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Friday, December 11, 2015

Murder Has Exposed the Dark Side of Mexico’s Hacking Community

Lucio R. Borderland Beat Republished from Vice
Robles last tweet November 27 marked #AlphaAsFuck
By Duncan Tucker

Raúl Robles, a prominent Mexican hacker and cybersecurity expert, was eating breakfast with his father at a quiet café in a leafy neighborhood of the western city of Guadalajara when a masked gunman walked in and opened fire. Robles, 31, was reportedly hit five times and died at the scene. The killer escaped before police arrived.

The December 2 murder has shocked Mexico's hacker community but it has also provided a window on a murky world of intense rivalry and mutual sabotage where the death itself was seemingly announced beforehand in an online forum.

Robles, a resident of Mexico City, had been the target of several threatening messages on Hispachan, a site for completely anonymous Spanish-language discussion that has proven popular among hackers since its launch in 2012. All the threats have now been deleted.

"I'm gonna kill this faggot!! I know he's coming to my city and I'll kill him here," read the first threat posted in October, alongside an image of Robles.

The next warning came on the eve of the killing. "I'm sick of Raúl Robles, I have a gun and I'll steal his fucking car," it read. "I saw him eating breakfast in a café yesterday, he goes there very often, I'll wait and see if he comes tomorrow."


A third message appeared hours after the killing alongside an image of a handgun: "Like I told you, I'd had it up to here with the fat son of a bitch, that's why my heart didn't miss a beat when the time came to kill him."


Robles — who was known by the pseudonym MegaByte — was the CEO of Hacking Mexico, a cybersecurity firm that claims to provide training for agents from Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office and the National Security and Investigation Center. Having founded the company in 2012, Robles went on to become one of Mexico's best known hackers and would often run hacking courses and give speeches at conferences.

Robles was a controversial figure who faced accusations of humiliating and defrauding other members of the hacking community. On social networks such as Facebook and Taringa, several users published documents that appeared to indicated that Robles had lied about holding a master's degree and falsely claimed that his company was affiliated with Mexico's National Polytechnic Institute.

In an online community characterized by bravado and macho attitudes, Robles also loved to flaunt his apparent wealth by uploading YouTube videos of expensive watches, sports cars and fat stacks of cash. His Twitter profile pronounced his love of "weed, mezcal and oral sex."

Within hours of Robles' death, hundreds of commenters on sites such as Reddit, and Taringa left virulent messages mocking his fate and denouncing him as a fraud and a bully who deserved to be killed.

One YouTube user named TechnoHack alleged that Robles had sexually harassed him or her by sending photos of his private parts. Another user, Petrovic Ígor, admitted that he and several others used to bully Robles on online software forums.

Daniel Rodríguez, a Mexican IT professional better known by his online alias Last Dragon, told VICE News that Robles often dismissed his critics as "blacks or indians" in a way that carried clear racist connotations.

Rodríguez accused Robles of trolling him on his blog, but said he was much nicer in person than his online persona suggested. Even so, Rodríguez said that the largely unsympathetic reaction to the murder was "justified, despite being politically incorrect."

According to Rodríguez, Hacking Mexico has often been involved in bitter disputes with rival groups such as Anonymous México that hacked Robles' company website in 2013 to highlight flaws in its security systems. He added that the Mexican Organization of Ethical Hackers got very upset when one of Robles' colleagues started trolling them online.

There is a "lot of tension" between members of Mexico's hacking community, Rodríguez stressed, but "the only thing everyone had in common was that they hated MegaByte."

Shortly after the shooting Guadalajara's attorney general, Eduardo Almaguer, told local reporters that Robles had used several different aliases and that a number of complaints had been filed against him in Mexico City for cyber crimes. He did not give details about the alleged crimes.

53 comments:

  1. Entre menos presumas es mejor. - El Soldado Perdido

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THATS WHAT I TELL MY OWN CARNALES,NADA TE LLEVAZ EN EZTA VIDA .

      Delete
    2. Enjoy what you have but don't flaunt it. Don't make others feel less just because you got more or people will hate you and maybe kill you.

      Delete
  2. It all boils down to trolling being taken too serious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The trolling is never that serious, the chingar is what gets people excited.
      When you get fucked up one too many times, the intelligence of the animal takes over.

      Delete
  3. what does this have to do with cartel stories?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question but don't use your real name on this page.

      ATT. Your step dad!!

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    2. only similarity: violent deaths. Good story thogh

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    3. He was shot the same as the worthless criminal hoodlums who call themselves cartels.

      Delete
    4. As stated in the article, he was teaching security forces how to hack into secure encrypted networks used by Narco's.

      Delete
    5. I don't think is drug related even when this guy was training the police on hacking tactics. But since drug related articles are hard to find they decided to post this.

      Delete
    6. "Weed","mezcal" and "getting sum head": narco guetto type of shit I though you knew.

      Delete
    7. ...and like your step daddy says, do not use your name, unless, of course, that is the most exciting thing about you...
      --Even anonymous BB can be tracked, so watch your ass with a mirror...

      Delete
    8. I guess you look you mirrors @ 9:24

      Tackers on Bbeat???

      Delete
    9. True , the less you show , the bether vato nature is jealoussy

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    10. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  4. Nice cadi. Feel sorry for this dude. Shoulds kept a low pro. Well who ever killed him and let everyone know before and after must really keep a low profile if he isnt afraid his identity will be revealed. So much for keyboard warrior. This dude actually gave zero fucks and did what he said he would. Next time you call a person a keyboard warrior you better hope they dont know who you are because you might end up like Robles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keyboard warrior!

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    2. 7.20
      Lmao,,love it man

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    3. The mexican government has many computer experts, they even have training on the military school of communications, the cartels pick some, police corporations too, no private citizen would go around doing jobs like this one, this killer has a bright future wherever he goes to work...

      Delete
  5. What has this to do on drug wars?, this is common crime, just like in the US (70 people murdered every day), nothing on legalization of Pot?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shows the glaring impunity for crimes commited in that country ie. how cartel crimes are kept alive and shows how cheap life is.

      Delete
    2. As stated in the article, he was teaching security forces how to hack into secure encrypted networks used by Narco's.

      Delete
    3. Drugs involves Peace and War, and all of it involves politricks, military, education, administration,
      --"and all the rest"
      --including quite a few ignorant pendejos...

      Delete
  6. Wow, sad but looks like he was really arrogant, but I don't know if he did anything good, If he was hacking fraudulent companies or working for cartels. If your a hacker, wouldn't you want to be low key?. His car said hacking mexico on the side and he even put that pic on the web exposing himself in every way. Not a smart decision.

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG! Well the cartels did a good service taking out such a potential beta upriser. That's too first world problem for mexico deal with...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What the fack with the "cartels", güey...
      --The demonization of the cartels may have worked good for a while, for the mexican governing narco-mierdocracia, but it is kind of old now...
      --Bet the MegaByte co. has a new owner, or its business went to a new, proven, more "made man", and the mex.gov. is the better customer, legal, full of opportunities and impunity...

      Delete
    2. The only thing old is your constant use of the words narco-mierdocracia. That shit sounds as old as an old pair of sneakers. Try coming up with a new phrase that pays numbnuts.

      Delete
    3. The opportunities that pay in hacking in mexico are in doing it for the government, mili5ary or police, that is how you track and get murdered people like the narvarte victims away from the state od veracruz...

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    4. The new scientific term "mexican governing narco-mierdocracia" will have to still aply, but rejoice, it is much much younger than "democracy" or "republic", and more accurately reflects the actual reality of the mexican system of government...
      --How's about asking some mexican government official for their opinion?
      --By the way, the new scientific AND socio-politic name is younger than "cartels" too...

      Delete
  8. I am amazed my Mexican buddies here post pics on facebook like they are living the high life. I am just waiting for a kidnapper to take notice in Mexico and kidnap their facebbok friends for ransom.

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    Replies
    1. So many scared people..Wish they could kidnap fuckin facebook

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  9. Replies
    1. @8:04 pues esta, mientras te hallas otra güey.

      Delete
  10. Viva los keyboard warriors Neva underestimate my young grass hoppers to soon you will see your troubles!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Too 1st world problem for Mexico to deal with.." Old school parlance, chum. Not even the World Bank, US State Department or the Council On Foreign Relations use the 3rd/1st World vocab, anymore and haven't for at least a decade out of political correctness. Just for the comedic value implied, though, please share your definition of a "1st world country" with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 10:43, not my. Comment but I define 1st world a cabal of exporters of mayhem to the lower ranked 2nd, 3rd, or 5th worlds they also keep poor, exploited, mined, ignorant...
      --A 1st world also likes to present the face of defender of the oppressed on one hand and oppressing them when nobody is watching, all while claiming to pactice a "compassionate conservatism"

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  12. Impunity from the will of the people survives in an environment of corruption and ignorance. Whereas impunity grows and thrives in the shadows of secrecy. Transparency is poison to the cartels. Their nasty little family secrets will be exposed. Information is power.

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    Replies
    1. 10:15 That is why POLITICIANS LOOOVE TO DEAL IN QUIET DARK SMOKE FILLED ROOMS, oftentimes to badmouth the poor broke assed 47%...

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. If people in the US didn't have such an insatiable apitite for the Internet these young lads wouldn't be getting caught up in all this nonsense

    ReplyDelete
  14. Se chingaron a un sobrino del mayo en culiacan..hijo del rey zambada..que pedo..

    ReplyDelete
  15. His fancy cars are useless now... yet another instance of you can't take it with you when you go.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This was a case of this hacker knew to much and somebody felt they needed to take him out. The article states he provided training services for agents of the PGR and CISEN and might have had access to sensitive national security info. People like Genaro Garcia Luna have worked for these agencies, just to name a high ranking official, and any sensitive Intel that is leaked could result in damaging repercussions to any high-ranking official, especially if they have ties to organized crime or involved in fraudulent schemes/kickbacks. It sounds like some goons were targeting Mr. Robles and not some average Jose's who resented MegaByte showing off his wealth. COINTELPRO stilo! - alias el Califas

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    Replies
    1. Your theory makes more sense

      Delete
    2. MegaByte was good, apparently as good as his biig mouth, but when it came to decency, he byt too much and choked on it.
      It is OK to make fun of friend and foe, and the enemy for no reason, but some are trying to get even because their RETARDATION CAN'T TAKE IT NO MÓ...
      --YOU ON THE WAY TO THE MONEY?THAT IS STRIKE #2...

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

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