

Infamous Hacker Heading Chinese Antivirus Firm? - boh
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/11/infamous-hacker-heading-chinese-antivirus-firm/

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ChuckMcM
Nice bit of detective work, it certainly would seem that this could be another
case of a 'bad guy' deciding to use his skills above board to make money. The
question of whether or not the company will be 'legit' is completely bogus
though. It isn't an uncommon path for folks and when they've gone above board
they have been just as faithful to the 'protect' mission as they were to the
'attack' mission. About the only thing you can really say is that if this guy
really is a state sponsored actor then is Anvisoft a cover for the Chinese
military.

Answering _that_ question would be a lot harder. Is Semantic really being run
by the CIA? Sure there are tinfoil types will say they do, but seriously?

A long time ago I was talking to some folks about running x86 'emulators' on
SPARC for a product that would let you run PC programs on Sun Workstations.
One of the 'side' businesses that such an endeavor enabled was sharing how
various copy protection schemes worked with folks who were interested in
providing workarounds. I _could_ believe that a state sponsored Antivirus
company would pass on details of zero days they got by watching other things
try to break into systems they were on.

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deliciouscoffee
I think fundamentally the issue is one of accountability and trust. The
company being unwilling to disclose the name of its chief executive or its
true physical location is (and should be) a major red flag. That same company
is also offering a product that once installed will have complete access to a
user's computer and data. To me at least this is enough to call the legitimacy
of the company into question.

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paulsutter
Come on guys, would you install an antivirus package from a company that
purports to be run out of this storefront?

<http://twitpic.com/bd8nyj/full>

“The person who runs anvisoft company is not worth mentioning because he is
unknown to you. Yes, the company is located at Canada. 5334 Yonge Street,
Suite 141, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6V1, Canada.”

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seanmcdirmid
I don't understand what the controversy is about. Who better to work on anti-
virus software than an former virus writer? They know the enemy, so to speak.

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apawloski
Because not every criminal can become a Frank Abagnale. It's very possible
that Withered Rose is legitimate now, but the reluctance to install his code
is not unreasonable.

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mimog
This sort of thing is what keeps the myth of antivirus companies being the
ones creating all the damn viruses going.

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rohern
“The person who runs anvisoft company is not worth mentioning because he is
unknown to you.”

Now that is customer service.

