Begin forwarded message:
> From: MM > > > 7 February 2012 Last updated at 09:53 ET > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16927660 > Symantec code theft: Hackers 'attempted extortion' > > Hackers tried to extort money in exchange for keeping source code private, > security firm Symantec has said. > > It comes as hackers made public emails from law enforcement agents posing as > a Symantec employee. > > Officials pretended to be the security firm in order to "offer" the hackers > $50,000 (£32,000). > > However, more source code has allegedly been released after negotiations > apparently broke down. > > Symantec said it had contacted US law enforcement after being approached by > the hackers last month. > > In a lengthy series of emails, law enforcement agents posed as a fake > Symantec employee named Sam Thomas. > > The character was involved in lengthy email discussions with a hackers > believed to be from India-based group the Lords of Dharmaraja, part of the > wider Anonymous collective. > > Agents, posing as Sam, told the hackers: "We can pay you $2,500 per month for > the first three months. > > "In exchange, you will make a public statement on behalf of your group that > you lied about the hack (as you previously stated). > > "Once that's done, we will pay the rest of the $50,000 to your account and > you can take it all out at once. That should solve your problem." > > At one point, the hackers suspected FBI involvement, writing: "say hi to FBI > agents". > > Stolen code > By the end of the email discussion, negotiations began to stall. > > At 04:46 GMT on Tuesday, an account belonging to Anonymous suggested that > more than a gigabyte of source code from the company's PC Anywhere software > had been uploaded to torrent website The Pirate Bay. > > Symantec would not confirm that this was the case. > > "In January an individual claiming to be part of the 'Anonymous' group > attempted to extort a payment from Symantec in exchange for not publicly > posting stolen Symantec source code they claimed to have in their > possession," the company said in a statement. > > "Symantec conducted an internal investigation into this incident and also > contacted law enforcement, given the attempted extortion and apparent theft > of intellectual property. > > "The communications with the person(s) attempting to extort the payment from > Symantec were part of the law enforcement investigation. > > "Given that the investigation is still ongoing, we are not going to disclose > the law enforcement agencies involved and have no additional information to > provide." > > At risk > Last month, users of PC Anywhere software were told by the company to disable > its use where possible. > > The company confirmed that "old" source code stolen by the hackers had > exposed vulnerabilities in the program which allows remote access to > computers. > > Other programs affected include Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton > Internet Security and Norton Systemworks (Norton Utilities and Norton Go > Back). > > However, only PC Anywhere is said to be at risk. Symantec has been releasing > patches and further information via its website. > >
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