DOJ prosecutor: Criminals teaming up with hackers
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(InfoWorld) - Criminals working with computer hackersÂ pose a rising threat to businesses and governments as those entities increase their dependence on IT systems, a top U.S. federal prosecutor said Thursday. "There's always this worry, and I think a legitimate worry, that terrorists will actually launch computer attacks on critical infrastructure," said Christopher Painter, principal deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Painter, who prosecuted famed hacker Kevin Mitnick before he signed a plea agreement, cited a case where a hacker in Australia fouled a fresh water supply in 2000 by hacking into a wireless connection and releasing tons of sewage. In the U.S. in 1997, a juvenile hacked into a computer phone and data system and turned off the runway lights at an airport in Worcester, Massachusetts, Painter said. "That obviously could have had pretty dire consequences," Painter said, who spoke about cybercrime at the Information Security Systems Association conference in London. Authorities have seen an increase in cases where hackers steal corporate data and then attempt to blackmail companies, Painter said. Others steal data and sell it to other criminals. In October 2004, the U.S. Secret Service busted the "Shadowcrew," a criminal group that stole credit card data and then sold it on a Web site, Painter said. The problem for law enforcement is that the bad guys are showing increased technical sophistication and often commit cybercrimes across borders, Painter said. But countries are coordinating more on investigations and takedowns, Painter said. Forty-five countries have joined the G8 24/7 High Tech Crime Network, a group of contacts that can offer immediate assistance to other countries on terrorist or criminal cases involving electronic evidence, Painter said. Painter cited a success this week whereÂ Moroccan authorities sentenced two people to prison for the Zotob and Mytob worms, which downed computers worldwide in August 2005. The U.S., Turkey, Morocco and Microsoft Corp. aided in that investigation, he said. But a difficulty with international investigations are countries with weak or no laws against computer crime, Painter said. "Any country that doesn't have good laws is going to be a weak link," he said. Â
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Federal prosecutors and a former America Online software engineer have negotiated a tentative plea agreement over charges he stole more than 92 million e-mail addresses and sold them to Internet spammers, according to two people familiar with the case.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is alerting e-mail users about a possible phishing attack using messages that claim to be from the DOJ. In a news release Thursday, the DOJ said the e-mails may have the subject field or be addressed "Dear Citizen." It also said the messages may refer to a fraudulent U.S. Internal Revenue Service case filed against the recipient, and may contain a DOJ logo in the body of the mail or as an attachment. The DOJ said the e-mail is a hoax, and asked recipientsÂ to neither open the message nor download any attachments that come with it, and delete the message immediately. The department said it would not contact users about such matters via e-mail. Anyone receiving the e-mail is asked to file a complaint via a DOJ Web site.
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The hacking and identity theft tools now  earning big money for mainly eastern European organized crime  could be used by terrorists to attack the United States, an FBI  official said on Wednesday.
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Hackers penetrate the network of a consumer data company and make off with thousands of credit reports, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.
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Blog: Court case provides a rare glimpse into how some federal agents deal with encryption: by breaking into a suspect's office, implanting a key logger and watching what happens from afar.
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Targeted spyware, network break-ins, and other digital crime pushes cyber espionage to a new level of concern.
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The Department of Justice and the yesterday FBI said ongoing investigations have identified more than 1 million botnet crime victims.
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Reports of data theft often conjure up images of malicious hackers breaking into remote databases to filch Social Security numbers, credit card records and other personal information.
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Cyber criminals are cashing in on their expertise by offering tool kits that let anyone craft attacks.
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Two computer engineers in the US are charged with conspiring to steal microchip designs.
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U.K. prosecutors have received guidance on interpreting amendments to a&#160;computer crime law&#160;that introduce stronger penalties for computer hacking.A six-page document published on Monday by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) gives prosecutors pointers for handling offenses under soon-to-change provisions of the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) of 1990.The amendments were passed into law in November 2006 but have not yet come into force. The changes are designed to strengthen the government&#39;s ability to prosecute and punish hackers, and increase penalties for accessing systems without authorization.Computer security professionals have expressed concern&#160;about the drafting of the changes, however.The most-discussed change, contained in Section 3A of the CMA, makes it illegal for someone to create an application that is &quot;likely&quot; to be used for hacking. But the precise definition of &quot;likely&quot; has prompted fears the law could potentially target those undertaking activities such as penetration testing.According to the CPS document, prosecutors should look at what an application does and who its creator thought would use it. Conditions to consider would be whether the hacking tool was given to a &quot;closed and vetted list of IT security professionals or was posted openly,&quot; CPS said.Prosecutors should also find out whether the tool has a legitimate purpose, if it has a large installation base and whether it&#39;s commercially sold.Some applications will &quot;have a dual use, and prosecutors need to ascertain that the subject has a criminal intent,&quot; CPS said. Possession of a program is not enough to prosecute, it said.Computer security researchers &quot;might find some comfort in this guidance&quot; since criminal intent must be demonstrated, said Struan Robertson, senior associate with law firm Pinsent Masons.The guidance is generally acceptable, wrote Richard Clayton, a computer scientist at the University of Cambridge, on his blog. But using the criterion of whether a hacking program is available for sale ignores the fact that much software is free, Clayton said.On another issue, the document also clarifies what constitutes unauthorized access to a computer, a crime under Section 1 of the amended CMA. The defendant must know that the intended access wasn&#39;t permitted, and prosecutors must show that the person intended to improperly access information from the computer.&#160;
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Hackers who unlock Apple Inc.&#39;s iPhone from the AT&amp;T Inc. network and share the method with 10 million of their closest Internet friends are inviting a lawsuit from the two companies, several intellectual property lawyers said Monday.
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BERKELEY, Calif.) - The personal information of more than a (m) million Californians may have fallen into the hands of a computer hacker.
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Security experts look back on a year in which hi-tech criminals consolidated their hold on the net's underground economy.
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Prosecutors have charged 11 people in California, Texas and Washington state with conspiring to distribute more than $30 million of counterfeit computer software and products.
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Hackers who unlock Apple&#8217;s iPhone from the AT&T network and share the method with 10 million of their closest Internet friends are inviting a lawsuit from the two companies, several intellectual property lawyers said Monday.