/PRNewswire/ -- "Do Not Track Me" legislation introduced in Congress today by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-CA, will let consumers block unwanted tracking of their information online, said the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog at a press conference today with the bill author and consumer and privacy advocates.
The bill authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to enact and enforce regulations that would give consumers a right to block companies from tracking their activities as they use the Internet. The concept is analogous to the popular "Do Not Call" list that prevents advertisers from calling consumers who do not wish to be disturbed by telemarketing.
"Consumers should have the right to choose if their private information – from shoe size, to health concerns, to religious beliefs – is collected, analyzed and profiled by companies tracking activities online. Do Not Track is the simple way for consumers to say 'no thanks' to being monitored while they surf the web," said Carmen Balber, Washington director for Consumer Watchdog.
Rep. Speier's bill is the first in Congress to explicitly provide for a Do Not Track mechanism.
"Right now much of the online advertising market is based on unauthorized spying on consumers," said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Inside Google Project. "A Do Not Track mechanism would give consumers better control of their information and help restore their confidence in the Internet. That's a win-win for consumers and business. What kind of lasting business can be built on snooping on your customers?"
A poll by Consumer Watchdog last summer found that 80% of Americans support a Do Not Track option. A USA Today/Gallup poll released this week found that most Americans are worried about their privacy and security when they use Facebook and Google.
Read Consumer Watchdog's poll here: http://insidegoogle.com/2010/07/consumer-watchdog-poll-finds-concern-about-googles-wi-spy-snooping/
Read the USA Today poll here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-02-09-privacypoll09_ST_N.htm
Consumer Watchdog noted that Do Not Track legislation does not solve all online privacy issues, but must be an option for consumers to have a fundamental right to privacy online.
Online privacy is one of the few issues that appears to have bipartisan backing in Congress, said Consumer Watchdog, and urged members to approve Do Not Track legislation this year.
Interest in Do Not Track legislation increased after the FTC issued a report in December backing the concept. David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection testified to Congress that a Do Not Track mechanism was both feasible and enforceable. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz recently wrote:
"We also believe, as do most American businesses, that no company loses by respecting the wishes of its customers. Do Not Track will allow the Internet to continue to thrive while protecting our basic right to privacy when we travel in cyberspace."
Other legislators are working on privacy legislation. In the House Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Il., introduced a general online privacy bill Thursday and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fl., is expected to offer legislation soon. In the Senate, Sen. John Kerry, D-Ma., is working on a bill, while Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ar. has been considering offering Do Not Track legislation.
Comments on the FTC's report on privacy, "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers," are due next Friday, Feb. 18.
Consumer Watchdog has been working to protect consumers' online privacy rights and educate them about the issues through its Inside Google Project. The goal has been to convince Google of the social and economic importance of giving consumers control over their online lives. By persuading Google, the Internet's leading company, to adopt adequate guarantees, its policies could become the gold standard for privacy for the industry, potentially improving the performance of the entire online sector.
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Showing posts with label cyber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cyber. Show all posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Fraud Advisory for Consumers: Involvement in Criminal Activity through Work from Home Scams
Consumers continue to lose money from work-from-home scams that assist cyber criminals move stolen funds. Worse yet, due to their deliberate or unknowing participation in the scams, these individuals may face criminal charges.
Work-from-home scam victims are often recruited by organized cyber criminals through newspaper ads, online employment services, unsolicited emails or “spam”,¹ and social networking sites advertising work-from-home opportunities. Once recruited, however, rather than becoming an employee of a legitimate business, the consumer is actually a “mule” for cyber criminals who use the consumer’s or other victim's accounts to steal and launder money. In addition, the consumer’s own identity or account may be compromised by the cyber criminals.
Example of a Work-From-Home Scheme:
• An individual applies for a position as a rebate or payments processor² through an online job site or through an unsolicited email.
• As a new employee, the individual is asked to provide his/her bank account information to his/her employer or to establish a new account using information provided by the employer.
• Funds are deposited into the account that the employee is instructed to wire to a third (often
international) account. The employee is instructed to deduct a percentage of the wired
amount as their commission.
• However, rather than processing rebates or processing payments, the individual is actually
participating in a criminal activity by laundering stolen funds through his/her own account or a newly established account.
In February 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) coordinated with state law enforcement officials and other federal agencies to announce a sweeping crack down on job and work-from-home fraud schemes fueled by the economic downturn. Individuals who are knowing or unknowing participants in this type of scheme could be prosecuted.
Protect Yourself:
• Be wary of work-from-home opportunities. Research the legitimacy of the company through the Better Business Bureau³ (for US-based companies) or WHOIS/Domain Tools⁴ (for international companies) before providing personal or account information and/or agreeing to work for them. In addition, TrustedSource.org can help you identify companies that may be maliciously sending spam based on the volume of email sent from their Internet Protocol (IP)⁵ addresses. See also the FTC’s recommendations⁶.
• Be cautious about any opportunities offering the chance to work from home with very little work or prior experience. Remember: if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.
• Never pay for the privilege of working for an employer. Be suspicious of opportunities that require you to pay for things up front, such as supplies and other materials.
• Never give your bank account details to anyone unless you know and trust them.
• If you think you may be a victim of one of these scams, contact your financial institution
immediately. Report any suspicious work-from-home offers or activities to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)⁷ at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.
For more information, visit:
• PhishBucket.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting job seekers fromfraudulent job offers.
• OnGuardOnline.org. Sponsored by the FTC, this site provides practical tips from the
federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet
fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
• Better Business Bureau, http://www.bbb.org/us/article/work-at-home-schemes-408.
¹ Cyber criminals may also spoof a legitimate business to entice you into opening the email, which may contain a fraudulent application for information or malware.
² Other common job titles for these schemes include trading partner or currency trader.
³ http://www.bbb.org/
⁴http://www.domaintools.com/
⁵An IP address identifies the company’s website host or network interface and location.
⁶http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/email-scams.aspx#3
⁷The IC3 is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
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Work-from-home scam victims are often recruited by organized cyber criminals through newspaper ads, online employment services, unsolicited emails or “spam”,¹ and social networking sites advertising work-from-home opportunities. Once recruited, however, rather than becoming an employee of a legitimate business, the consumer is actually a “mule” for cyber criminals who use the consumer’s or other victim's accounts to steal and launder money. In addition, the consumer’s own identity or account may be compromised by the cyber criminals.
Example of a Work-From-Home Scheme:
• An individual applies for a position as a rebate or payments processor² through an online job site or through an unsolicited email.
• As a new employee, the individual is asked to provide his/her bank account information to his/her employer or to establish a new account using information provided by the employer.
• Funds are deposited into the account that the employee is instructed to wire to a third (often
international) account. The employee is instructed to deduct a percentage of the wired
amount as their commission.
• However, rather than processing rebates or processing payments, the individual is actually
participating in a criminal activity by laundering stolen funds through his/her own account or a newly established account.
In February 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) coordinated with state law enforcement officials and other federal agencies to announce a sweeping crack down on job and work-from-home fraud schemes fueled by the economic downturn. Individuals who are knowing or unknowing participants in this type of scheme could be prosecuted.
Protect Yourself:
• Be wary of work-from-home opportunities. Research the legitimacy of the company through the Better Business Bureau³ (for US-based companies) or WHOIS/Domain Tools⁴ (for international companies) before providing personal or account information and/or agreeing to work for them. In addition, TrustedSource.org can help you identify companies that may be maliciously sending spam based on the volume of email sent from their Internet Protocol (IP)⁵ addresses. See also the FTC’s recommendations⁶.
• Be cautious about any opportunities offering the chance to work from home with very little work or prior experience. Remember: if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.
• Never pay for the privilege of working for an employer. Be suspicious of opportunities that require you to pay for things up front, such as supplies and other materials.
• Never give your bank account details to anyone unless you know and trust them.
• If you think you may be a victim of one of these scams, contact your financial institution
immediately. Report any suspicious work-from-home offers or activities to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)⁷ at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.
For more information, visit:
• PhishBucket.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting job seekers fromfraudulent job offers.
• OnGuardOnline.org. Sponsored by the FTC, this site provides practical tips from the
federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet
fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
• Better Business Bureau, http://www.bbb.org/us/article/work-at-home-schemes-408.
¹ Cyber criminals may also spoof a legitimate business to entice you into opening the email, which may contain a fraudulent application for information or malware.
² Other common job titles for these schemes include trading partner or currency trader.
³ http://www.bbb.org/
⁴http://www.domaintools.com/
⁵An IP address identifies the company’s website host or network interface and location.
⁶http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/email-scams.aspx#3
⁷The IC3 is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
-----
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Damballa Discovers New Wide-Spread Global Botnet Offering ‘Commercial’ DDoS Services
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Damballa Inc., the company transforming the fight against cyber threats, today announced the discovery of a new botnet that offers pay-for-delivery Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The ‘IMDDOS’ Botnet, named after the commercial name on the botnet website, has grown to be one of the largest active global botnets in less than four months from initial testing. According to Damballa, the infected hosts used in the DDoS attacks have become unwitting participants in the botnet and are widespread. The vast majority of infected hosts are in China, with the United States being in the top 10 countries affected. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) worldwide were affected, including the majority of North American ISPs, and a number of major corporate networks are hosting bot agents for the IMDDOS Botnet.
“The commercial nature of this botnet and the rapid growth and ultimate size are what make this discovery interesting”
The IMDDOS Botnet offers a commercial service for delivering DDoS attacks against any desired target. Hosted in China, this publicly available service is available for lease to anyone willing to establish an online account, input the domain(s) they wish to attack, and pay for the service. Throughout the Damballa period of study, the botnet grew large very quickly. Following testing by the criminal operators in April 2010, it reached a production peak of activity with 25,000 unique Recursive DNS (RDNS) lookups per hour attempting to resolve to the botnet’s command-and-control (CnC) servers. Damballa is currently working with ISPs and law enforcement officials to contain and nullify the threat.
A 16-page analysis of the discovery can be viewed at: www.damballa.com/IMDDOS. This analysis includes details of the technical infrastructure of the botnet and associated malware as well as an animated illustration of the IMDDOS Botnet’s global growth and impact from early testing stage to peak activity rendered in hourly increments.
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a technique used to overwhelm a website/domain in an effort to reduce its responsiveness or completely eliminate its ability to respond to new connection attempts. DoS attacks have historically been used to ‘take down’ political sites, abuse sites, commercial business websites and even military command centers as part of a coordinated targeted campaign.
A DDoS attack utilizes multiple PCs or servers to initiate a coordinated attack against a targeted system. The more assets involved in the attack, the larger the flood of requests and data that can be targeted at the victim. To create a very large army of assets that can launch DDoS attacks, botnets are used to rally and command unwitting victim machines into participating in the attacks.
“The commercial nature of this botnet and the rapid growth and ultimate size are what make this discovery interesting,” stated Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for Damballa. “The public website hosting the DDoS service offering, with various ‘plans’ and attack options, speaks to the ease with which anyone can leverage criminal infrastructure. The malware used is simplistic, yet it was successful in spreading rapidly. And while it appears to be primarily a DDoS delivery platform, the size of the botnet reached impressive proportions, certainly large enough to wreak major havoc on any victim organization should it be pointed in the right direction.”
This discovery was made possible due to a global array of Damballa sensors, which provide worldwide visibility into CnC activity, combined with the understanding and quantification of statistical heuristics that can explain, and most importantly, quickly detect, the malicious nature of this botnet operation. Damballa tracks thousands of botnet operators and their growing cache of botnets every day. Each criminal botnet building campaign is observed, analyzed, automatically catalogued and categorized using a sophisticated array of clustering and machine learning systems. As the criminal botnet operators attempt to grow the botnet, their investments and modifications to their CnC hosting infrastructure are tracked and used as markers for eventual attribution. Damballa customers benefit from this advanced knowledge of the threat, being alerted to the presence of the malware and being able to terminate the CnC communications.
“Botnets are recognized by industry experts as being the delivery mechanism of choice for the vast majority of today’s cyber threats that plague corporate and ISP networks,” said Val Rahmani, CEO of Damballa. “Botnets and other cyber threats are attacking corporate networks and service providers at an alarmingly high rate and are causing security teams around the world to reevaluate their security investments. Damballa leads the security industry in delivering solutions that detect and terminate botnets and cyber threats, and our research and product teams are constantly innovating and bringing more powerful and automated weapons to the war against cybercrime.”
-----
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“The commercial nature of this botnet and the rapid growth and ultimate size are what make this discovery interesting”
The IMDDOS Botnet offers a commercial service for delivering DDoS attacks against any desired target. Hosted in China, this publicly available service is available for lease to anyone willing to establish an online account, input the domain(s) they wish to attack, and pay for the service. Throughout the Damballa period of study, the botnet grew large very quickly. Following testing by the criminal operators in April 2010, it reached a production peak of activity with 25,000 unique Recursive DNS (RDNS) lookups per hour attempting to resolve to the botnet’s command-and-control (CnC) servers. Damballa is currently working with ISPs and law enforcement officials to contain and nullify the threat.
A 16-page analysis of the discovery can be viewed at: www.damballa.com/IMDDOS. This analysis includes details of the technical infrastructure of the botnet and associated malware as well as an animated illustration of the IMDDOS Botnet’s global growth and impact from early testing stage to peak activity rendered in hourly increments.
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a technique used to overwhelm a website/domain in an effort to reduce its responsiveness or completely eliminate its ability to respond to new connection attempts. DoS attacks have historically been used to ‘take down’ political sites, abuse sites, commercial business websites and even military command centers as part of a coordinated targeted campaign.
A DDoS attack utilizes multiple PCs or servers to initiate a coordinated attack against a targeted system. The more assets involved in the attack, the larger the flood of requests and data that can be targeted at the victim. To create a very large army of assets that can launch DDoS attacks, botnets are used to rally and command unwitting victim machines into participating in the attacks.
“The commercial nature of this botnet and the rapid growth and ultimate size are what make this discovery interesting,” stated Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for Damballa. “The public website hosting the DDoS service offering, with various ‘plans’ and attack options, speaks to the ease with which anyone can leverage criminal infrastructure. The malware used is simplistic, yet it was successful in spreading rapidly. And while it appears to be primarily a DDoS delivery platform, the size of the botnet reached impressive proportions, certainly large enough to wreak major havoc on any victim organization should it be pointed in the right direction.”
This discovery was made possible due to a global array of Damballa sensors, which provide worldwide visibility into CnC activity, combined with the understanding and quantification of statistical heuristics that can explain, and most importantly, quickly detect, the malicious nature of this botnet operation. Damballa tracks thousands of botnet operators and their growing cache of botnets every day. Each criminal botnet building campaign is observed, analyzed, automatically catalogued and categorized using a sophisticated array of clustering and machine learning systems. As the criminal botnet operators attempt to grow the botnet, their investments and modifications to their CnC hosting infrastructure are tracked and used as markers for eventual attribution. Damballa customers benefit from this advanced knowledge of the threat, being alerted to the presence of the malware and being able to terminate the CnC communications.
“Botnets are recognized by industry experts as being the delivery mechanism of choice for the vast majority of today’s cyber threats that plague corporate and ISP networks,” said Val Rahmani, CEO of Damballa. “Botnets and other cyber threats are attacking corporate networks and service providers at an alarmingly high rate and are causing security teams around the world to reevaluate their security investments. Damballa leads the security industry in delivering solutions that detect and terminate botnets and cyber threats, and our research and product teams are constantly innovating and bringing more powerful and automated weapons to the war against cybercrime.”
-----
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Consumer Watchdog Lauds Clinton's Call for Open Internet, Stresses Need for Online Consumer Privacy Safeguards
/PRNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's condemnation of cyber attacks and censorship is an important endorsement of a free global Internet, but just as important to ensuring the Internet's contribution to democracy and economic growth is a commitment to consumer privacy, Consumer Watchdog said today.
"Too many online companies ignore a consumer's right to control information gathered about their behavior on the Internet," said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group. "Consider Google; they track your every move as you use their services and surf the Web just so they can mine the accumulated data and serve up targeted ads."
Consumer Watchdog said Clinton's speech demonstrated the State Department is playing a key role in ensuring an open Internet globally, but said the Federal Trade Commission must act to ensure consumer privacy is guaranteed within the United States.
Clinton's high-profile speech on Internet policy came after a recent incident in which hackers, widely believed to be tied to the Chinese government, gained access to Google and at least 30 other corporate computer networks. Google revealed the cyber attacks and said it would no longer self-censor search results on its China Internet search engine, Google.cn.
Cyber attacks and censorship undermine the free flow of information on the Internet and must be thwarted, Consumer Watchdog agreed. Equally important to a vibrant cyber economy, the group said, is that consumers are able to trust online companies not to abuse their privacy. Too often privacy guarantees are given short shrift in the drive for profits.
"For instance, Google tells us they are a technology company that wants to organize the world's information and make it accessible," said Simpson. "In analyzing Google's every move we need to understand they are fundamentally an advertising business. Most of what they do is to maximize those revenues."
Documents filed with the SEC show that 97 percent of the Internet giant's revenue came from advertising in the third quarter of 2009. The documents show that 53 percent of its revenue came from outside the United States.
"Google was right to end its misguided self-censorship in the face of the Chinese cyber attacks and good for them," said Simpson. "But while I'm concerned about the Chinese attacks, I'm even more concerned about the private data gold mine Google and other online companies have gathered about us, what they do with it and whom they share it with. Consumers must have control of what data is gathered, how it is used, how long its kept and whether it is even gathered."
Meanwhile, the FTC is holding a series of roundtable discussions to discuss online privacy issues. The second in the three-part series is next Thursday in Berkeley, Ca. Read about the Privacy Roundtable: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/
Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, DC and Santa Monica, Ca. Our website is: www.ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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"Too many online companies ignore a consumer's right to control information gathered about their behavior on the Internet," said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group. "Consider Google; they track your every move as you use their services and surf the Web just so they can mine the accumulated data and serve up targeted ads."
Consumer Watchdog said Clinton's speech demonstrated the State Department is playing a key role in ensuring an open Internet globally, but said the Federal Trade Commission must act to ensure consumer privacy is guaranteed within the United States.
Clinton's high-profile speech on Internet policy came after a recent incident in which hackers, widely believed to be tied to the Chinese government, gained access to Google and at least 30 other corporate computer networks. Google revealed the cyber attacks and said it would no longer self-censor search results on its China Internet search engine, Google.cn.
Cyber attacks and censorship undermine the free flow of information on the Internet and must be thwarted, Consumer Watchdog agreed. Equally important to a vibrant cyber economy, the group said, is that consumers are able to trust online companies not to abuse their privacy. Too often privacy guarantees are given short shrift in the drive for profits.
"For instance, Google tells us they are a technology company that wants to organize the world's information and make it accessible," said Simpson. "In analyzing Google's every move we need to understand they are fundamentally an advertising business. Most of what they do is to maximize those revenues."
Documents filed with the SEC show that 97 percent of the Internet giant's revenue came from advertising in the third quarter of 2009. The documents show that 53 percent of its revenue came from outside the United States.
"Google was right to end its misguided self-censorship in the face of the Chinese cyber attacks and good for them," said Simpson. "But while I'm concerned about the Chinese attacks, I'm even more concerned about the private data gold mine Google and other online companies have gathered about us, what they do with it and whom they share it with. Consumers must have control of what data is gathered, how it is used, how long its kept and whether it is even gathered."
Meanwhile, the FTC is holding a series of roundtable discussions to discuss online privacy issues. The second in the three-part series is next Thursday in Berkeley, Ca. Read about the Privacy Roundtable: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/
Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, DC and Santa Monica, Ca. Our website is: www.ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
China News from U.S. Hit by Denial of Service Cyber Attack Originating from China
/PRNewswire/ -- Concurrent with the Chinese cyber attack on Google's gmail, VerticalNews China was the subject of a denial of service (DoS) attack on Wednesday that originated from China. The company also publishes the popular China Weekly News, and both titles are available on the Internet.
VerticalNews China is a product of NewsRx, a 25-year-old news publisher headquartered in Atlanta. The attack was quickly stopped when the company's IP service identified the source and blocked it. VerticalNews China can be found at www.VerticalNews.com.
"Your VerticalNews site was getting a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) from someone in China. We went ahead and quickly blocked the source IP address at the router level," according to NewsRx's IP service located in Bowie, Maryland.
"In a DoS attack, they are not hacking into your machine, but are preventing it from being usable to everyone else by sending very high volumes of traffic in very short amounts of time. I think you may have been targeted because of your VerticalNews China coverage."
VerticalNews China covers day-to-day business news, medical research, manufacturing and technology developments in China. It does not have a political agenda, but is a major supplier of detailed, in-depth news about China. Today's issue is fairly typical of its coverage, including articles on the number of gas stations in China; a report that Liberty Mutual Group Insurance has received permission to open an office in Zhejiang; that CBI China will host the third annual China Petrochemical Summit; that Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited has received an award; and a report that forecasts Asia Pacific jet fleet growth will expand 80%, led by China.
"I do know that the large-scale attack originated in China, and now that we know it can happen, we've taken steps to hopefully prevent future disruptions," said Susan Hasty, publisher at NewsRx, the parent company of VerticalNews. "We have every intention to continue coverage of vital news about China."
VerticalNews China and VerticalNews India were launched by NewsRx in 2009, to expand the company's coverage of the Far East. The content is also available at the online sites of Lexis Nexis, Dialog, ProQuest and Gale through the additional VerticalNews titles China Weekly News, China Business Newsweekly, Journal of India, India Business Newsweekly, and Asia Business Newsweekly.
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VerticalNews China is a product of NewsRx, a 25-year-old news publisher headquartered in Atlanta. The attack was quickly stopped when the company's IP service identified the source and blocked it. VerticalNews China can be found at www.VerticalNews.com.
"Your VerticalNews site was getting a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) from someone in China. We went ahead and quickly blocked the source IP address at the router level," according to NewsRx's IP service located in Bowie, Maryland.
"In a DoS attack, they are not hacking into your machine, but are preventing it from being usable to everyone else by sending very high volumes of traffic in very short amounts of time. I think you may have been targeted because of your VerticalNews China coverage."
VerticalNews China covers day-to-day business news, medical research, manufacturing and technology developments in China. It does not have a political agenda, but is a major supplier of detailed, in-depth news about China. Today's issue is fairly typical of its coverage, including articles on the number of gas stations in China; a report that Liberty Mutual Group Insurance has received permission to open an office in Zhejiang; that CBI China will host the third annual China Petrochemical Summit; that Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited has received an award; and a report that forecasts Asia Pacific jet fleet growth will expand 80%, led by China.
"I do know that the large-scale attack originated in China, and now that we know it can happen, we've taken steps to hopefully prevent future disruptions," said Susan Hasty, publisher at NewsRx, the parent company of VerticalNews. "We have every intention to continue coverage of vital news about China."
VerticalNews China and VerticalNews India were launched by NewsRx in 2009, to expand the company's coverage of the Far East. The content is also available at the online sites of Lexis Nexis, Dialog, ProQuest and Gale through the additional VerticalNews titles China Weekly News, China Business Newsweekly, Journal of India, India Business Newsweekly, and Asia Business Newsweekly.
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Justices Step Into Uncharted Waters With 'Sexting' Cyber-Liability Case
/PRNewswire/ -- When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take the case of a California police officer who sent sexually explicit text messages on a department-issued pager, news reports underscored the potential impact on private employers. Whether this case will lead to a new "blueprint" for privacy rules in the American workplace is uncertain at best, but it does point to the rising prominence of cyber-liability in our Twittering, Facebooking, iPhone-enabled age, said veteran attorney Joseph P. Paranac, Jr., a member of LeClairRyan's Labor & Employment team.
"In its first major case on cyber-liability, the Supreme Court is striding into uncharted territory," noted the Newark-based attorney. "But it is important to emphasize that this case, in which a police chief acquired and read transcripts of texts sent by his officers, involves a public employer. This was a state action. That means it is covered under Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Public employees have a greater expectation of privacy than their private-sector counterparts."
The Supreme Court will hear the case, Ontario v. Quon, this spring. At issue is whether the police chief in Ontario, Calif., violated the privacy rights of SWAT team member Jeff Quon and three other officers by acquiring and reading records of their texts, many of which turned out to be sexually explicit. The chief, who shared the texts with city officials, had sought to find out whether the officers were reimbursing the department for all personal messages sent from their pagers. The officers sued, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in their favor.
While the public nature of this case might limit its ultimate impact on private employers, Ontario v. Quon nonetheless touches upon unexplored questions that are at the heart of the rapidly evolving field of cyber-liability, Paranac said.
For more than a decade, lawyers have urged employers to adopt straightforward policies on how their employees use company-owned computers, pagers and other electronic devices. The City of Ontario Police Department did have such policies in place, and specifically warned employees that their communications were subject to monitoring. According to the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the Quon case, however, the lieutenant in charge of monitoring pager use for the department had undermined this written policy by telling officers he would not read their texts.
"His informal policy, notwithstanding the official policy, was to go to the officers and ask them for a guesstimate of their personal pager use over and above the monthly content limit of 25,000 total characters," Paranac noted. "According to the court decision, the supervisor would then ask the officers to reimburse the department based on those guesses."
In the view of the Ninth Circuit panel, this mixed message was enough to create an expectation of privacy regarding personal texts. "Again and again, Labor & Employment attorneys have urged employers to adopt, clearly communicate and consistently enforce cyber-communications policies," Paranac said. "This case illustrates precisely why."
Indeed, the decision, which included a 10-page dissent, pointed to other cases in which government agencies, by adopting such straightforward and consistent approaches, were able to diminish their employees' privacy expectations. "This was true despite the greater expectation of privacy generally afforded public employees," Paranac noted.
As befits the complexity of cyber-liability, however, courts do appear to be demarcating some notable exceptions even to clearly enunciated Internet and electronic-communications policies. "For example, the case of Stengart v. Loving Care Agency Inc., which is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, centered on whether e-mails sent by an employee to her lawyer using a company-owned computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege and therefore off-limits from monitoring," Paranac noted. "In that case, the plaintiff used her password-protected Yahoo account, not the company's e-mail system, to communicate with her attorney about a planned lawsuit against the company."
The nation's highest courts might well carve out similar exceptions for other sensitive communications, such as doctor-patient e-mails sent with employer-owned equipment. "This puts employers in a quandary," Paranac said. "The best they can do is to establish and enforce clear and consistent polices, because we are just at the beginning of a process in which the courts will likely shape the limits of those policies. Until that process is complete, employers and employees alike will have to operate within a kind of cyber-liability grey area."
In its Quon ruling, meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit asserted that Arch Wireless, the pager provider that turned over the text transcripts to the police chief, violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 by doing so. The act stipulates that stored communications be released by third-parties only with the permission of the sender or receiver of the original message. "This act, which has largely been forgotten about and is rarely if ever cited in cyber-liability cases, was passed back in the prehistoric age, when it comes to Internet, e-mail and mobile devices," Paranac explained. "If the SCA is resurrected as a result of the Quon case, there could be major liability implications for third-party communications companies like Verizon and AT&T. They will likely have to grapple with questions like, 'Are we actually allowed to hand these texts or e-mails over to the employer?' "
In certain instances, IT specialists who work with third-party providers to facilitate access to employee communications might even be subject to liability under a newly resurrected SCA, Paranac noted. "I would not be surprised if Congress were to revisit the Stored Communications Act," he said. "If you look at the iPhone and the whole universe of apps, many of which are GPS-enabled, it becomes clear that we are dealing with communications and devices that nobody even dreamed of in 1986."
Much the same could be said of cyber-liability itself, the attorney added. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, and both courts and lawmakers are struggling to catch up to technology," he said. "Technology, however, evolves at an ever-accelerating pace."
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"In its first major case on cyber-liability, the Supreme Court is striding into uncharted territory," noted the Newark-based attorney. "But it is important to emphasize that this case, in which a police chief acquired and read transcripts of texts sent by his officers, involves a public employer. This was a state action. That means it is covered under Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Public employees have a greater expectation of privacy than their private-sector counterparts."
The Supreme Court will hear the case, Ontario v. Quon, this spring. At issue is whether the police chief in Ontario, Calif., violated the privacy rights of SWAT team member Jeff Quon and three other officers by acquiring and reading records of their texts, many of which turned out to be sexually explicit. The chief, who shared the texts with city officials, had sought to find out whether the officers were reimbursing the department for all personal messages sent from their pagers. The officers sued, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in their favor.
While the public nature of this case might limit its ultimate impact on private employers, Ontario v. Quon nonetheless touches upon unexplored questions that are at the heart of the rapidly evolving field of cyber-liability, Paranac said.
For more than a decade, lawyers have urged employers to adopt straightforward policies on how their employees use company-owned computers, pagers and other electronic devices. The City of Ontario Police Department did have such policies in place, and specifically warned employees that their communications were subject to monitoring. According to the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the Quon case, however, the lieutenant in charge of monitoring pager use for the department had undermined this written policy by telling officers he would not read their texts.
"His informal policy, notwithstanding the official policy, was to go to the officers and ask them for a guesstimate of their personal pager use over and above the monthly content limit of 25,000 total characters," Paranac noted. "According to the court decision, the supervisor would then ask the officers to reimburse the department based on those guesses."
In the view of the Ninth Circuit panel, this mixed message was enough to create an expectation of privacy regarding personal texts. "Again and again, Labor & Employment attorneys have urged employers to adopt, clearly communicate and consistently enforce cyber-communications policies," Paranac said. "This case illustrates precisely why."
Indeed, the decision, which included a 10-page dissent, pointed to other cases in which government agencies, by adopting such straightforward and consistent approaches, were able to diminish their employees' privacy expectations. "This was true despite the greater expectation of privacy generally afforded public employees," Paranac noted.
As befits the complexity of cyber-liability, however, courts do appear to be demarcating some notable exceptions even to clearly enunciated Internet and electronic-communications policies. "For example, the case of Stengart v. Loving Care Agency Inc., which is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, centered on whether e-mails sent by an employee to her lawyer using a company-owned computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege and therefore off-limits from monitoring," Paranac noted. "In that case, the plaintiff used her password-protected Yahoo account, not the company's e-mail system, to communicate with her attorney about a planned lawsuit against the company."
The nation's highest courts might well carve out similar exceptions for other sensitive communications, such as doctor-patient e-mails sent with employer-owned equipment. "This puts employers in a quandary," Paranac said. "The best they can do is to establish and enforce clear and consistent polices, because we are just at the beginning of a process in which the courts will likely shape the limits of those policies. Until that process is complete, employers and employees alike will have to operate within a kind of cyber-liability grey area."
In its Quon ruling, meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit asserted that Arch Wireless, the pager provider that turned over the text transcripts to the police chief, violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 by doing so. The act stipulates that stored communications be released by third-parties only with the permission of the sender or receiver of the original message. "This act, which has largely been forgotten about and is rarely if ever cited in cyber-liability cases, was passed back in the prehistoric age, when it comes to Internet, e-mail and mobile devices," Paranac explained. "If the SCA is resurrected as a result of the Quon case, there could be major liability implications for third-party communications companies like Verizon and AT&T. They will likely have to grapple with questions like, 'Are we actually allowed to hand these texts or e-mails over to the employer?' "
In certain instances, IT specialists who work with third-party providers to facilitate access to employee communications might even be subject to liability under a newly resurrected SCA, Paranac noted. "I would not be surprised if Congress were to revisit the Stored Communications Act," he said. "If you look at the iPhone and the whole universe of apps, many of which are GPS-enabled, it becomes clear that we are dealing with communications and devices that nobody even dreamed of in 1986."
Much the same could be said of cyber-liability itself, the attorney added. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, and both courts and lawmakers are struggling to catch up to technology," he said. "Technology, however, evolves at an ever-accelerating pace."
-----
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
NCSA Applauds President Obama's Cybersecurity Coordinator Appointment
/PRNewswire/ -- The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), the leading public private partnership in cybersecurity education and awareness, today applauded President Obama's appointment of Howard Schmidt as Cybersecurity Coordinator. Mr. Schmidt brings with him the necessary breadth and depth of experience across government, industry, and non-profit sectors, along with a broad understanding of the unique challenges cybersecurity presents to America's national and economic security.
"On behalf of the NCSA Board of Directors, I congratulate Howard on his appointment," said Shannon Kellogg, NCSA Board Chairman, and Director of Information Security Policy for EMC Corporation. "Cybersecurity is our shared responsibility and together we can educate Americans to be good digital citizens at home, work and school, helping create a robust and secure digital infrastructure. NCSA looks forward to continuing to work with the Obama Administration to expand national cybersecurity awareness efforts, one of the recommendations stated in the President's 60 Day Review on Cybersecurity earlier this year."
"NCSA looks forward to working closely with Mr. Schmidt to continue the important national public awareness campaign to help every American understand the steps they need take to protect the computers they use, the networks they connect to, and the digital assets we all share," said Michael Kaiser, NCSA executive director. "We thank President Obama for making cybersecurity awareness and education a strong priority, including posting tips for staying safe online with the announcement of Mr. Schmidt's appointment."
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"On behalf of the NCSA Board of Directors, I congratulate Howard on his appointment," said Shannon Kellogg, NCSA Board Chairman, and Director of Information Security Policy for EMC Corporation. "Cybersecurity is our shared responsibility and together we can educate Americans to be good digital citizens at home, work and school, helping create a robust and secure digital infrastructure. NCSA looks forward to continuing to work with the Obama Administration to expand national cybersecurity awareness efforts, one of the recommendations stated in the President's 60 Day Review on Cybersecurity earlier this year."
"NCSA looks forward to working closely with Mr. Schmidt to continue the important national public awareness campaign to help every American understand the steps they need take to protect the computers they use, the networks they connect to, and the digital assets we all share," said Michael Kaiser, NCSA executive director. "We thank President Obama for making cybersecurity awareness and education a strong priority, including posting tips for staying safe online with the announcement of Mr. Schmidt's appointment."
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Trusted Computer Solutions Announces December 15 Webinar “What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You”
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trusted Computer Solutions, Inc. (TCS), a leading developer of cross domain and cyber security solutions, today announced it will host a complimentary webcast titled “What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You” taking place on December 15, 2009 at 11 a.m. EST. This educational webcast will look at CounterStorm™, a solution that reinforces existing network security methods by stopping zero day and targeted attacks, and how anomaly detection techniques can be used in conjunction with traditional detection solutions to locate malicious behavior quickly and without known signatures.
At the Black Hat USA conference in July, Trusted Computer Solutions announced the general availability of CounterStorm. The solution employs an integrated suite of sophisticated detection engines that are uniquely correlated to provide unparalleled accuracy and speed in identifying and automatically stopping the new generation of increasingly destructive attacks.
The webcast will include discussion around the following topics:
* Current network defenses against known malware
* Advanced threats
* Mitigating advanced threats with anomaly detection
* The CounterStorm approach
WHO:
Brian Lindauer, Senior Software Engineer – CounterStorm, Trusted Computer Solutions
WHAT:
What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You
WHEN:
Tuesday, December 15; 11 a.m. – Noon EST
WHERE:
Webcast; Registration for the event can be accessed at TCS Webinar Registration
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At the Black Hat USA conference in July, Trusted Computer Solutions announced the general availability of CounterStorm. The solution employs an integrated suite of sophisticated detection engines that are uniquely correlated to provide unparalleled accuracy and speed in identifying and automatically stopping the new generation of increasingly destructive attacks.
The webcast will include discussion around the following topics:
* Current network defenses against known malware
* Advanced threats
* Mitigating advanced threats with anomaly detection
* The CounterStorm approach
WHO:
Brian Lindauer, Senior Software Engineer – CounterStorm, Trusted Computer Solutions
WHAT:
What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You
WHEN:
Tuesday, December 15; 11 a.m. – Noon EST
WHERE:
Webcast; Registration for the event can be accessed at TCS Webinar Registration
-----
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
How to Keep Kids Out of Cyber-Trouble: Top Tips for 6 Problem Areas
/PRNewswire/ -- Every day, it seems, the news carries another cyber-horror story. Last week, five Internet predators in Pennsylvania were arrested for sexually propositioning undercover agents in a chat room, in several cases sending nude webcam videos of themselves to agents they believed were 13- and 14-year-old girls. On the same day, a truck driver in England pleaded guilty to seven counts of rape after admitting forming relationships with two girls on the Internet before sexually assaulting them.
For parents, the first line of defense against Internet dangers is to have frank and ongoing discussions about online stranger-danger, the need to keep personal information private, and the potential consequences of inappropriate online behavior. A revealing photo sent on a cellphone or posted on a social network site, for example, can live on in cyberspace for years with damaging effects on everything from personal relationships to job prospects. And a flirtatious online conversation can literally turn deadly.
Beyond the need for parent-child communication on the subject of cyber-risks, InternetSafety.com
recommends a variety of strategies that parents can use to help keep their children safe. Here are some basic tips for six common activities:
-- Sexting - The increasingly common practice of sending sexually
suggestive text messages, photos or videos through cell phones is a
big worry. It can invite public humiliation, cyberbullying or even
sexual assault. Teenagers are even being charged with child
pornography for sending or posting racy photos. One way to limit
children's sexting opportunities is to retrieve their cellphones at
night and charge them in the parents' room. Phones today are simply
small computers, and they should be regulated in the same way as those
larger machines.
-- Social Networking - Rule #1 is that children should never post
anything they wouldn't be comfortable showing to their parents,
teacher, or youth worker. One way to discourage inappropriate entries
is to join the social networks that your kids are on and 'friend' your
own children so that you can monitor what they're posting.
-- Chatting - Chat rooms are not only nesting places for predators, but
they often indirectly encourage rude and even abusive interactions
between users due to the anonymity and lack of consequences. If your
child is using chat rooms, find out which ones and check them out for
yourself. If you are uncomfortable with specific chat sites, you might
consider using filtering software to block access to those sites or
log all chats for later review.
-- Gaming - Increasingly popular MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games)
like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft are massively addictive, with
reports of non-stop sessions as long as 48 or 72 hours. To prevent the
unhealthy practice of spending more time in a virtual world than a
real one, parents should either refuse to buy these games or impose
time limits. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more
than two hours of screen time per day per child 12 and under.) If the
child breaks the rules, simply uninstall the game from the computer or
confiscate the disc.
-- Searching - On most popular search engines including Google, the
safe-search settings aren't completely effective and are easy to turn
off. For that reason, younger children should not have a computer in
their room, and their computer use should be supervised. Filtering
software can also protect both younger and older children from
exposure to websites with adult, violent or other inappropriate
content.
-- File-Sharing - Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks such as
BitTorrent, uTorrent, Bearshare and Limewire allow totally unregulated
access to files that other network members have shared, including
illegal pirated material and child pornography, not to mention opening
computers to security risks. Banning these programs in your home is a
good idea. Check your family computer periodically to be sure that no
one has downloaded any of them, and remove them if they have.
More tips as well as tools to safeguard children against cyber-dangers can be found at www.internetsafety.com .
-----
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Arts Across Georgia
For parents, the first line of defense against Internet dangers is to have frank and ongoing discussions about online stranger-danger, the need to keep personal information private, and the potential consequences of inappropriate online behavior. A revealing photo sent on a cellphone or posted on a social network site, for example, can live on in cyberspace for years with damaging effects on everything from personal relationships to job prospects. And a flirtatious online conversation can literally turn deadly.
Beyond the need for parent-child communication on the subject of cyber-risks, InternetSafety.com
recommends a variety of strategies that parents can use to help keep their children safe. Here are some basic tips for six common activities:
-- Sexting - The increasingly common practice of sending sexually
suggestive text messages, photos or videos through cell phones is a
big worry. It can invite public humiliation, cyberbullying or even
sexual assault. Teenagers are even being charged with child
pornography for sending or posting racy photos. One way to limit
children's sexting opportunities is to retrieve their cellphones at
night and charge them in the parents' room. Phones today are simply
small computers, and they should be regulated in the same way as those
larger machines.
-- Social Networking - Rule #1 is that children should never post
anything they wouldn't be comfortable showing to their parents,
teacher, or youth worker. One way to discourage inappropriate entries
is to join the social networks that your kids are on and 'friend' your
own children so that you can monitor what they're posting.
-- Chatting - Chat rooms are not only nesting places for predators, but
they often indirectly encourage rude and even abusive interactions
between users due to the anonymity and lack of consequences. If your
child is using chat rooms, find out which ones and check them out for
yourself. If you are uncomfortable with specific chat sites, you might
consider using filtering software to block access to those sites or
log all chats for later review.
-- Gaming - Increasingly popular MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games)
like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft are massively addictive, with
reports of non-stop sessions as long as 48 or 72 hours. To prevent the
unhealthy practice of spending more time in a virtual world than a
real one, parents should either refuse to buy these games or impose
time limits. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more
than two hours of screen time per day per child 12 and under.) If the
child breaks the rules, simply uninstall the game from the computer or
confiscate the disc.
-- Searching - On most popular search engines including Google, the
safe-search settings aren't completely effective and are easy to turn
off. For that reason, younger children should not have a computer in
their room, and their computer use should be supervised. Filtering
software can also protect both younger and older children from
exposure to websites with adult, violent or other inappropriate
content.
-- File-Sharing - Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks such as
BitTorrent, uTorrent, Bearshare and Limewire allow totally unregulated
access to files that other network members have shared, including
illegal pirated material and child pornography, not to mention opening
computers to security risks. Banning these programs in your home is a
good idea. Check your family computer periodically to be sure that no
one has downloaded any of them, and remove them if they have.
More tips as well as tools to safeguard children against cyber-dangers can be found at www.internetsafety.com .
-----
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Study Finds Both Students and Teachers Lack Basic Cyber Security Education
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Less than 25 percent of educators feel comfortable teaching students how to protect themselves from online cyber predators, cyber bullies and identity theft, according to a recent study by The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Educational Technology, Policy Research and Outreach (ETPRO).
At a time when children ages 10-to-14 spend more time on the Internet than watching television, the study found that only the Commonwealth of Virginia has education curriculum requirements that include information on how students can protect themselves online. Since completion of this study, several more states including Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee, have passed legislation requiring online safety education in the classroom. In addition, 90 percent of educators have received less than six hours of professional development on cyber security in the past year.
The 2008 National Cyberethics, Cybersafety, Cybersecurity Baseline Study was conducted to explore educational awareness policies, initiatives, curriculum, and practices currently taking place in the U.S. public and private K-12 educational settings. The survey was administered online. 1,569 public and private U.S. K-12 educators and 94 technology coordinators took the survey and local and state technology directors and 219 educators participated in focus groups for the survey.
"Children are integrating technology into their lives at lightning speed. Our schools need to find ways to introduce cyber security education as a fully integrated part of the K-12 curriculum," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "We take the time to teach our children how to safely cross the street. Given the amount of time children spend online, the continuously emerging role of the technology in everyday life, and the risks that young people face, we are obligated to ensure that every child learns about safety, security and responsible use of the internet; yet we are not yet to the point of teaching children how to 'look both ways' to avoid the 'accidents' that can occur online."
"Schools are not alone. Nonprofit groups, government, the private sector and parents all play critical roles in ensuring children's safety online. However, educators and school systems will need to make the issue a priority if we can expect to see widespread adoption of cyber safety curricula in the classroom."
As part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, all students are required to be digitally literate by the 8th grade but half of the survey's respondents said there were no clear methods chosen by their school or school district to convey information on cyber safety and cyber security to students. Despite feeling unprepared or uncomfortable discussing C3 topics with students, more than 60 percent of educators are interested in learning more about C3 issues in general and in many cases the percentage increased on specific topics such as cyber safety, which was rated their highest priority.
"Policies need to be updated regularly and reviewed to ensure that teachers, students and parents understand the basics of cyber security. We must ensure our teachers are given the training necessary for them to inform their students on these topics," said Davina Pruitt-Mentle, PhD, Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst for ETPRO. "However, the burden cannot be placed solely on our education system. From media to corporate America to our federal, state and local governments, a variety of partnerships need to be formed to protect our children."
-----
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Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
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At a time when children ages 10-to-14 spend more time on the Internet than watching television, the study found that only the Commonwealth of Virginia has education curriculum requirements that include information on how students can protect themselves online. Since completion of this study, several more states including Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee, have passed legislation requiring online safety education in the classroom. In addition, 90 percent of educators have received less than six hours of professional development on cyber security in the past year.
The 2008 National Cyberethics, Cybersafety, Cybersecurity Baseline Study was conducted to explore educational awareness policies, initiatives, curriculum, and practices currently taking place in the U.S. public and private K-12 educational settings. The survey was administered online. 1,569 public and private U.S. K-12 educators and 94 technology coordinators took the survey and local and state technology directors and 219 educators participated in focus groups for the survey.
"Children are integrating technology into their lives at lightning speed. Our schools need to find ways to introduce cyber security education as a fully integrated part of the K-12 curriculum," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "We take the time to teach our children how to safely cross the street. Given the amount of time children spend online, the continuously emerging role of the technology in everyday life, and the risks that young people face, we are obligated to ensure that every child learns about safety, security and responsible use of the internet; yet we are not yet to the point of teaching children how to 'look both ways' to avoid the 'accidents' that can occur online."
"Schools are not alone. Nonprofit groups, government, the private sector and parents all play critical roles in ensuring children's safety online. However, educators and school systems will need to make the issue a priority if we can expect to see widespread adoption of cyber safety curricula in the classroom."
As part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, all students are required to be digitally literate by the 8th grade but half of the survey's respondents said there were no clear methods chosen by their school or school district to convey information on cyber safety and cyber security to students. Despite feeling unprepared or uncomfortable discussing C3 topics with students, more than 60 percent of educators are interested in learning more about C3 issues in general and in many cases the percentage increased on specific topics such as cyber safety, which was rated their highest priority.
"Policies need to be updated regularly and reviewed to ensure that teachers, students and parents understand the basics of cyber security. We must ensure our teachers are given the training necessary for them to inform their students on these topics," said Davina Pruitt-Mentle, PhD, Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst for ETPRO. "However, the burden cannot be placed solely on our education system. From media to corporate America to our federal, state and local governments, a variety of partnerships need to be formed to protect our children."
-----
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Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
'Dark Market' Takedown
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market. And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry
Last week the FBI and its global partners wrapped up a two-year undercover cyber operation that resulted in 56 arrests worldwide, the prevention of $70 million in potential losses, and the confirmation that while there might be honor among thieves, in the end, they are still just thieves.
Here’s what happened:
...A discerning group of cyber criminals established a forum on the Internet called “Dark Market,” where they bought and sold stolen financial information such as credit card data, login credentials (user names and passwords), and even electronic equipment for carrying out financial crimes.
...At its peak, this vast criminal network had over 2,500 registered members, who all believed they were operating in a protected cyber environment because they went to great lengths to vet members and to weed out undesirable elements.
...What they didn’t know was that one of the site’s administrators and most respected members, who called himself Master Splyntr, was one of us—an undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the site posing as a cyber crook.
“It was a group of people who trusted each other,” said the undercover agent after the arrests. He explained that there are two types of cyber criminals: those who steal, but not from one another, and “rippers,” who steal from anyone.
Keeping the rippers off the Dark Market site, the agent explained, gave the other members a false sense of confidence. “They did a good job of trying to be secure, and they felt secure. There was honor among thieves, so to speak.”
Master Splyntr was on the site nearly every day, anywhere from one hour to 15 hours a day. Dark Market was like an exclusive club for cyber crooks, a meeting place for getting advice and brokering deals. During his time online, the undercover agent said, “we saw millions of dollars being exchanged.” At the same time, the operation prevented the millions of dollars in losses by tipping off potential cyber crime targets.
From the outset, our agent pointed out, “the goal was to infiltrate the organization.” The operation was extremely successful in developing intelligence on Dark Market’s leading members and the ways in which they conducted their far-flung crimes.
Throughout the operation, we worked closely with our international law enforcement partners, including the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Turkish National Police, and the German Federal Criminal Police.
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market,” said our Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry. “And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
As for our undercover agent who became a trusted member of the forum, he explained that he often had to think like a crook when signing on as Master Splyntr. “But at the same time,” he added, “you remember what your job is—to get the criminals.”
-----
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FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry
Last week the FBI and its global partners wrapped up a two-year undercover cyber operation that resulted in 56 arrests worldwide, the prevention of $70 million in potential losses, and the confirmation that while there might be honor among thieves, in the end, they are still just thieves.
Here’s what happened:
...A discerning group of cyber criminals established a forum on the Internet called “Dark Market,” where they bought and sold stolen financial information such as credit card data, login credentials (user names and passwords), and even electronic equipment for carrying out financial crimes.
...At its peak, this vast criminal network had over 2,500 registered members, who all believed they were operating in a protected cyber environment because they went to great lengths to vet members and to weed out undesirable elements.
...What they didn’t know was that one of the site’s administrators and most respected members, who called himself Master Splyntr, was one of us—an undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the site posing as a cyber crook.
“It was a group of people who trusted each other,” said the undercover agent after the arrests. He explained that there are two types of cyber criminals: those who steal, but not from one another, and “rippers,” who steal from anyone.
Keeping the rippers off the Dark Market site, the agent explained, gave the other members a false sense of confidence. “They did a good job of trying to be secure, and they felt secure. There was honor among thieves, so to speak.”
Master Splyntr was on the site nearly every day, anywhere from one hour to 15 hours a day. Dark Market was like an exclusive club for cyber crooks, a meeting place for getting advice and brokering deals. During his time online, the undercover agent said, “we saw millions of dollars being exchanged.” At the same time, the operation prevented the millions of dollars in losses by tipping off potential cyber crime targets.
From the outset, our agent pointed out, “the goal was to infiltrate the organization.” The operation was extremely successful in developing intelligence on Dark Market’s leading members and the ways in which they conducted their far-flung crimes.
Throughout the operation, we worked closely with our international law enforcement partners, including the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Turkish National Police, and the German Federal Criminal Police.
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market,” said our Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry. “And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
As for our undercover agent who became a trusted member of the forum, he explained that he often had to think like a crook when signing on as Master Splyntr. “But at the same time,” he added, “you remember what your job is—to get the criminals.”
-----
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