TheRainbowegoSweet007
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FBI Confirms It Deleted Files From 4,258 U.S.-Based Computers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/01/15/fbi-confirms-it-deleted-files-from-4258-us-based-computers/
majortool
They should do this. This is a good thing. White-hat hackers have done similar things.
dnsbubba
But, what we really need to be worried about is China getting our online viewing habits.
YvesStRollerblade
FBI Confirms It Deleted Files From 4,258 U.S.-Based Computers.
justherefortheconfession
Dear Professor. I'm sorry for the short notice, but I won't be able to submit my paper on time. The FBI deleted my paper from my computer (Winder, 2025). I am diligently working on it, and will submit it as I can recreate the research on which it was based. Your student, Steve
turbodog
Good yard
UsernameMayBeSubjectToChange
The 2025 'the dog ate my homework'
zanaria
I actually had something like that happen while I was taking programming. I was writing a program for an assignment and AVG sent my file away to their labs for testing without my permission, during which time I couldn't access it at all. It took like 3 days before they finished and I could access my own fucking program again. Their reasoning "Not many people have this file." Well I'd be pretty pissed if they did. It's why I ditched AVG...
AidanPrydeCork
More Details here, without the click/rage bait headline: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/14/doj-confirms-fbi-operation-that-mass-deleted-chinese-malware-from-thousands-of-us-computers/
MissivesFromTheTower
Interesting, thanks.
I wonder how they did it - Microsoft is mentioned in the article, so I would assume that some versions of Windows have a backdoor of some sort, or maybe the FBI was delivering its stuff via "updates". But this is just a wild guess.
conniecpu
It mentions another group that was able to do it for French computers as well and I'm getting the impression that they used the malware to delete itself
MissivesFromTheTower
You're right - I'm going through the linked article (this one: https://blog.sekoia.io/plugx-worm-disinfection-campaign-feedbacks/) for the first time, and that seems to be the case.
I wonder if it's a common thing for these things to have the ability to receive and execute autodestruct commands.
AidanPrydeCork
there is always a command and control server. if you crack that one, you can tell the software to download the newest "update" and then you can basically do anything you want with that software, incl self deletion