Comments on: Hackers swipe millions of dollars worth of carbon credit swaps

By: Phlip

Phlip — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Uh oh, he said the T word!!

By: Cllzzrd

Cllzzrd — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So the thieves got robbed? Darn…

By: Tyrsfist

Tyrsfist — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I want to know what they’re going to do with the stolen carbon credits. I mean, their an electronic conceptual license, so reselling them on the street isn’t exactly gonna work…

Then again, I still don’t understand how throwing money into the pockets of a bunch of bureaucrats off-sets the carbon emissions of burning down 1000 acres of old growth forest, so what-ev’.

Also, RE: Carbon Tax – The average adult human breaths out half a metric ton of CO2 a year. Should we asses a tax on this?

By: ill lich

ill lich — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Uhhhh. . . this sounds familiar.

By: fritz

fritz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just like angusm (#5) said: It was a case of good old phishing. Plain social engineering, no 1337 hacking skills involved. Any criminal worth his money could do that. Stealing environmental destruction licenses is pretty easy.

By: Phlip

Phlip — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If the Global Warming thought-leaders don’t spin this into “See? GW is a socialist plot!”, their obedient followers will do it for them…

By: Jetse

Jetse — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Now shoot me again: “
The Greenman Watches the Black Bar Go Up, Up, Up” is also about a (mysterious) company amassing carbon credits like crazy. OK: it’s set in Brazil (not Germany), and it’s not a phishing scam: something else entirely…

Another SHINE anthology story that’s — at least according to Boing Boing’s recent posts — timely, topical and relevant.

By: Tweeker

Tweeker — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Carbon credits themselves are a scheme.

If you think CO2 is bad, a straight up by the ton tax is the way to go.

By: angusm

angusm — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I keep seeing the perpetrators described as “hackers”, but it sounds like a straightforward spear-phishing scheme. No hacking (cracking) required. Or are we now using ‘hacker’ to describe anyone who does something naughty on the Internet?

By: Scott Bieser

Scott Bieser — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sometimes the schadenfreude gets so intense I have to turn off my Internet and go watch cartoons or something like that.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Obviously they know a sucker when they see one.

By: bassplayinben

bassplayinben — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m with Tweeker… the whole concept of carbon credits seems like yet another way to blame someone and let someone else pat themselves on the back while we continue to burn fossil fuels and fail to invest in a true path to alternative energy. Maybe I just don’t spend enough time thinking about convoluted solutions to simple problems.