Hacking Cap and Trade of CO2 for Fun and Profit

I still don’t fully understand how carbon trading works in Europe. I think they tax all industries based on what eco-religionists think is a pollutant- carbon dioxide which is a non-toxic, odorless, invisible gas. And they give that money to people who don’t work for a living. Whatever they do, it is very simple to shut it down. You just spearphish the customer base.

From the Copenhagen Post here:

Virus laden emails direct registry’s users to a fake website. All trading suspended until damage ascertained

The Danish CO2 quota register has been shut down since Tuesday after a spate of virus infected false emails were sent to registry users.

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA), charged with maintaining the registry, indicated that the closure has affected some 375 energy companies, together with 1200 private customers who speculate on CO2 quota trading in Denmark.

In cooperation with the EU and UN, the DEA has suspended all trading on the register until the eventual damage of the harmful emails is determined.

The viral attack did not involve the hacking of the register’s website directly, but instead targeted the users of the register, sending them an email virus purporting to originate from the DEA.

The agency is currently trying to determine how many registry customers have been affected and has warned more than 1500 users about the virus. In addition, the DEA has ordered the company hosting the fake website to remove it from the internet.

So the hackers were stealing credentials because this must be a lucrative market. Plus you could fudge how much taxes you owe if you managed to steal a critical account. It seems like cap and trade is important to keep in place, but not really critical to keep it up and running in the face of a simple phishing attack. I wonder if you can shut down other government services as easily?

McAffee’s blog says the hackers have spearphished more sites and more markets are taking themselves offline out of some type of fear. I applaud these efforts because the wind generated by my clapping hands powers a pinwheel that turns tiny turbines that generate green energy.