSI drives have been replaced by newer SATA drives that are faster and cheaper — and newer hackers have replaced my friend.
Oh yes, Mr. Skuzzy was the best hacker around back in the day. We worked on a few projects together (he had a reputable tech job at a pretty important company) and I was fascinated by his skills. I did my best to learn everything I could from him just short of getting in the music bootlegging business. He had my computer so loaded up with hacked software it’s a miracle I’m not still doing time at Folsom State or Rikers Island. 🙂
Because I’m not in prison, I had the opportunity to get a “Mom & Me” doctor/hospital selfie yesterday.
Besides amazing skills to hack IN where he shouldn’t be… he also knew how to keep others out.
Evidently, there’s a whole lot of companies that need a Mr. Skuzzy right now. The hacking group, Lapsus$, recently hit Nvidia… and then Samsung… and now Microsoft. The South American group provided screenshots showing the data they grabbed, and don’t seem concerned about hiding their activity. They use social media to announce their attacks and even advertise for credentials — they need employees and vendors for access.
I’m not sure which side the modern-day Mr. Skuzzy would be on, but I’m pretty sure he would follow the money. 😯
Microsoft has named the group “DEV-0537” and say they’ve already attacked government, technology, telecom, media, retail, and health care sectors across the world — and they’re known to take over individual user accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges to drain holdings. The group also claimed they were the actors that hacked Okta (#1 identity and access management company – used by Gmail, Office 365, Salesforce and more… basically most every business account out there). While Okta first said the breach was contained, they’re just now admitting that customers ‘may have been impacted.’
And it’s only getting worse!
The White House said early this week there was “evolving intelligence” that Russia may launch cyberattacks against critical infrastructure in the US and expressed frustration that some entities have failed to fix known flaws that can be exploited. ARG!
Since Mr. Skuzzy has passed on, there’s a huge need for Mr. & Mrs. SATAs — newer and improved versions of the once impressive hacking dude — on the good side of the cyber war. If I were only about 45-years or so younger. 🙂