Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Norton: Cybercrime strikes 83 percent of Internet users in Malaysia
Up to 83 percent of Internet users in Malaysia have fallen victim to cybercrimes, says security software maker Norton in a new study released recently.
According to the Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact, the crimes include computer viruses, online credit card fraud and identity theft. This silent digital epidemic is the result of consumers´ apathy, which leaves them vulnerable and exposed in the online world.
Although one in three Malaysians blamed the criminals behind the cybercrime, one third of Malaysians felt highly responsible for cybercriminal activities that resulted from their response to online scams and phishing attacks.
However, solving cybercrime can be highly frustrating. According to the report, 45 percent of cybercrime victims in Malaysia have never fully resolved the cybercrime.
This is no surprise when it takes an average of 30 days and an average cost of MYR7,323 to come to a resolution. Twenty percent of the respondents said the biggest hassle they faced when dealing with cybercrime was the loss of irreplaceable data or items of sentimental value; and sixty percent said their biggest fear when it comes to being a victim of cybercrime is the financial loss.
Nevertheless, despite the hassle, reporting a cybercrime is critical.
"We all pay for cybercrime, either directly or through pass-along costs from our financial institutions," said Effendy Ibrahim, Internet safety advocate & consumer business head, Asia, Symantec.
"Cybercriminals purposely steal small amounts to remain undetected, but all of these add up. If you fail to report a loss, you may actually be helping the criminal stay under the radar. Ultimately, the cost of resolving cybercrime is losing money and time -- one way or another the victim is paying a ´price´ and the impact is not just financial but emotional too."
The report also examined the emotional impact of cybercrime and found that Malaysian victims´ strongest reactions are anger (73 percent), feeling cheated (55 percent) and upset (51 percent).
Besides cybercrime and its emotional impact, the report also looked at the "human aspect," which delved further into the little crimes or white lies consumers perpetrate against friends, family, loved ones and businesses.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents think it´s morally okay to download a single music track, album or movie without paying; 20 percent believe it is legal to secretly view someone else´s browser history files and 12 percent believe it is legal to check someone else´s emails.
However, these behaviours, such as downloading files, open people up to additional security threats as cybercriminals lurk in places where people download illegal content and make use of these channels to distribute malware.
Still, it is not all bad news. The good thing is that more than 80 percent of respondents feel that it´s unethical to sell someone´s personal information, hack into someone´s online account and use someone else´s personal information online.
The study shows that digital respect is given as Malaysians´ online rules include not passing along spam (73 percent), not passing along embarrasing photos (68 perecent), not bullying or threatening others online and not harassing or stalking people online (65 percent respectively).
The study serves as a stark reminder that there is still a need for people to take simple steps to protect themselves on the online space.
Source : http://gadgets.emedia.com.my/product.php?id=1205
According to the Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact, the crimes include computer viruses, online credit card fraud and identity theft. This silent digital epidemic is the result of consumers´ apathy, which leaves them vulnerable and exposed in the online world.
Although one in three Malaysians blamed the criminals behind the cybercrime, one third of Malaysians felt highly responsible for cybercriminal activities that resulted from their response to online scams and phishing attacks.
However, solving cybercrime can be highly frustrating. According to the report, 45 percent of cybercrime victims in Malaysia have never fully resolved the cybercrime.
This is no surprise when it takes an average of 30 days and an average cost of MYR7,323 to come to a resolution. Twenty percent of the respondents said the biggest hassle they faced when dealing with cybercrime was the loss of irreplaceable data or items of sentimental value; and sixty percent said their biggest fear when it comes to being a victim of cybercrime is the financial loss.
Nevertheless, despite the hassle, reporting a cybercrime is critical.
"We all pay for cybercrime, either directly or through pass-along costs from our financial institutions," said Effendy Ibrahim, Internet safety advocate & consumer business head, Asia, Symantec.
"Cybercriminals purposely steal small amounts to remain undetected, but all of these add up. If you fail to report a loss, you may actually be helping the criminal stay under the radar. Ultimately, the cost of resolving cybercrime is losing money and time -- one way or another the victim is paying a ´price´ and the impact is not just financial but emotional too."
The report also examined the emotional impact of cybercrime and found that Malaysian victims´ strongest reactions are anger (73 percent), feeling cheated (55 percent) and upset (51 percent).
Besides cybercrime and its emotional impact, the report also looked at the "human aspect," which delved further into the little crimes or white lies consumers perpetrate against friends, family, loved ones and businesses.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents think it´s morally okay to download a single music track, album or movie without paying; 20 percent believe it is legal to secretly view someone else´s browser history files and 12 percent believe it is legal to check someone else´s emails.
However, these behaviours, such as downloading files, open people up to additional security threats as cybercriminals lurk in places where people download illegal content and make use of these channels to distribute malware.
Still, it is not all bad news. The good thing is that more than 80 percent of respondents feel that it´s unethical to sell someone´s personal information, hack into someone´s online account and use someone else´s personal information online.
The study shows that digital respect is given as Malaysians´ online rules include not passing along spam (73 percent), not passing along embarrasing photos (68 perecent), not bullying or threatening others online and not harassing or stalking people online (65 percent respectively).
The study serves as a stark reminder that there is still a need for people to take simple steps to protect themselves on the online space.
Source : http://gadgets.emedia.com.my/product.php?id=1205
Friday, 3 June 2011
COMPUTER PROGRAMMER SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR UNAUTHORIZED COMPUTER ACCESS
CHARLOTTE, NC - A former Bank of America (BOA) computer programmer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison yesterday, to be followed by two years of supervised release for unauthorized access to the financial institution’s protected computers, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Russell F. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Charlotte Field Division.
U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney also ordered Rodney Reed Caverly, 54, of Mint Hill to pay restitution in the amount of $419,310.90. The restitution amount includes $284,750 Caverly stole from ATMs and $134,750.90 in costs incurred by BOA to remove from the bank’s ATM computer system a malicious computer code entered by Caverly. U.S. Secret Service agents also recovered $167,010 of stolen cash based on information provided by the defendant.
According to court records and sentencing proceedings, Caverly, who was hired by BOA to design and maintain its computer systems, had been assigned to work on a project involving the bank’s automated teller machine (ATM) system. Filed documents and court records show that from March 2009 to October 2009, Caverly knowingly and with intent to defraud exceeded his authorized access by gaining access to one or more protected BOA computers and deployed a malicious computer code to select BOA ATMs. The malicious code caused a limited number of infected ATMs to disburse cash from the ATMs without any transaction record of the cash disbursements.
The code Caverly entered caused only the unauthorized disbursement of cash stored in the ATM machines and did not affect any financial accounts of BOA’s customers.
Caverly pleaded guilty on April 13, 2010 and was released pending his sentencing hearing. Upon designation to a federal facility, he will report to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney also ordered Rodney Reed Caverly, 54, of Mint Hill to pay restitution in the amount of $419,310.90. The restitution amount includes $284,750 Caverly stole from ATMs and $134,750.90 in costs incurred by BOA to remove from the bank’s ATM computer system a malicious computer code entered by Caverly. U.S. Secret Service agents also recovered $167,010 of stolen cash based on information provided by the defendant.
According to court records and sentencing proceedings, Caverly, who was hired by BOA to design and maintain its computer systems, had been assigned to work on a project involving the bank’s automated teller machine (ATM) system. Filed documents and court records show that from March 2009 to October 2009, Caverly knowingly and with intent to defraud exceeded his authorized access by gaining access to one or more protected BOA computers and deployed a malicious computer code to select BOA ATMs. The malicious code caused a limited number of infected ATMs to disburse cash from the ATMs without any transaction record of the cash disbursements.
The code Caverly entered caused only the unauthorized disbursement of cash stored in the ATM machines and did not affect any financial accounts of BOA’s customers.
Caverly pleaded guilty on April 13, 2010 and was released pending his sentencing hearing. Upon designation to a federal facility, he will report to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Be careful what you share online
"There’s just way too much information in internet and a lot of people who are looking for it generally not for good purposes,"
You're getting ready for a vacation or for a night out with friends. As part of your routine, you post an update on Facebook or send a tweet.
Keri McMullen didn't think anything of doing the same thing, updating her Facebook status with her plans to attend a concert. When she got back home, $10,000 worth of her possessions was gone.
"I posted that on my Facebook page, who the band was, where we were going. The band started at 8," she said.
The burglary was caught on security video that the woman had running in her home.
One of the suspects was one of McMullen's 500 Facebook friends, a man she hadn't seen in 20 years.
Police believe her status update tipped off the burglars.
"I will never again put that I'm going anywhere on Facebook," McMullen said. "You really don't know who your friends are."
Stories such as McMullen's inspired the Web sitePleaseRobMe.com, which cautions against over-sharing your information on the Web.
"The more people know about us, especially the people we don't know and can't trust, the more at risk we are," Internet safety expert Parry Aftab said. "Think before you click, think before you post, think before you share too much information."
There are 400 million Facebook users worldwide. The Web site urges caution.
"Pick your friends just as carefully on Facebook as you do in real life … use the privacy tools to restrict more sensitive updates to your closest friends," the company told "Good Morning America" in a statement.
"Use privacy settings, make sure you're using those that lock out people you don't want," she said. "As Facebook said, choose your friends selectively. You're also going to make sure that you don't share information that you don't want to get out there even with your friends.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Children as a target for cyber criminals
While on-line computer exploration opens a world of possibilities for children, expanding their horizons and exposing them to different cultures and ways of life, they can be exposed to dangers as they hit the road exploring the information highway. There are individuals who attempt to sexually exploit children through the use of on-line services and the Internet. Some of these individuals gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts. These individuals are often willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy in this process. They listen to and empathize with the problems of children. They will be aware of the latest music, hobbies, and interests of children. These individuals attempt to gradually lower children's inhibitions by slowly introducing sexual context and content into their conversations.
There are other individuals, however, who immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children. Some offenders primarily collect and trade child-pornographic images, while others seek face-to-face meetings with children via on-line contacts. It is important for parents to understand that children can be indirectly victimized through conversation, i.e. "chat," as well as the transfer of sexually explicit information and material. Computer-sex offenders may also be evaluating children they come in contact with on-line for future face-to-face contact and direct victimization. Parents and children should remember that a computer-sex offender can be any age or sex the person does not have to fit the caricature of a dirty, unkempt, older man wearing a raincoat to be someone who could harm a child.
Children, especially adolescents, are sometimes interested in and curious about sexuality and sexually explicit material. They may be moving away from the total control of parents and seeking to establish new relationships outside their family. Because they may be curious, children/adolescents sometimes use their on-line access to actively seek out such materials and individuals. Sex offenders targeting children will use and exploit these characteristics and needs. Some adolescent children may also be attracted to and lured by on-line offenders closer to their age who, although not technically child molesters, may be dangerous. Nevertheless, they have been seduced and manipulated by a clever offender and do not fully understand or recognize the potential danger of these contacts.
This guide was prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
ATTEMPT TO HACK HOUSTON ATMs NETS NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENT A PRISON TERM
(HOUSTON) - A 20-year-old computer hacker from North Carolina has been sentenced to prison for planning to hack into Houston area ATMs, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.
Thor Morris, 20, of Jacksonville, N.C., was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison without parole for fraud and related activity in connection with computers, a violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1030(a)(4) and (b). Indicted in July 2010 for knowingly and with the intent to defraud attempting to access a protected automated teller machine without authorization to obtain money, Morris pleaded guilty to the federal felony offense in January 2011.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore sentenced Morris to 37 months in federal prison without parole. The charges against Morris came after an intensive computer intrusion investigation was initiated by FBI-Houston’s Cyber Crimes Division in the early spring of 2010. Agents uncovered a scheme where Morris planned to travel to Houston to hack into approximately 35 ATMs located throughout the city in an attempt to embezzle more Than $200,000. FBI Agents arrested Morris while in the act of attempting to gain unauthorized access into a storefront ATM machine on April 22, 2010.
Morris has been permitted to remain on bond pending the issuance of an order to surrender to a Board of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.
COLLEGE STUDENT CHARGED WITH CREATING AND DISSEMINATING COUNTERFEIT ONLINE COUPONS OVER THE INTERNET
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANICE K. FEDARCYK, Assistant-Director-In-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging LUCAS TOWNSEND HENDERSON with wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods, in connection with his creation, dissemination and use of counterfeit online coupons for consumer and electronic goods ranging from Tide laundry detergent to PlayStations.
As a result of HENDERSON’s conduct, retailers and manufacturers paid out on the coupons and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars through the scheme. HENDERSON surrendered in federal court in Rochester, New York, earlier today.
According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan Federal Court:
Since July 2010, HENDERSON allegedly created fraudulent coupons designed to look like legitimate online print-at-home coupons available to consumers on the Internet at www.SmartSource.com. These counterfeit coupons, which ranged from lower-priced consumer items such as energy drinks, beer and cigarettes, to more expensive consumer products such as X-Box and PlayStation, all made unauthorized use of the "Powered by SmartSource" logo, as well as a distinctive border, both of which are registered trademarks belonging to News America Marketing, a subsidiary of Manhattan-based News Corporation.
Between July 2010 and March 2011, HENDERSON made a number of the counterfeit coupons he had created available on the Internet by anonymously posting on two message boards devoted to the discussion of online coupons – using the nicknames "Anonymous 123," "Anonymous234," and "Anonymous345." In addition to creating and disseminating fake coupons himself, HENDERSON also wrote tutorials, which he posted online, providing instructions to others for creating counterfeit coupons using their own computers.
HENDERSON’s actions have resulted in substantial losses not only to the manufacturers of various affected products but also to retailers and consumers themselves. For example, in or about December 2010, $200,000 worth of counterfeit coupons for Tide laundry detergent were redeemed by consumers over a two to three week period. Proctor & Gamble, which manufactures Tide and is the single largest coupon issuer in the United States, has never issued a single online print-at-home coupon. The costs associated with the redemption of those counterfeit coupons were subsequently borne by Proctor & Gamble and the various retailers victimized by the fraud.
HENDERSON, 22, of Lubbock, Texas, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the FBI. He added that the investigation is continuing.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex
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