The Revolverlution is here

...add to this people now crossing oceans to "hunt down" the Mafia and you have an absolute powder-keg ready to blow, such is the rage that exists in the tinderbox world of security. Be thankful to the volunteers that remove infections from end-user's PCs. Every time they do so, they may just be averting a scenario like this and (just maybe) helping prevent the creation of a potential monster from which we may never recover.

One thing is for certain - security is no longer something that is bought off the shelf for £29.00. It is much, much more serious than that. Problem is, how on earth can we prevent things from getting any crazier?

Some time ago, I stated that it was only a matter of time before people involved in security pushed too hard against the black forces swarming across the net, and that those same black forces would push back. Question was, when, and how hard?

And if you missed Sunbelt's post on what happened to Dmitry Zagorodniy, get over there and read it. Then come back and read the reason I do what I do (if you haven't already from the first link above) and wonder quietly if that nutball I met on the train is still alive and well, or floating at the bottom of some Russian riverbed.

Who knows? It's hard to say. But the notion that security is something that is (literally) life or death is something that I think about every single day. Admittedly, only because this notion of security pushed to an extreme and logical conclusion is what got me into this in the first place, but also because I have long toyed with the idea that, as more and more illicit cash winds up choking online revenue streams, serves as a front for largescale online fraud operations, child pornography rings and drug dealing - the people that bust this stuff need to be aware just how far the bad guys are prepared to go and take the appropriate precautions.

Check out Hurricane Digital Media, for example - check out the swords under the desk, the blades on the wall, what appears to be some kind of Spas-12 shotgun lying on the desk. All precautions - all 100% needed, in my honest opinion.

The "digital war", as we sometimes like to think of it, is not really about "busting" adware companies, though it is certainly fun (and gives me some small satisfaction) in doing so. It's like a pantomime - sometimes the "good guys" win, sometimes the "bad guys" get one over on them. Every now and then, they team up (just like in the comics) to defeat a more serious foe.

And a jolly good time was had by all.

However - the real meat is the dark underbelly of the web.

Where the bad people live.

Where the big busts happen.

And never forget that, while busting punks left, right and straight down the middle is hugely enjoyable - there is some element of risk involved. It's a case of how far they're prepared to go, and what you're willing to do in return to prevent something as awful as this happening. A lot of the time, people that work in security are doing the job of the law enforcers for them, only minus the protection that being a guy with a badge can bring. After a while, you have to ask what kind of lunatic would actually work in that kind of environment willingly. Maybe it's something that people in this field haven't thought about too much before, but make no mistake - it will continue to grow in their minds as the stakes raise and the chips are cashed in.

The sad truth is this - more people will likely be injured (or worse), real-world style, in the future. That "powder-keg ready to blow" has indeed erupted, and the blast has finally leapt from the digital screen to the world around us, and there may not be a way to extinguish the flames.

The Revolverlution is here.