2012 January » Cyber Crimes Unit

TinKode arrested for suspected hack of NASA and Pentagon servers

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Jan 312012

Police in Romania believe that they may have apprehended the notorious hacker TinKode, who in the past has hacked into government and military websites, exposing their poor security.

The 20-year-old man, named as Razvan Manole Cernaianu, allegedly attacked Pentagon and NASA computer systems, revealed security holes, and published information about SQL injection vulnerabilities he had discovered.

The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) has said in a statement that the alleged hacker also offered a computer program to hack into websites on his blog, and published a video showing internet attacks he had orchestrated against the US authorities.

TinKode’s targets were not just based in the United States, however. For instance, in November 2010, the British Royal Navy’s official website was compromised by the Romanian hacker, who claimed to have exposed the site’s passwords.

And last year, MySQL’s website was hit by – oh, the irony.. – an SQL injection attack.

Associated Press reports that the US Embassy in Bucharest claimed that Cernaianu, who is reportedly an IT student, “used sophisticated hacking tools to gain unauthorized access to government and commercial systems.”

That may be so, but in my estimation over the last few years TinKode’s motivation has been more about mischief-making than the more malicious attacks we often see, fueled by a desire for publicity via his active Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Perhaps now is a good time to remind everyone who thinks it’s cool or amusing to expose an organisation’s weak security that hacking into a site is still a crime, regardless of what your incentive may be.

DIICOT is said to have worked with the FBI and NASA on the investigation.

Follow @gcluley

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nakedsecurity/~3/vcNcdHsaRVY/

Important to protect privacy as government seeks to combat crime in the …

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Jan 312012

Deibert, head of the University of Torontos Citizen Lab and the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, was a speaker at the event, held by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commission to celebrate International Privacy Day. His work in the field of cyber security and human rights is well known. Together with his team at the Citizen Lab he has documented a troubling increase in the number of countries that filter access to information and censor the Internet, watching it grow from a mere handful in the early 2000s to more than 45 today.

It is true that issues of cybercrime present major problems. Nearly every day there are new revelations of high-level breaches of government ministries and agencies, Deibert, a professor of political science, told the audience assembled in Torontos MaRS auditorium. However, I believe these challenges are not insurmountable and do not require radical infringements on privacy.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts over the past decade, the federal government plans to re-introduce lawful access legislation, arguing that it is crucial to combat crime in the digital era. The proposed laws (Bills C-50, C-51 and C-52), for instance, would require Internet service providers to collect, process, and archive data relating to each and every person in Canada and turn it over to law enforcement without first obtaining a warrant. The legislation will drastically alter the state of privacy and telecommunications in Canada and, as a result, has garnered widespread criticism from the privacy community, opposition parties and leading academics.

When it comes to lawful access, Deibert said the government has yet been able to justify legislating new surveillance powers over the Internet. He asserted that the government need not sidestep civil liberties to meet the challenges of cybercrime. Instead, what it needs is a new investigatory paradigm.

We need to give law enforcement agencies new resources and new equipment to sort through voluminous flows of data and we need to give their officers training in navigating through the complex underbelly of Internet communications, he said. But alongside those resources, Canada should maintain the highest possible standards of judicial oversight and public accountability.

Provided by University of Toronto (news : web)

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Article source: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-important-privacy-combat-crime-digital.html

GovSec to Feature Keynote Addresses by Sen. George Mitchell and FBI Experts on …

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Jan 312012

VIENNA, Va., Jan 31, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
GovSec
— the Government Security Conference Expo featuring U.S. Law
Enforcement Conference Expo — has assembled an impressive line-up of keynote
speakers, including two current Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) experts who are leading the nation’s fight against cybercrime and
domestic and international terrorism, and a former U.S. Special Envoy
for Middle East Peace who understands first hand impact of turmoil in
the Middle East. GovSec will take place April 2-4, 2012, at the Walter
E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

The opening keynote, scheduled for April 3 at 8:30 a.m., will feature Ralph
S. Boelter, assistant director for the FBI Counterterrorism
Division, and Gordon
M. Snow, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. AD Boelter
will discuss “Protecting the U.S. from Terrorist Attacks,” highlighting
the FBI’s top priorities in terms of today’s terrorism threats. He also
will explain how the agency mitigates potential threats and share
details about some recent successes the FBI and its wide range of
partners have had in stopping attacks. Following Boelter, AD Snow will
address “The FBI’s Role in Combating Cybercrime,” with a focus on the
efforts and accomplishments of FBI cyber investigations. AD Snow will
discuss how the FBI is continuing to develop innovative new techniques
and resources that will help protect citizens from cybercrimes. Both AD
Boelter and AD Snow will conclude their addresses with a question and
answer session open to the audience.

Former Senate
Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, who served as U.S. Special Envoy
for Middle East Peace in the Obama Administration, will deliver his
keynote on “Turmoil in the Middle East: What it Means for American
Security” on April 4 at 9 a.m. During this timely presentation, Sen.
Mitchell will discuss the current dangers in the Middle East — from the
Arab Spring and Israeli/Palestinian conflict to Iran’s development of
nuclear weapons. He will explain how these dangers threaten the supply
of oil to Europe and the United States, and create uncertainty for
American security in the region.

GovSec keynotes are free and open to all registered attendees. GovSec
also features a two-day free
Expo — open to all qualified attendees — during which industry
leading vendors will showcase their latest products and services.
Expo visitors also can see live
demos on K-9 explosive detection and bomb squad response and
robotics, as well as test their skill, speed and judgment in
true-to-life shooting simulations. There are free
Expo education sessions and featured presentations in addition to Agency
Briefings by the FBI’s Law Enforcement Online, Justice Department
Office of Science and Technology, FEMA National Continuity Programs,
Defense Logistics Agency Law Enforcement Support Office, Department of
Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate and
Office for Bombing Prevention/TRIPwire Program, and the State
Department’s Diplomatic Security Training Center.

Throughout April 3 and 4, GovSec also will offer, for a fee, three
tracks of Conference
Sessions, focusing on Critical
Infrastructure Protection, Cyber
Terrorism and Cybercrime, and Counterterrorism:
Domestic and International. Featured speakers
in these sessions are the foremost experts in these fields. GovSec
attendees registered for the conference sessions also can attend
sessions on contingency
planning and management and network-centric
security, at the two conferences co-located with GovSec.

For more information about GovSec or to register, visit govsecinfo.com.

About GovSec featuring U.S. Law Enforcement

Scheduled for April 2-4, 2012, at the Washington Convention Center in
Washington, D.C., the Government Security Conference Expo (GovSec),
which is produced by the 1105 Event Group, takes a comprehensive
approach to securing our nation and its critical infrastructure by
addressing the convergence of physical security, cybersecurity and law
enforcement. This combination provides security professionals and first
responders with the necessary insights, tools and tactics to protect
their communities and our nation. U.S. Law Enforcement at GovSec
provides the newest tools, tactics and technologies for law enforcement
on the federal, state and local level to protect their communities and
critical infrastructure from domestic and international terrorism, and
natural and accidental disasters, while serving as the first line of
defense in homeland security and as a partner in terrorism
investigations. For more information, visit .govsecinfo.com.

About 1105 Media

1105 Media is a leading provider of integrated information and media in
targeted B-to-B markets, including specialized sectors of the
information technology community; industrial health, safety and
compliance; security; environmental protection; and home health care.
1105′s offerings span print and online magazines, journals and
newsletters; seminars, conferences and trade shows; training courseware;
and Web-based services. 1105 Media is based in Chatsworth, Calif., with
offices throughout the United States. Visit 1105media.com.

About the Security, Safety, and Environmental Protection Group

GovSec is a member of the Security, Safety, and Environmental Protection
Group — a division of 1105 Media, Inc. Comprised of the Security
Products, Occupational Health Safety, and Environmental Protection
brands as well as events and ancillary products related to these brands,
it is an industry leader in every category it includes.

SOURCE: GovSec



        
        Wills  Associates Public Relations 
        Brad Wills 
        240-752-7171 
        bwills@wills-pr.com

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/govsec-to-feature-keynote-addresses-by-sen-george-mitchell-and-fbi-experts-on-cybercrime-and-counterterrorism-2012-01-31

2012 UK Fraud Predictions

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Jan 312012

Leading fraud consultancy UK Fraud (www.ukfraud.co.uk) has set out 10 predictions for the domestic fraud prevention market in 2012. The predictions are:

That the NFA (National Fraud Authority) will face major political pressure to deliver a fraud strategy that will make a real difference. The government will demand that it starts to demonstrate measurable annual fraud savings. These could be expected to be more than £10 billion. Simultaneously, there will be an increasingly public tussle for funds with the government’s new Cyber Crime operation. The NFA will also face mounting pressure to adopt a more pan European and global perspective to combat fraud hitting the UK from overseas territories.
With the volume of traffic for e-commerce transactions increasing, fraudsters will target individual merchants and merchant groups. As a result, there will be:
a. More co-operation across the merchant sector.
b. More disintermediation of the merchant acquirer services.
c. Greater use and development of acquirer anti-fraud enrichment services.
d. Payment Service Providers (PSPs) will become more prevalent, with fraud solutions provided as an integrated part of the service they offer.
e. Greater dissatisfaction with many existing fraud solutions, particularly with those that are less well conceived.
The USA has now decided on its strategy for a card Chip standard (i.e. EMV). It will not be adopting PINs as the authentication method as most countries have done in Europe. The USA prefers to rely on an ‘on-line’ strategy for authorisations. So the US decision-makers will take the opportunity in 2012 to relax and unwind until they see the trauma to the system caused initially by the wider adoption of NFC-mobile enabled payments and US customers wanting to pay in Europe when visiting London 2012 Olympics.
UK Payments (a.k.a. APACS) will probably applaud a small fall in fraud for the year within the card industry. The change will be as a result of retailers continuing to implement 3D secure solutions (the code and password to finish an on-line transaction) and some bespoke fraud prevention screening solutions. However, this will belie an underlying problem that will ‘strike’ hard next year, with major breaches involving attacks on SDA/DDA, card cloning, and/or PIN compromises and tampered devices.
There will be a major shift in the presence, position and fraud service offerings of one or more of the major data-bureaux (such as credit reference agencies) as more solutions either move ‘in-house’ or move to systems developed by a host of new players in various fraud sectors.
ID theft will keep growing. We have had a banking crisis, a housing crisis; so are we now ready for an ID crisis as more and more IDs are stolen and used across the world for major frauds? CIFAS keeps us updated on identity thefts, but the problem is now gathering enough momentum to reach a crisis point.
One or two UK government departments will see a significant rise in fraud that will cause a major re-think in how fraud is handled; in both the fraud strategy in government and in what should be done about it. This could fall on HMRC with tax evasion (given the threatened recession). This has been a repeat prediction over many years, but something is very likely to crack soon as fraud in the public sector just keeps rising.
There will be increased momentum amongst insurers (or within a few key insurers) to develop a strong and credible fraud prevention solution based around the ‘front end’ (underwriting stage of business), maybe with a strong data-sharing drive.
With all the pressures on financial cuts, and global hardship; we will inevitably get to hear of the latest sensational fraud surrounding a notable individual (or two). Will it be a CEO or a politician or someone else this time? Will it be around a major insurance company, a Hedge Fund, an Olympic committee member or a Telecom chief?
Overall fraud will increase dramatically across the UK and the rest of Europe in 2012. The areas likely to be most affected include: insurance, merchants and retailers, telecoms, government departments and Local Authorities. The most common fraud activities are expected to be increased cybercrime, internal fraud, supply chain and procurement fraud.

Says Bill Trueman, CEO of UK Fraud, “Fraud prevention is in part the art of knowing what will happen in advance so making predictions is a natural part of the process. However, currently there are such enormous challenges in the financial world and also for organisations such as the NFA that we felt it would be useful to show managers in financial services, credit, insurance and the public sector the kind of issues that they might expect to see in 2012. These are only the issues that may ‘tip the scale’ as there is a raft of others that might not make the headlines. Or will they?”

Ends

About UKFRAUD.co.uk (www.ukfraud.co.uk)
UKFRAUD.co.uk is a leading UK based consultancy, with an impressive international track record of eliminating the risk of fraud. Its founder Bill Trueman is widely accepted as one of Europe’s leading fraud experts and a frequent commentator and writer on the issues involved. Trueman has extensive experience of the banking, insurance and the financial services sectors and is a thought leader at the forefront of many industry wide and international debates.

For further information, please contact:
Bill Trueman
UKFRAUD.co.uk
020 8133 7575
bill.trueman@ukfraud.co.uk

Article source: http://www.realwire.com/releases/2012-UK-Fraud-Predictions

Israel tops cyber-readiness poll

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Jan 312012

30 January 2012
Last updated at 20:21 GMT

By Dave Lee
Technology Reporter

Israel handles over 1,000 attacks every minute, government advisors said

Israel, Finland and Sweden are seen as leading the way in “cyber-readiness”, according to a major new security report.

The McAfee-backed cyberdefence survey deemed China, Brazil and Mexico as being among the least able to defend themselves against emerging attacks.

The rank is based on leading experts’ perception of a nation’s defences.

The report concluded that greater sharing of information globally is necessary to keep ahead of threats.

It also suggests giving more power to law enforcement to fight cross-border crime.

The UK, with a grading of four out of five, ranks favourably in the survey – along with the USA, Germany, Spain and France.

‘Subjective view’

The study was carried out by the Security and Defence Agenda think tank and its rankings are based on the perceived quality of a country’s cyber-readiness – the ability to cope with a range of threats and attacks.

“The subjectiveness of the report is its biggest strength,” explained Raj Samani, McAfee’s chief technology officer.

“What it does is give the perception of cyber-readiness by those individuals who kind of understand and work in cyber security on a day-in, day-out basis.”

Countries ranked for cyber-readiness

Country

Rating

Source: McAfee

(None)

Finland, Israel, Sweden

Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, UK, USA

Australia, Austria, Canada, Japan

China, Italy, Poland, Russia

Brazil, India, Romania

Mexico

(None)

A good score depends on having basic measures like adequate firewalls and antivirus protection, and more complex matters including well-informed governance and education.

Sweden, Finland and Israel all impressed the report’s experts – despite the fact that the latter receives reportedly over 1,000 cyber attacks every minute.

Isaac Ben-Israel, senior security advisor to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is quoted in the report as saying: “The hacktivist group Anonymous carries out lots of attacks but they don’t cause much damage. The real threat is from states and major crime organisations.”

He added that the country has set up a cyber-taskforce responsible for assessing threats to key infrastructure such power production and water supplies.

‘Enhancing co-operation’

At the other end of the security scale, Mexico ranked as least prepared to cope with the cyber threat – a situation which is blamed on the country’s authorities needing to overwhelmingly focus on the country’s gang and drugs problems.

China is regarded by some Western observers as an aggressor in cyberspace.

But one expert Peiran Wang said the country was itself vulnerable because it lacked a joined up strategy.

Mexico’s drug problems means available resource is put into real world policing – and not on cybercrime

“The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of State Security and even the military are involved and they don’t communicate well,” said Peiran Wang, a visiting scholar at Brussels’ Free University.

In the UK, the report praised a £650m investment programme in cyber security.

However, the Home Office’s plans were criticised by information security expert Peter Sommer.

“A great deal depends on co-operation from the private sector, which controls about 80% of the critical national infrastructure.

“Over half of the new funding will go to the ‘secret vote’, the intelligence agencies, where value for money will be difficult to investigate. I would have preferred more emphasis on public education – helping potential victims help themselves.”

Cybercrime fighters

Among the report’s conclusions is the recommendation that greater efforts be made to improve cross-border law enforcement.

“Cybercriminals route their connection through multiple different countries,” said Mr Samani.

“If criminals are particularly clever, they go through countries where they know there isn’t any co-operation.”

In the UK, millions has been pledged by foreign secretary William Hague to fight cyber issues

“The bad guys share information – we need to do the same as well.”

Dr Joss Wright from the Oxford Internet Institute welcomed the report’s findings. However, he had serious doubts over the feasibility of its suggestions.

“They’re recommendations that people have been saying for maybe 10 years,” he told the BBC.

“I would love to see good information sharing – but when you’re talking about national security, there’s a culture of not sharing.

“They’re not suddenly going to change 70, 100, 1000 years of military thinking.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16787509

MegaUpload data could be deleted by Thursday

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Jan 312012

Hosting companies may start deleting MegaUpload users’ content from their servers – regardless of whether or not the content is legal – starting as soon as Thursday, February 2, according to a letter filed in federal court by U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride.

According to news reports, the letter was submitted on Friday in the Eastern District of Virginia. Although MegaUpload is based in Hong Kong, U.S. authorities claim to have the authority to act because some of the company’s leased servers are located in Virginia.

According to MegaUpload, millions of users store their own data, such as photos and personal documents, on the site.

The site had some 180 million registered users and was getting 50 million daily hits when U.S. prosecutors shut it down on January 19, indicting and arresting the owners for allegedly operating an organisation dedicated to piracy of movies, music and more.

Users who don’t have backup copies haven’t been able to get at their data since the shutdown, but they’ve held out hope that they could get it back. At this point it’s not looking good, even for owners of copyright-kosher data.

According to a report from The Associated Press, MegaUpload pays outside companies to store the data. An attorney for MegaUpload, Ira Rothken, said on Sunday that the government has frozen its money, according to the report.

The letter, filed on Friday, said that storage companies Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc. may begin deleting user data on Thursday, given that government investigators have finished executing their search warrants at the storage centres.

MacBride wrote in the letter that the government copied some data but didn’t remove any. Now that the search is over, the government no longer has access to the servers, he said.

Meanwhile, MegaUpload users are howling over the loss of their data. TorrentFreak reported on Friday that Pirate Parties worldwide have begun to compile a list of users affected by the MegaUpload raids, and they are planning to file an official complaint against the FBI.

From the TorrentFreak report, here’s what the Pirate Parties had to say:

The widespread damage caused by the sudden closure of MegaUpload is unjustified and completely disproportionate to the aim intended.

For this reason Pirates of Catalonia, in collaboration with Pirate Parties International and other Pirate Parties, have begun investigating these potential breaches of law and will facilitate submission of complaints against the US authorities in as many countries as possible, to ensure a positive and just result.

This initiative is a starting point for legitimate internet users to help defend themselves from the legal abuses promoted by those wishing to aggressively lock away cultural materials for their own financial gain.

File sharing site TorrentFreak have started compiling a list of names to complain about the loss of non-pirated data.

The sand in the hourglass is running out for that data.

I won’t tell any MegaUpload users that they should have backed up any important data before sending it off into the cloud, because that would just be rubbing salt into what may soon be a gaping wound.

Follow @LisaVaas

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Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nakedsecurity/~3/cE0ud8jJaDw/

Viruses and hacking, as seen on TV and in the movies

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Jan 312012

Working in the computer security industry, we’re pretty used to seeing malware and hacking misrepresented on our TV and movie screens.

The truth is that normally malware is pretty humdrum. There’s nothing much to see (after all, if a piece of malware announces its presence, it sort of makes it obvious to the computer’s owner that they have an infection), and any damage done is normally hard to present on the screen.

Spooks and the DDoS submarine
BBC TV drama “Spooks”, which follows the complicated lives of MI5 agents, has flirted with malware and hacking on multiple occasions – almost always unrealistically.

For instance, the episode where the secret service uncovers a plot by Russia to destroy the British economy by launching a DDoS attack against all the country’s computers. How are the Ruskies going to achieve it? By using a submarine, of course.

Not just any old submarine, but one which can intercept deep sea internet communications cables in the North Atlantic and launch an attack directly to British shores.

Fortunately, MI5 has a “zero day virus” and 30 seconds in which to launch a counter-attack against the sub.

Swordfish
And who can forget “Swordfish”? Baddy John Travolta wants hacker Hugh Jackman to hack into a Department of Defense computer system – and only gives him 60 seconds to do the job.

Travolta’s female friend Helga helps Hugh with a problem he’s having with his coaxial cable in a scene that’s possibly NSFW:

Not your normal interview technique.

NCIS
Navy cop show NCIS came under an attack from hackers that was so severe, they had two people using the same keyboard to try to deflect it!

Fortunately the oldest way to protect yourself from internet threats prevails. Unplug yourself.

CSI: New York
The good folks at CSI are on the trail of the Cabbie Killer. Fortunately, they have a technical whiz in their team:

“I’ll create a GUI interface using Visual Basic, see if I can track an IP address”.

Visual Basic? Simply fantastic. You go girl! You’re l33t!

Jurassic Park
It’s 1993, and dinosaurs have been brought back to life. Things aren’t going well… but never fear because..

“It’s a Unix system.. I know this!”

Maybe you do, but wouldn’t it be quicker to open a command prompt than go through the clunky 3D interface?

The Matrix
Turns out that the Matrix is running some flavour of Unix. Could it have been installed by the same guys who installed the systems at Jurassic Park?

But it must be tricky for Trinity to type quickly wearing leather gloves, surely?

Bones
And now our friends at F-Secure have blogged about an episode of US TV series “Bones”, which takes things to a whole new level of lunacy.

Computers burst into flames because of a “malware fractal” that was imprinted on a shooting victim’s bones shut the computer’s fans off when the bones were scanned into the computer, thus uploading the virus.

Check out the video here.

Do you have any more examples of amusing uses of malware and hacking in TV shows and movies. Leave us a comment and let us know. We’ll add the best to this list.

Follow @gcluley

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nakedsecurity/~3/d34qHO75BYQ/

HCG diet spam attack hits Facebook users, spreads rapidly

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Jan 312012

Many Facebook users are finding that their friends are announcing online that they have lost weight, and are directing others to follow the HCG diet.

Here’s a typical message:

I’ve lost 10 pounds in just one week all thanks to HCG! Check it out [LINK]

followed by a comment, seemingly from the same user, saying:

Never thought losing weight could be so easy!!!

Other versions can use different language, such as:

I’ve lost over a stone in just 2 weeks all thanks to HCG! Check it out [LINK]

If you follow the link, you are typically taken (via a blogspot url) to a website touting a miracle diet.

Of course, it would be something of a coincidence if so many thousands of Facebook users had all lost 10 pounds at the same time, and all decided to tell their Facebook friends using precisely the same wording, wouldn’t it?

If you see a Facebook friend has posted a message like the one above, tell them that scammers have taken advantage of their account to spew out diet spam, and advise them to be a lot more careful in future.

The good news is that if you’re using Sophos products then we can intercept the dodgy webpage, and prevent you from putting even more money into the pockets of the scammers.

Got a friend who has sent out the diet spam message? If they find any suspicious posts on their newsfeed, or unexpected apps or pages that they have liked, then they should obviously remove them.

Affected users should also run an up-to-date anti-virus program on their computers and scan for a possible malware infection. If there is malware present, it may have also grabbed your online passwords – make sure that you haven’t left a backdoor open to your website accounts and change your passwords.

If you use Facebook and want to get an early warning about the latest attacks, you should join the Sophos Facebook page where we have a thriving community of over 160,000 people.

Follow @gcluley

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Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nakedsecurity/~3/OkJremksc54/

Today’s media stories from the papers

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Jan 312012

This week’s featured media jobs

Commonwealth Secretariat – Camera Operator Video Editor
London/temp/full time

Haymarket Media Group – Deputy editor
Leeds, Milton Keynes/permanent/full time

Future Publishing – Editor-In-Chief – Digital Creative
Bath/permanent/full time

For more jobs, career advice and workplace news visit guardianjobs.co.uk

Today’s headlines

The Guardian

Downton Abbey signs up Shirley MacLaine. P1
Julian Assange’s extradition fight enters final round. P1
Concert halls and BBC work to feed appetite for contemporary classical music. P9
Fine newspapers for breaching rules, says watchdog chief. P11
Two men found guilty of newspaper terror plot. P17
Thailand backs Twitter over censorship. P17
How Only Fools and Horses USA might look. G2 P3
Is the internet harmful to teenage girls? G2 P12

The Independent

How Upstairs Downstairs plans to take on Downton Abbey. P3
Driver ‘said he provided protection for the Murdochs’, court told. P11
BBC and BskyB in iPlayer deal. P18
Sun editor Dominic Mohan was due to have Sunday off but turned up at work to boost morale following arrests. P22
Thailand backs Twitter censorship policy. P25
Men jailed over plot to attack Danish newspaper. P26
Golden Globe-winning spy thriller Homeland is coming to Channel 4. P36
Obituary of indutrial journalist Ken Graves. P40
The real power behind Facebook. P44

Sun journalists suspended after arrests. P7
Press Complaints Commission took a ‘timorous’ approach to hacking claims. P7
Users of internet site Megaupload to have data deleted. P11
The Thick of It spin doctor Malcolm Tucker was modelled on Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, not Alastair Campbell. P15
Thailand backs Twitter censorship policy. P17
Theresa May warns about cyber-risk to children. P18
Crime website extended to include public places. P18
How Upstairs Downstairs plans to take on Downton Abbey. P21
Men jailed over plot to attack Danish newspaper. P25

Daily Telegraph

Downton Abbey signs up Shirley MacLaine. P1
Dallas stars return. P6
Twitter messages could be blocked if they break legal gags. P12
The Thick of It spin doctor Malcolm Tucker was modelled on Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, not Alastair Campbell. P13
BBC’s Great Expectations left the humour out says writer Andrew Davies. P13
Two men found guilty of Danish newspaper terror plot. P16
Interview with newsreader Kate Silverton. P22
Two Hit Entertainment executives leave following acquisition by Mattel. Business P4

The Times

Downton Abbey signs up Shirley MacLaine. P7
Press watchdog must have power to fine, Leveson told. P19
Joey Barton on the power of Twitter. P20
The story of a state cameraman in Syria who fled for his life. P25
The Facebook flotation examined. P32
How Only Fools and Horses USA might look. Times2 P2

Financial Times

New Sunday newspaper on hold after Sun arrests. P4
The Facebook flotation examined. P11
BSkyB agrees partnership with BBC over iPlayer. P19

Wall Street Journal Europe

Men jailed over plot to attack Danish newspaper. P3
The coming tech-led boom. P18

Daily Mail

Upstairs Downstairs… or how new BBC series echoes its ITV rival. P13
PCC should have questioned Andy Coulson over phone hacking, body’s former director admits. P26
Alan Hansen is on the verge of a new BBC deal at significantly reduced terms. P69

Daily Express

Downton Abbey signs up Shirley MacLaine. P8
Lesbian romance in Upstairs Downstairs. P8
DJs David Hamilton and Tony Blackburn to dance together for Sport Relief. P15
TV soap Dallas returns. P19
Denise Welch returns to ITV’s Loose Women following Celebrity Big Brother win. P23

The Sun

Ant and Dec furious after Simon Cowell delayed filming of Britain’s Got Talent for two hours due to bath. P3
Denise Welch returns to ITV’s Loose Women following Celebrity Big Brother win. P3
Facebook to float. P22
Arlene Phillips refused alcohol for looking underage. TV Biz, P1
Pictures from the new series of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. TV Biz, P1
Actor Samantha Womack was in talks to join Britain’s Got Talent panel. TV Biz P1
How the BBC’s Upstairs Downstairs plans to upstage Downton Abbey. TV Biz P2

Daily Mirror

The return of Dallas. P3
Downton Abbey signs up Shirley MacLaine. P3
Denise Welch returns to ITV’s Loose Women following Celebrity Big Brother win. P9
Ant and Dec furious after Simon Cowell delayed filming of Britain’s Got Talent for two hours due to bath. P15
Upstairs Downstairs will include a lesbian affair. P21
Pictures from the new series of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. P27
Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark plans to open a restaurant. P27
Britain tops list of shopping on smartphones. P27

Daily Star

Secret spy cameras film backstage at Britain’s Got Talent as Simon Cowell poaches Made in Chelsea producer. P3
Denise Welch returns to ITV’s Loose Women following Celebrity Big Brother win. P7
Criminals use Facebook to taunt victims. P13
Lesbian romance in Upstairs Downstairs. P24

And finally …

Quentin Letts “throws his hat into the ring for the top job at his beloved Beeb” in a Daily Mail comment piece. Letts, who describes himself to Mail readers as “your parliamentary sketch writer, theatre critic and occasional powder monkey”, says he is applying to replace Mark Thompson as BBC director general because the corporation needs to do less and “aim upmarket”. He says he’d do the job for an MP’s salary – £65,000 – axe BBC3, BBC4, daytime TV, BBC News channel, Radio 1, Radio 5 Live … and political correctness, anti-religious and leftie bias, natch. Alas, the standfirst’s “and get rid of Clarkson!” is not actually mentioned in Letts’s copy – bit of wishful thinking by a Mail sub? Having declared he’s “not a nostalgia freak”, Letts goes on to pine for the return of Play For Today and It’s a Knockout, as well as singing the praises of BBC1′s 1964 schedule, which included a “highbrow discussion programme introduced by Ian Trethowan”, Gallery. Don’t stop there, Lettsy – what about bringing back The Black and White Minstrel Show? Daily Mail P14

Also on MediaGuardian.co.uk today

BSkyB profits up despite ad decline
Net profit rises 8% as gains in total customers and efficiency make up for 6% advertising slide in second half of 2011

PCC not a regulator, says former director
Tim Toulmin says body is merely a complaints handler after it is criticised for its failure to investigate phone hacking

Lord Prescott attacks press owners for ‘collusion’ over libel reforms
Plans to ban the use of no win, no fee arrangements with lawyers will impact the less well off, says former deputy PM

Google executives questioned by MPs over privacy
Search giant’s staff criticised by committee for not doing enough to take down images taken from Max Mosley orgy video

Up to 30 jobs to go at Telegraph titles
Telegraph Media Group announces mandatory redundancies in order to increase digital investment

TalkSport owner: Radio 5 Live should focus on news
UTV Media says rival should act on findings of BBC Trust report, although trustee has said not to expect ‘wholesale change’

Appeal court to rule on Glenn Mulcaire’s silence
Judges will decide whether he must disclose who instructed him to hack phones

Men jailed for planning attack on Danish newspaper
Investigators said plot to strike Jyllands-Posten, which printed cartoons of prophet Muhammad, was linked to al-Qaida

Channel 4′s Dispatches hires deputy editor of Panorama
Daniel Pearl will edit broadcaster’s current affairs documentary strand

Big Brother creator to launch ‘first’ gameshow/talent show hybrid
John de Mol teams up with Universal Music Group as he looks to sell The Winner Is … to a UK broadcaster

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/31/1?newsfeed=true

Bolstered cops battle cyber crooks

News Comments Off

Jan 312012

Internet crimes are on the rise and the figures are startling. But what is interesting is that cyber crimes have increased by 100 per cent, while the awareness to report such crimes has increased by a whopping 300 per cent

Launched in 2002, the cyber crimes department in the State is claimed to be the best in India and they are the pioneers in introducing the cyber forensic unit, according to Additional Superintendent of Police (cyber crimes) Rama Mohan. He claims that the software and hardware used by the department are some of the best in India and their decade-long experience comes in handy for them in solving cases.

The most common crimes that the department register are — lottery frauds, also known as Nigerian fraud; harassment using the internet which includes social networking sites; unauthorised hacking; online frauds; credit card and debit card frauds and uploading pornography. However, the most common cyber crime among these is lottery fraud, says Rama Mohan.

“Until five years ago, we used to receive very few complaints. That number has significantly increased. As cyber crimes are urban-specific, the perpetrators are educated and speak fluent English. They are usually between 20 to 30 years old,” he says giving a profile of the accused.

Last year, the cyber crime department nabbed 27 Nigerians, 20 locals and 17 from other states indulging in criminal activities.

How can a police officer join the cyber crime wing? To become part of the team, aspirants need to have knowledge on use and abuse of computers, online and onsite investigation, servers, components and data recovery. They have to go through a training in the department’s own academy and pass five different difficulty levels that test them.

“But we usually take anyone who has crossed two levels,” explains Rama Mohan. On the other hand, Mohan refused to comment on the staff strength citing that it is “knowledge, not numbers that solve cyber crimes. We have enough support from the police force including the force from other states,” he points out. In rare cases where only experts from a particular field can solve a crime, the department calls upon previous perpetrators for help.

Solving a case is a Herculean task as it requires information from internet service providers, cellular service providers, website servers, system administration, system developers and forensic lab.

“It is a time-consuming process, although, some cases can be solved in a jiffy,” says the Additional SP.

The least time it takes to solve a crime is that related to online harassment, especially women, while cases like online frauds can take upto a year, reveals Mohan.

“Reporting a cyber related crime is as simple as coming to us and filing an FIR. When the crime falls under IT Act, we register a case,” says Ram Mohan.

Advice by Rama Mohan, additional SP (cyber crimes), on staying safe online

Know the technology- It is best to be informed
Don’t be greedy- Nobody gives you money for free
Don’t share passwords- Not even with your spouse, mother or friend
Use common sense- This will help you avoid being a victim
Don’t use online transactions at internet cafes or any public computer
Behave properly on the internet- Especially social networking sites

Tags: cyber crime, cyber crime department, featured, full-image, increased, internet crimes, Nigerians, technology

Category: City, City News

Article source: http://postnoon.com/2012/01/31/bolstered-cops-battle-cyber-crooks/24558

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Bolstered cops battle cyber crooks

Internet crimes are on the rise and the figures are startling. But what is interesting is that cyber crimes have increased by 100 per cent, while the awareness to report such crimes has increased by a whopping 300 per cent

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