Hacking group purportedly hacked NSA-linked Equation Group, auctioning cyber weapons

You don't see this every day...a hacking group claims to have hacked a U.S. intelligence agency-linked hacking group and has put the 'best' cyber weapons up for auction. When Kaspersky Lab released a report on the cyberespionage “Equation Group,” researchers said the threat actor “surpasses anything known in terms of complexity and sophistication of techniques.” The group’s toolset resembled what is used by U.S. intelligence agencies and included an attack that could reprogram your hard drive firmware. Kaspersky didn’t go so far as to accuse the NSA of being linked to the Equation Group, but many news outlets and security researchers did. Well now a group dubbed the Shadow Brokers claim to have hacked the Equation Group and put the possible NSA-linked cyber weapons up for auction.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3107310/security/hacking-group-purportedly-hacked-nsa-linked-equation-group-auctioning-cyber-weapons.html

Well now, this is interesting. I wonder what's going to happen next. Is the NSA going to admit to their "dirty deeds"? Or, are they going to classically give the old "We can neither confirm nor deny..." deflection clause when they are eventually exposed and confronted? My bets are on the latter and not the former.

welcome to the pandora....game?truth?game?truth?game.....gay~~~ XD

In a way, it's a bit silly. Everyone knows that everyone these days is actively trying to hack each other.

If you do some serious study of the history of international interactions, particularly in the field of SPYING AND SABOTAGE, you will learn that EVERY major power, and half the minor ones, have ALWAYS had spies and saboteurs running around the globe on their behalf.

Remember when the original leaks of "shocking" diplomatic information was done some time back by that guy who's hiding in Russia now? Snowden? His leaks, showed that diplomats were bad-mouthing each other and using intelligence gathered through taps on the phones and so on of our own allies.

I thought the protestations about it all was funny, because I DO study history, so I know that everyone has ALWAYS spied on their allies. The British even spied on the US during WW2, and vice versa.

Whenever such spies are caught, the country who was being spied on, makes a big show of being offended and amazed, but really, no one in a leadership position is actually surprised.

It's all just like that scene in Casablanca:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME

Captain Louis Renault is shocked SHOCKED! to learn that Gambling is going on, right before being handed his winnings for the evening.

You're right on, Igor. The whole thing's a free-for-all. There ain't nothin' sacred, not a thing. So yeah, this isn't news...at least, not to me anyway.