“Holy Spirit” Infects Russian Computers

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In December, Kaspersky Lab reported that Russia outranked the USA, Germany, China, and Poland for the number of cyber-attacks on computers in 2013. Besides that, adding a spiritual dimension to the world of hacking, Kaspersky reported that a new Trojan virus emerged in Russia that locks computers and demands money for church repairs. Victims may feel the urge to pray if the malware hits their computers, which claims to act “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. More specifically, the Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Dapato.dggc virus claims that the last of the three aspects of the Trinity tells it to lock up user’s files. It promises recovery if one coughs up a donation, allegedly for church restoration. Russian beggars often use a similar trick in the non-virtual world; they dress up as priests and pretend to collect money for church needs. On Monday, Kaspersky Lab said that the Russian-language Trojan circulates as a .zip archive containing unspecified court documents allegedly intended for the user. The hackers behind the spiritual computer sabotage remain unidentified. The Church hasn’t commented on the allegedly pious malware at the time of publication. Allegedly, Russia’s undergoing a religious revival, as polls shoe the number of believers (but not churchgoers) skyrocketing in recent years.

14 January 2014

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140115/186520190/Holy-Spirit-Infects-Russian-Computers.html

Editor’s Note:

However, do note that, historically, Russians have never been “weekly” churchgoers. Like it or not, religion is more a factor of identity and not belief… one is Russian, therefore, one is Orthodox. Nevertheless, don’t look down on this. Trust me, Russians who only go to church on Easter act more properly in sacred spaces than American “evangelicals” do… they “know” the etiquette and behave in a fitting way, mostly. Americans Born Agains have no sense of the sacred and holy, despite all their churchgoing and bible reading. To put the cherry on the sundae, the typical Russian has a real sense of their shortcomings and sins, whereas the American “evangelical” (and those influenced by such rotters) is a prideful self-centred pietistic brat proud of being part of the saved “little flock” (forever spouting scripture in a lunatic attempt to show everyone how goody-goody they are). If I had to choose, I’d choose the good folks who might not be so overtly religious… there’s nothing so putrid as smarmy pseudo-religion… and I’m not alone in thinking that…

BMD