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The VAR or Video Assistant Referee monitor. PA Wire/PA Images

Robot referees and genetically engineered 'super athletes': Here's the future of sport

The Sunday Game could look very different ten or twenty years from now.

The way we live is changing fast. Every fortnight in our Future Focus series, supported by Volkswagen, we’ll look at how one aspect of everyday life could change in the coming years. This week: sports.

ATHLETICS, GAELIC FOOTBALL, rugby – yeah, they’re great, but what about drone racing? Robotic car rallies? Or genetically enhanced superhuman sports leagues?

The future of sports looks set to be pretty intense. Whether it’s gene-edited athletes, advances in referee technology or lasers – yes, lasers – technology will be playing a part in everything from the stadiums to the sliotars.

This summer we saw the FIFA World Cup setting precedents for soccer and other sports too. Russia 2018 was the first World Cup to use a video assistant referee to offer corrections to the on-pitch referees.

Although there were a few teething issues with referees unable to make contact with the video ref during some matches due to technical issues, the technology was deemed successful overall. Yes, the VAR monitor is currently operated a human, but most likely, the system will continue to be used and enhanced – potentially until human referees are replaced altogether.

[image alt="PA-37217205" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/08/pa-37217205-630x457.jpg" width="630" height="457" title="" class="alignnone" /end]

Ireland on the pitch

Russia 2018 was also the first World Cup to allow electronic performance and tracking systems during matches thanks to a company based in Newry, Co Down (meaning there was at least some Irish representation on the World Cup pitches despite neither ROI or NI making it out of the play-offs…)

Newry-based company STATSports provided both English and Belgian players – as well as teams such as Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Denmark and Morocco – with its APEX Team Series GPS device throughout the World Cup. The device tracks over 50 metrics, including average metabolic power, fatigue, stress load and impact on left and right side.

STATSports are going from strength to strength across plenty of other sports too, with data tracking set to become a much more intrinsic part of developing game tactics moving forward.

Right now, Fujitsu and the International Gymnastics Association are partnering to build 3-D laser sensors which gather data on gymnasts’ performances. The system is due to be completed in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and it will help judges to analyse and score the performances more accurately, potentially eliminating bias.

[image alt="Rio Olympic Games 2016 - Day Eleven" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/08/rio-olympic-games-2016-day-eleven-18-630x389.jpg" width="630" height="389" title="" class="alignnone" /end]

Although the system will operate as an assistant to the judges in 2020 rather than sole judge, the prospect of fully-AI scoring and judging panels might not be far behind.

There are countless other sports trackers currently available, such as BoB motion capture technology to help tennis players improve their technique and PIQ Sport Intelligence’s GAIA platform for tracking performance in sports such as boxing, skiing and kite boarding.

All in the genes

It’s not just your ski-jumping ability or your punching speed that’ll feed data collection going forward – there are also highly personalised gene-based forms of data collection in the pipeline which could help to improve your game.

For instance, the RugbyGene project is aiming to identify the genetic underpinnings of elite rugby athlete performance and sports injury. By knowing exactly what genetic sequence makes a rugby player a top class rugby player, we may be able to use gene-testing to single out potential high performers before they ever set foot on a pitch.

But if you don’t have the genes naturally, there’s always editing. Today, gene editing is nearly at the point where it could potentially be used by athletes, but the developments have already caught the attention of WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, who this year added “gene editing agents” to its list of banned substances.

Test tube athletes

The CRISPR gene editing technique can be used to remove cells from the body, edit them, and put them back in. China has already begun human trials, and trials in Europe are due to begin towards the end of 2018. At the moment these are focussed on curing disease, but will likely also have a huge impact on sport as athletes could be “created” rather than born.

This could also affect our understanding of athletes and sports in general. Today, some performance enhancers which are injected (such as erythropoietin) can be discovered through blood and urine tests.

But if erythropoietin is being created by the cells themselves through gene therapy, it’s difficult to detect – which may cause problems when it comes to drug testing ahead of sporting events. It’s possible that performance enhancement will become a lot more common, and a lot harder to control.

A Future of Sports report by FutureOf.org in 2016 even went so far as to predict that there will be separate leagues for “natural” and “enhanced” athletes, while safe and detectable performance enhancement drugs will be legalised to certain levels in sport.

[image alt="shutterstock_1092979016" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/08/shutterstock_1092979016-630x420.jpg" width="630" height="420" title="" class="alignnone" /end]

Getting the edge – legally

Supplements on the other hand may give athletes a legal edge. Researchers at DCU have found a supplement known as a ketone ester which could help fatigued players to make better decisions.

Decision-making in players has been shown to disimprove as a game progresses – but in a study of 11 players, this disimprovement did not take place in athletes who had taken ketone supplements.

Lead Investigator and Associate Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology at DCU, Dr Brendan Egan, says, “Given that team sports athletes are presented with a multitude of decisions throughout match play, interventions that preserve or improve decision-making could positively influence performance outcomes.”

All in all, the coming years in sports are likely to be busy ones. While athletes and sportspeople change, so too will the sports themselves. Drone racing already exists and the Drone Racing League is broadcast in 75 countries.

As self-driving cars become mainstream in day to day life, Formula 1 racing could become more niche.

And although the world was amazed when a computer beat the chess world champion back in 1997, today Japanese volleyball teams are training against a robot programmed to mimic players’ tactics and figure out how to beat them.

Forget the World Cup, how about a Humans Vs Robots Superleague?

More: Skip leg day because your DNA says so – Hear about the future of fitness in our latest podcast>

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    Mute Simon F
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    May 21st 2021, 9:30 AM

    They paid the ransom only way to get the decryption key.

    200
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    Mute Simon F
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    May 21st 2021, 9:44 AM

    @Simon F: they will get to about 95% decrypted and then will need to pay another ransom for the last 5%.

    I’m shocked but not surprised that this has happened. I’ve worked in government offices, IT security is a joke antivirus software poorly managed, Non patched outdated servers, and sub par firewall configuration. staff not trained in IT policies and procedures. I’ve worked in primary schools with better IT infrastructure and security.

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    Mute Ger Murphy
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    May 21st 2021, 10:49 AM

    @Simon F: and how do you know this? Recent similar events with hospital in Germany would suggest that the gang pulled back because of the. heat on them. But I guess facts are an annoyance.
    My own theory is Russia has used it’s influence and will / is expecting a reciprocal gesture from Ireland during its tenure on the security council.

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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    May 21st 2021, 11:01 AM

    @Simon F: Not necessarily the case. There have been cases of hackers having a change of heart depending on who / what is affected.

    I do however agree that the IT systems / management of most goverment agencies are a joke and I would have very little faith in any of them.

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    Mute Seán Dillon
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    May 21st 2021, 11:20 AM

    @Simon F: Don’t believe so, did similar last month to a major hospital in America. Negotiators told hackers that it was a hospital and they gave them the decryption key. This is bad press for them and they don’t want the pressure, when they realised it was a health care system they made the decryption key available. Personal data still out there though.

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    Mute Mike
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    May 21st 2021, 12:13 PM

    @Simon F: Or, perhaps the data has already been sold on the darknet, so the hackers got their money either way and shared the decryption because the data is already out in the wild…

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    May 21st 2021, 12:28 PM

    @Stanley Marsh: ‘hackers having a change of heart’ ;-). hmm.

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    Mute Alan Byrne
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    May 21st 2021, 1:35 PM

    @Ger Murphy: Yup. What’s the bets the planning permission for the Russian Embassy gets aproved in the near future.

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    Mute Simon F
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    May 21st 2021, 1:37 PM

    @Dave Hammond: Yeah i highly doubt a criminal organisation just gave up. And provided the key with such leverage, Maybe a deal was struck who knows.

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    Mute David foley
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    May 21st 2021, 2:22 PM

    @Simon F: This is not the only way of getting the decryption key; many times in the best gangs would release the Decryption key for free, this month alone a decryption key was released on the Tor Network. The gang have what they wanted personal health data, which could be dumped online or sold to health insurance companies.

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    Mute Tom Hickey
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    May 21st 2021, 9:34 AM

    They paid up….

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    Mute Johnny
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    May 21st 2021, 11:44 AM

    @Tom Hickey: Unlikely, if the group are still threatening to release patient data on Monday. The decryption keys have been made available in other hospitals to get critical systems back up running, without any ransom being paid.

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    Mute Michael Healy
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    May 21st 2021, 9:32 AM

    Wonder was a backdoor deal done to get the decryption key from the hackers.

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    Mute Tony Lyons
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    May 21st 2021, 9:38 AM

    @Michael Healy: I doubt we will ever know the answer

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    Mute Geoff Bateman
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    May 21st 2021, 9:56 AM

    @Tony Lyons: as usual

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    May 21st 2021, 10:23 AM

    @Michael Healy: Back door deal with the Russian embassy?

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    Mute Tom Ripley
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    May 21st 2021, 10:36 AM

    @Tony Lyons: eventually we will know. But yes they paid.

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    Mute Twitruser2021
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    May 21st 2021, 9:40 AM

    Why not try a reverse hack on them. Here is your bitcoin please click to open…. Hahaha you been h@¢ked

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    Mute Bill Spill
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    May 21st 2021, 10:12 AM

    @Twitruser2021: I love this lol!

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    Mute
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    May 21st 2021, 9:32 AM

    Unlocking it is all well and good, but they still have all our sensitive data and the Gov has done nothing to stop it being sold.

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    Mute Adrian O'Donnell
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    May 21st 2021, 9:39 AM

    What can they do? These guys are untraceable and beyond the reach of our legal system. What it does highlight is that despite the vast sums annually pumped into the hse, they were horribly caught with their IT pants down. All staff should have been properly trained to address any anomolies that might arise and certainly should be doing forward.

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    Mute Tom Ripley
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    May 21st 2021, 10:37 AM

    @Adrian O’Donnell: well untraceable to us but not to our friends. We don’t have the capability the United States would have. They would know who is at it. But outside our borders means untouchable

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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    May 21st 2021, 11:07 AM

    @: Well they did get a court injunction yesterday which you might scoff at but what precisely would you have them do?

    Even in summer a ground offensive into Russia would be a tough ask for Oglaigh na hEireann….

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    Mute Johnny
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    May 21st 2021, 11:47 AM

    @: Oh no, some Russian hackers or someone bothered enough to go hunting on the darkweb will know that I got a mole removed in 2016 and broke my arm when I was 10!
    Unless you’re a celebrity/public figure, you shouldn’t care. I doubt your neighbour is going to go on the darkweb to see about your GP check-up history.

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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    May 21st 2021, 11:54 AM

    @Johnny: And unlikely any celebrity / public figure would be going anywhere near the HSE.

    Blackrock Clinic and the like more likely.

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    Mute martin.
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    May 21st 2021, 1:33 PM

    @Stanley Marsh:

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    Mute John Egan
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    May 21st 2021, 9:41 AM

    Is Ireland the first country where the National healthcare system has been hacked? Obviously many private businesses have been. But a National healthcare system, how did the hackers, as sophisticated as they are, decided on Irelands healthcare system to exploit?

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    May 21st 2021, 9:44 AM

    @John Egan: NHS had a major hack not so long ago no?

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    Mute Eoin O'Neill
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    May 21st 2021, 9:55 AM

    @John Egan: same ransom style hack by different means hit the NHS a year or 2 ago. This HSE one was a new method.

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    Mute John Egan
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    May 21st 2021, 9:59 AM

    @Alan Watts: yeah, looked it up. 2017 was the last one (warnings of attempted attacks last year). US pipeline was hacked this year but is private company. Old operating systems WXP & Wserver2003 were High risk.

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    May 21st 2021, 10:13 AM

    @John Egan: hopefully the nukes are unhackable

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    Mute John Egan
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    May 21st 2021, 10:38 AM

    @Alan Watts: ha. Can see it now, Iranian nukes controlled by Windows 98

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    May 21st 2021, 12:36 PM

    @John Egan: healthcare is a sector thats gets regularly targeted because govt have a lot of money at their disposal and can be embarrassed into actions – there are thousands of attacks on this scale daily – govt sectors – big business and orgs and then smaller `smes are all victims every single day – this one gets all the media coverage but in truth we are no different than every other country – the criminal gang are likely to give them a get out of jail key once they get paid – dont believe this nonsense about a ‘change of heart ‘ by the criminals – but don’t expect anyone to admit to paying ransoms either – they will either spend a lot of time and a lot more money or they will ‘arrange’ for a magic key to be given to them for free ;-) whatever you want to believe really

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    AA
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    Mute AA
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    May 21st 2021, 1:38 PM

    @Alan Watts: the NHS was infected during the global wannacry hack, but it was not the target!

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    Mute Terry Cahill
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    May 21st 2021, 9:40 AM

    Sinn Fein intervention … leave it to us … All sorted .

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    Mute Martin Galvin
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    May 21st 2021, 10:28 AM

    @Terry Cahill: Closed-Community Policing …’No-one will harass you anymore, walking the streets, and no anti-social behaviour will be tolerated …. including hacking’ :)

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    Mute John Mc Donagh
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    May 21st 2021, 11:17 AM

    @Martin Galvin: No, you got it all wrong Paul rang them in return for his dad’s slot on the Journal this morning. That sorted it—Don’t laugh—He sorted out Greece’s problems. WeLL DIDN’T HE?

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    Mute Gerard
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    May 21st 2021, 9:49 AM

    All the armchair experts out in full force, giving their expert opinions on how the ransom was paid.

    If the same key is used for encryption and decryption, at some point it must have been on the computers in question to perform the encryption. With sufficient motivation and resources it’s entirely possible it could be recovered.

    If a different key was used for encryption and decryption, public key cryptography is crackable by definition of how it works. The effort in doing so is what makes it unfeasible.

    And in either or neither case, knowing part of the unencrypted contents (which the HSE would) would assist in cryptanalysis.

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    Mute Ixtrix Net
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    May 21st 2021, 10:11 AM

    @Gerard:
    any idea how long it can take to brute force a key?

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    Mute JMcB
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    May 21st 2021, 10:14 AM

    @Gerard: the article says the hackers posted decryption key publicly on their website

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    Mute Gerard
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    May 21st 2021, 11:36 AM

    @JMcB: my point is people are saying it’s not possible to recover such a key without the attackers. This is not true. And they also seem to know we paid the ransom, based on their own hunch.

    It’s extremely expensive (computationally) but it can be done, unless you use a key as long as the data itself (a one-time pad)

    Every other encryption method, including the ones we use to secure bank transactions, is vulnerable. We just trust that no attacker will be resourceful enough to be able to devote enough resources to decrypt it in any meaningful amount of time.

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    Mute Diarmuid O'Braonáin
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    May 21st 2021, 3:40 PM

    @Gerard: You’d need a supercomputer to do it and it could take a long time even at that…

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    Mute Andrew English
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    May 21st 2021, 9:40 AM

    Fair play to the hackers for giving us a decryption key FOC.

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    Mute Max Power
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    May 21st 2021, 10:37 AM

    I wouldn’t be blaming the HSE staff … half of them wouldn’t know where the any key to continue is on the keyboard…

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    Mute Pavel Shipilov
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    May 21st 2021, 9:44 AM

    The more I hear about what our government does in relation to the mess created by hack, the more I get the impression that it is a bunch of clowns trying to run the circus. I see no end of this anytime soon.

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    Mute JMcB
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    May 21st 2021, 10:11 AM

    So the kidnappers take your kid, demand a ransom, you refuse to pay, they let your kid go. I’ll call off Liam Neeson so

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    Mute Albert Brennerman
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    May 21st 2021, 9:44 AM

    Its good news. If they paid they had to pay. Hard see any other reason.

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    Mute Ronan Castled
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    May 21st 2021, 11:16 AM

    A great bunch of lads these hackers, only having the bants

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    Mute Tom Gavin
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    May 21st 2021, 11:32 AM

    @Ronan Castled: what does that mean?

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    Mute John Hagin Meade
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    May 21st 2021, 11:25 AM

    My opinion is as follows: The decryption key is capable of working but it also has a hidden switch to activate another dormant zero-day malware already in the systems that will do much more damage. Then the ransom demand will be multiple times the current ask of $20M. There can be no other explaination as to why the key was given for free. If the ransom had been paid then a similar key, without the hidden switch, would have been supplied. I sincerely hope I am wrong

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    Mute Johnny
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    May 21st 2021, 11:54 AM

    @John Hagin Meade: Well, there can be another explanation, as groups like this have given decryption keys for free in the past to hospitals and other groups where people’s lives were at stake.
    And your fantasy scenario makes no sense, as the data just ends up encrypted again, so the whole endeavor was pointless if it ends up back where it started. There is no such thing as “more damage”, it’s either encrypted or it isn’t. If they wanted more money, they can just ask for it the first time, rather than encrypting, then decrypting, then encrypting again. And putting in place daily backups of any critical data (rather than possibly weekly/monthly before), then a future encryption of the data would mean minimal disruption. Plus NetSec can be on higher alert and identify any vulnerabilities that lead to the initial access.

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    Mute John Hagin Meade
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    May 21st 2021, 4:29 PM

    @Johnny: “There is no such thing as “more damage”

    A malware routine to max-out components such as hard disks, CPU or memory modules to cause them to fail is one possibility. Another one is to have the hard disk reformatted when the PC’s are next restarted, such as after an update. While this would not affect the backups that are now being made it would render all the machines unusable and require a full reload/reinstallation of software which is very time consuming. Many years ago the formatting of the hard disk happened to my daughter’s computer due to a virus that only triggered on a Friday when the date was 26. Everything had to be restored. I don’t think these evil hackers will just go away quietly.

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    Mute Diarmuid O'Braonáin
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    May 21st 2021, 3:37 PM

    Ok so this really sums up the situation.
    1 – HSE refuse/make no effort to ensure IT systems are secure despite repeated warning.
    2 – HSE gets hit with ransomeware by Russian hackers
    3 – HSE refuse to negociate with hackers
    4 – Hackers release HSE data on the dark web, no answer from HSE
    5 – Hackers give the HSE tool to decrypt data but are going to sell it online. HSE ignore them.
    6 – HSE go to IRISH high court and get a court order forbidding anyone to handle the stolen data.
    7 – HSE ignore hackers

    Now the gas thing here about the court order is this. It won’t do a dam thing to stop the hackers but its an attempt to head off people sueing the HSE over the data breach. If you have the data on your laptop and see your information then its illegal and the HSE lawyers will come after you for having possession of the data. So if you were to take the HSE to counrt over the data breach then you cannot prove in court with 100% accuracy that your data was stolen.

    Its like the HSE had a shed full of pigeons and left the door open and they are gonna sue anyone who is in possession of one of their pigeons. Even though they left the door open…..

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    Mute Shane Cormican
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    May 21st 2021, 10:23 AM

    Your welcome lads!!

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    Mute Diarmuid O'Braonáin
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    May 21st 2021, 3:47 PM

    The HSE just sent the hackers the link to the IRISH high court order. This was the reply for the hacker “?”

    They still don’t get it. An Irish court order against a bunch of Russian hackers… pointless.

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    Mute Life in no motion
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    May 21st 2021, 11:47 AM

    Thumbs up!

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