Keyloggers proposed to fight terrorism in cybercafes
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(InfoWorld) - An organization in Mumbai, India has proposed that police use key-logging software at cybercafÃ©s to keep track of communications between terrorists. Public computers at cybercafes offer terrorists the anonymity they require, said Vijay Mukhi, president of the Foundation for Information Security and Technology (FIST) in Mumbai in a telephone interview late Tuesday. Terrorists are known to use instant messengers (IM) from companies like Microsoft and Yahoo, and these companies do not share information from IM chats with the police, he added. Keyloggers are software on a computer that record a user's key strokes -- whatever the user types -- on a computer keyboard. Data from keyloggers will be uploaded to centralized servers where it will be available to the police for scrutiny. The move does not as yet have the approval of the Mumbai police. The keyloggers would be activated centrally as and when a suspect walks into a cyber cafÃ© or when suspicious activity is noted, Mukhi said. A number of bloggers have criticized Mukhi's proposal, saying it will put personal data of ordinary individuals at risk. But some other blogs said that it is too small a price to pay to protect against loss of life from terrorism. The police should put in place a mechanism for citizens to seek redress from any misuse of their private information, Mukhi said. Bomb blasts by terrorists have killed a large number of people in the country. In July last year, seven bombs planted in Mumbai's suburban trains killed over 200 people and injured another 700. Terrorists are increasingly using the Internet to communicate with one another, as they are aware that telephone and mobile phones connections are under Indian government surveillance, according to Mukhi. FIST, a non-profit organization in Mumbai, is focused onÂ cybersecurityÂ and has worked with the police on related issues. It aims to get keyloggers on computers in cybercafes throughout India, Mukhi said.
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(InfoWorld) - In the five years since terrorists attacked the U.S., Europe has been the target of extremist attacks, as has India. Bombings in London and Madrid and a recent failed attempt to blow up passenger trains in Germany have prompted a security clampdown never seen on the Continent. Throughout the European Union, governments are grappling with how to guard against terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, Indian IT services companies have beefed up efforts to protect data. The discovery of bombs in two German trains in July pushed up several security measures on the political agenda there. In September, the German government agreed to a new antiterror database, which will be available to authorities across the country and contain information such as a person's religion, travel history, telephone number and Internet data and bank details. It also approved increased use of video surveillance in public areas. These measures reflect a gigantic shift in thinking about privacy in Germany, which has been highly sensitive about data protection and surveillance because of its Nazi history and, more recently, the Stasi secret police in the former communist-run East Germany. The need to tighten security has created demand for new technologies to help authorities combat terrorism. The German subsidiary of IBM Corp., for instance, is working on new technology that will enable computers -- not human beings -- to filter information from the cameras monitoring public areas and other locations. Two German companies have developed a new biometric system for identifying airline passengers. Lufthansa Systems Group GmbH, the IT services arm of German airline Lufthansa AG, and high-security document producer Bundesdruckerei GmbH have developed the SecBoard system. The companies hope that the system, designed to conduct biometric checks on passengers prior to boarding an aircraft, will play a significant role in "trusted passenger" programs planned by the airline industry to increase security. In the U.K., the government is close to activating part of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) of 2000 that deals with encrypted data, one in a set of powers covering electronic surveillance and wiretapping. Authorities say the increased use of encryption is hampering their access to information on suspectsâ computers. RIPA would allow police to demand that a suspect decrypt data or face up to two years in jail. The encryption measure in RIPA has remained dormant since the techniques werenât widely used when the law was passed, according to the U.K. Home Office. Terrorist suspects already face up to five years for failing to decrypt data or provide an encryption key. But critics contend the law, which would apply in more than terrorism-related investigations, gives too much power to law enforcement and has the potential for abuse. High-ranking officials could demand the decryption of data without a court order, and the law binds to secrecy those served with a request. Experts say the law could increase the chance that, if seized, a companyâs mission-critical data could be mishandled. Elsewhere in Europe, heads of state met to discuss 57 antiterrorism measures two weeks after the March 11, 2004 bombings of four crowded commuter trains in Madrid. Among the measures discussed were the surveillance of telecommunications, Internet communications and air transportation. Civil liberties groups accused them of using the fight against terrorism as an excuse to increase police powers. E.U. legislation was slow to follow but, from September 2007, telecom carriers and ISPs (Internet service providers) must keep data on all mobile and fixed-line calls for between six months and two years. From March 2009, they must keep data on VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls, Internet connections and e-mail messages. Law enforcement officials will be able to demand the date and time of calls and messages, but not their content, and identifying information of the calling or sending and receiving parties. In India, the Sept. 11 attacks were not a watershed event because the country experienced frequent attacks by Kashmiri separatist groups demanding independence. Even before Sept. 11, some of the large Indian IT services companies had hardened data centers supporting their offshore businesses, said T. R. Madan Mohan, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan Inc. After Web sites of a ministry of the Indian government and an Indian atomic energy agency were hacked, and anti-India messages posted on these sites, Indian businesses showed increased concern about the need for intrusion detection and related security measures, he added. Infosys Technologies Ltd., Indiaâs second largest outsourcer, already had disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place before Sept. 11, said a spokeswoman for the company in Bangalore. However, those attacks brought the threat of terrorism into sharp focus for Indiaâs export-oriented industries, such as software outsourcing, because U.S. and European customers began worrying about the preparedness of their Indian suppliers for terrorist attacks. (Reported and written by John Blau in Dusseldorf, Germany; Peter Sayer in Paris; Jeremy Kirk in London; and John Ribeiro in Bangalore, India, and assembled by Grant Gross in Washington, D.C.)
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At first glance, it might seem like the simple extension of a standard tool in the fight against the bad guys. But in fact, wiretapping Internet phones to monitor criminals and terrorists is
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The purpose of this paper is to explain how attackers behave when they attempt to identify and defeat honeypots, and is useful for security professionals to deploy honeypots in a more stealthy manner.
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Â· Internet industry asked to help curb illegal materialÂ· Terror bill proposes new powers against suspects
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Computer security experts estimate that tens of millions of personal computers are infected with malicious software. Some are keyloggers, recording every key stroke that the user enters -- sending valuable bank account information, passwords and credit card numbers to hackers.
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The director of national intelligence wants to monitor all internet communications to guard against cyberattack. His aide says "privacy and security are a zero-sum game." Our nation's spy masters may want to check their math. Commentary by Bruce Schneier.
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Security analysts today said a warning from the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team of possible terrorist cyberattacks against U.S. financial institutions shouldn't be overblown.
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Careless security measures invite cybercrooks and scammers, researchers say.
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Six days a week, teens crowd the Blue Screen Gaming cybercafe to hunt each other down with assault rifles inside virtual computer worlds. In these video game halls, nobody gets hurt...
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Wireless tracking systems could be used to protect people and assets, backers of the technology say.
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New online services could make you an even more inviting target for privacy attacks. Here's how.
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Electronic jihad 3.0 Security researchers say they have discovered a program that could be used by Islamic terrorists to launch data attacks against Western targets.â¦
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Could terrorists be plotting their next move online, obscured by the 'noise' of chat-room chatter? The U.S. government thinks that may be the case and is funding a yearlong study on chat-room surveillance.
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Companies, governments, and individuals are increasingly vulnerable to Internet attacks by terrorists and hackers.
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NEW YORK At first glance, it might seem like the simple extension of a standard tool in the fight against the bad guys. But in fact, wiretapping Internet phones to monitor criminals and terrorists is costly
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U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular Internet services that enable computer users to adopt cartoon-like personas in three-dimensional online spaces also are creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize and conduct ...