Irked By Cyberspying, Georgia Outs Russia-based Hacker

coondoggie writes "In one of the photos, the dark-haired, bearded hacker is peering into his computer's screen, perhaps puzzled at what's happening. Minutes later, he cuts his computer's connection, realizing he has been discovered. In an unprecedented move, the country of Georgia — irritated by persistent cyber-spying attacks — has published two photos of a Russia-based hacker who, the Georgians allege, waged a persistent, months-long campaign that stole confidential information from Georgian government ministries, parliament, banks and NGOs."

A "hacker" or a "cracker"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can somebody help me out here? Since the title of this submission has "hacker" in it, I thought it'd be about some guy who does cool stuff with hardware, or somebody who has been writing some intense open source software. But I don't see any of that here. Is this submission actually discussing a "cracker", rather than a "hacker"?

Re:A "hacker" or a "cracker"?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had the same eye-twitching reaction, but I fear we lost that battle 20 years ago.

Anyway, with the word "cracker" in the headline people might have mistakenly assumed it was about the American state.

Carpet

[Psychotria]

I love the carpet on his ceiling. Not sure how easy it is to vacuum though. Also, have I seen that guy in a movie somewhere?

In Soviet Russia...

[H3GS]

...Computer Hacks You! Seriously loving the decor though.

Re:lol georgia

[wonkey_monkey]

Story says hacker knew he was hacked after 10 minutes. How does that explain two pictures different angles one shirt less.

It's a well-known and interesting fact that hackers can move their laptops and put on a shirt in less than five minutes.

Re:Webcams

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly if this guy wasn't hacking from via some node he pwned (or through several routed nodes) he's just a neophyte. Too bad he's good as dead now that the georgians are after him and the russians don't like failure.

Re:Carpet

[Psychotria]

Looks more like pressed tin

Hmm. You might be right. Perhaps he added that as a comfort feature so that he could remove his tinfoil hat when indoors.

Re:lol georgia

[frosty_tsm]

My worry is what did the web cam capture between shots when he stood to get a shirt.

Re:A "hacker" or a "cracker"?

[TapeCutter]

Words are often meaningless without context, a 'cracker' could be..

In the UK, something really good, as in "she's a cracker".
Short hand for 'firecracker'.
Someone who breaks computer security.
Someone who can open a safe without the combination.
Something to do with an american state, not sure what?.

Rule of International Hacking

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't hack the country you're in. Russia has a history of excusing hackers who steal from other countries. You almost get congratulated if you steal and bring more money into the local economy. Even if they're upset, a lot of countries don't like to extradite.