Thursday, August 21, 2008

Cyber Law Update August 2008 - Issue no. 6

Cyber warfare is a military twilight zone

Before Georgia and Russia started shooting at each other, they were already fighting on the Internet. Georgian government and media websites had been almost paralysed by hackers following the so-called 'Distributed Denial of Service' attacks that began weeks before. Such cyber war techniques constitute an increasing threat, one that's now being taken seriously by the military. Reported in Radio Netherlands

Tracking a Cyber Attack

The conflict between Russia and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia has underscored the relative anonymity of cyberattackers. During the conflict, attacks were launched against Georgia’s Internet infrastructure, and a debate continues over who might be responsible.

With that debate likely to continue indefinitely, policy-makers are realizing that in cyberspace, ascribing blame might be nearly impossible.

Although the Russian government has denied involvement, it is still under suspicion, along with organized crime groups and garden-variety hackers. Reported in FCW

Malaysia Should Be Ready To Face Cyber Threats

SHAH ALAM, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, which appears safe from cyber attacks like those experienced in other parts of the world, should brace itself for such a threat.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor wants the country to prepare itself for the threat which could affect individuals, corporation and the government. Reported in Bernama

Black Ice: Cyber-terrorism and the Private Sector

Corporate America is still in denial about the threat of cyber-terrorist attacks against critical facilities in the energy, telecommunications and financial industries. Reported in Computer World

Terrorism cyber-recruiter jailed

LONDON (Reuters) - A man described by prosecutors as a terrorism "Mr Fix-it" who recruited young people to al Qaeda's ideology over the Internet, was jailed for 12 years on Tuesday while one of his accomplices received a 10 year term. Reported in Reuters

NCC Wants Checks on Cyber Criminals

The Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) has called on the Federal Government to pay particular attention to the devastating impact of cyber criminality and terrorism in the e-commerce and electronic fund transfer landscape. Reported in This Day Online

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo sued by the Indian Government

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo were issued notices by India's Supreme Court on Wednesday, following a complaint that they were promoting techniques and products for the selection of an unborn child's sex through advertising and links on their search engines. Posted on Blogging Madeeasy

Chandigarh police get hi-tech gadgets to combat cyber crime

Chandigarh, Aug 17 (IANS) A machine to recover deleted SMSes and another to scan through any suspected hard disk, these are among the latest gadgets acquired by the Chandigarh police to tackle cyber crime. Reported in Sindh Today

Start of school means kids need to be cyber-savvy
Tech group gives tips for back to school

WASHINGTON — Americans for Technology Leadership, a coalition of technology and consumer groups, recently launched its monthlong campaign to help educate parents on ways to make sure their kids stay safe online when they head back to school.

Children face an enormous number of possible roadblocks to their Internet safety, including cyber-bullying threats, cyber security issues such as spam, computer viruses, identity theft, spyware, phishing scams and Internet predators. Reported in Sea Coast Online

India figures in top 10 spammers' list

NEW DELHI: India figures among the top 10 spam sending countries, accounting for nearly 3% of spam sent globally in the second quarter of 2008, according to enterprise security firm Secure Computing’s Internet Threats report. Spam or unsolicited e-mails sent from emerging markets is expected to grow as internet infrastructure improves. Reported in Economic Times

Hackers too playing games at Olympics

NEW DELHI: Olympic buffs, beware! Internet hackers are trying their best to steal data from your system and corrupt it. Hackers send mails related to Olympic events with interesting subject lines and then trap surfers in their net. Internet users in India have been found more vulnerable as people are overenthusiastic over the prospect of getting two individual medals for the first time in the history of the games. Reported in Economic Times

Technorati Profile

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Cyber Law Update August 2008 - Issue no. 5

Pakistan intensifies Cyber War propaganda against India

Washington, Aug.11 (ANI): Pakistan is taking steps to intensify its cyber war propaganda against India with the help of its intelligence outfit, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by carrying reports of alleged communal fissures taking place on the Indian side of Kashmir.

Since the Amarnath land transfer controversy began, Pakistan Televisions (PTV) focus has been on the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

On an average, PTV is beaming two hours of daily anti-India propaganda as compared to an hour a day that was the norm earlier. It is apparent that PTV is heavily focusing on promoting the communal divide between Hindu-dominant Jammu and the Muslim-dominant Kashmir Valley with the objective of pushing forward the two-nation theory.
The ISI is also setting up a TV channel in Bangladesh as a part of its war over airwaves in the region, says the US based Global Geopolitics Network. Reported in Thaindia

New cell phone connection may be required two guarantors

NEW DELHI, AUG 10 (PTI): In its efforts to check the use of mobile phones in terror activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to advice the Department of Telecommunication to direct all mobile phone operators to get two existing cellular customers as guarantors before issuing SIM card to new customers. Reported in Outlook India

Cyber Thugs March Through Georgia

August 13, 2008: Georgia is not just being invaded by Russian troops, it is also being hammered on the Internet, with the same Cyber War techniques Russia used against Estonia last year. Russia was accused of causing great financial harm to Estonia via Cyber War attacks, and Estonia wants this sort of thing declared terrorism, and dealt with. NATO agreed to discuss the issue, but never took any action against Russia. But as a result of that incident, NATO established a Cyber Defense Center in Estonia three months ago. Reported in Strategy Page

Britain under attack from cyber foreign security terrorists, report warns

"E-espionage" was identified by the Government as one of the two most likely risks facing the UK, the other being terror attacks on the transport network. Reported in MarketWatch

Feds crack largest U.S. identity theft

Federal authorities said yesterday that they had cracked the largest identity theft case in U.S. history, charging 11 people in the theft of more than 40 million credit and debit card account numbers from computer systems at major retailers such as T.J. Maxx and Barnes & Noble. Reported in Hindu

U.S. Warns Of Chinese Cyber-Spies

Overseas Travelers Warned That Personal Information Can Be Stolen; No Device Safe
(CBS) U.S. intelligence officials issued a strong warning Thursday that Americans traveling overseas, particularly visitors to the Olympics in China, face a serious risk of having sensitive information stolen, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. Reported in CBS News

Cyber-security experts warn of Olympics spam

Singapore: Cyber-security experts warned Internet users of a deluge of viruses and spam during the Beijing Olympic Games, with those reading Chinese at a higher risk, news reports said Friday.
E-mail messages with headers such as "Beijing Olympics Cancelled" or "Beijing Olympics 2008 Lottery Promotion" should not be opened, the experts told The Straits Times. Reported in Bangkokpost

Beckstrom on cybersecurity

LAS VEGAS — Cybersecurity is hampered by a lack of understanding about the physics and economics of the networks we are trying to defend, according to Rod Beckstrom, director of the Homeland Security Department’s National Cyber Security Center, said Thursday at the Black Hat Briefings.

Risk management is a process of balancing security efforts against an acceptable level of risk because absolute security is not possible. But Beckstrom, speaking at the Black Hat Briefings yesterday, said we have no method for valuing our networks or measuring the effectiveness of our security. Reported in GCN

Google in a legal spot over blog post

MUMBAI: Google India, the domestic subsidiary of the high-profile Silicon Valley web search company, is facing defamation charges from a Mumbai-based firm, Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects.

The company has filed a lawsuit against Google for hosting a series of articles on its blogging site, campaigning against its mines in Mozambique. In an interim order, the Bombay High Court has asked Google India to furnish information about the blogger. The case’s outcome will have far-reaching implications for the development of cyber law in India. Reported in Economic Times

Egypt demanding data from cyber cafés users: NGO

CAIRO (AFP) — An Egyptian NGO on Saturday accused the Egyptian authorities of forcing cyber cafés to gather personal information on Internet users, saying the measure was a violation of privacy.

"The Egyptian government imposed a new measure which increases the extent of censorship on Internet users and violates their right to privacy," the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said in a statement. Reported in AFP.Google

Funcom employee axed over cyber-sex

Age of Conan developer Funcom have sacked a moderator this week, after the employee was caught engaging in online naughtiness. Reported in Play.TM

Ex-convict indicted in cyber stalking case against woman

A former Des Plaines man has been indicted by a Cook County grand jury on charges he sent threatening e-mails to a woman whom he allegedly has pursued since 2000, prosecutors said Friday. Reported in ChicagoTribune

Man held for cyber crime; sells ex as call girl on website

CHENNAI: The cyber crime cell of the Central Crime Branch picked up a database manager of a private firm for posting a girl's photograph and mobile number on a networking site and describing her as a call girl available for service. Reported in Time of India

Cyber crime on rise; public warned on posting pics

CHENNAI: Do you share photographs with friends on social networking sites? Then beware, for chances are high that your morphed picture, obscene of course, will be doing the rounds in cyberspace. Worse, your cell will never stop ringing with calls from strangers who want sexual favours. Reported in Times of India

The Cyber Highway to Dubai

While Dubai is undergoing significant growth and business expansion, its Internet sophistication remains behind the curve, writes branding expert Naseem Javed. Companies in Dubai must harness the power of online resources to maximize their potential, he writes. Reported in E-commerce Times

Friday, August 8, 2008

Cyber Law Update August 2008 - Issue no. 4

India

Tech-savvy cyber crooks could steal your Net identity
Technology exists to prove a malicious e-mail did not originate from your PC

When several television channels received e-mails last week claiming credit for the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad on behalf of an outfit that called itself the Indian Mujahideen, the police traced the mail through an IP, or Internet Protocol, address to the e-mail account of a Navi Mumbai resident. Many of the same channels wasted no time to flash headlines that suggested that an American national was somehow involved in the “terror mail.” Reported in Hindu

Use of e-mails for cyber-crimes and terrorism

The technical aspects of cyber-law are a headache for the law enforcement agencies and judicial system in India. Very few law enforcement officers, public prosecutors and judges are aware about the technical aspects of ICT and its uses and abuses. Reported in MeriNews

Terror mail: BMC to take precaution for its WiFi project

The Ahmedabad terror e-mail, which was sent by hacking into the Internet Protocol address of a US national living in Navi Mumbai, has prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to take precautionary measures before it launches its ambitious WiFi project next year. The police cyber crime cell has also asked the civic body to take help from its experts and adequate measures before launching the project. Reported in Express India

Cyber cafe owner taken in police custody

A local court today remanded a cyber cafe owner in 14 days police custody for creating city-wide panic by sending an e-mail threatening bomb explosions.Kaushik Basu, the cyber cafe owner and a resident of Salt Lake, was arrested last night and charged with waging war against the country, threat to cause death or grievous hurt and criminal intimidation by anonymous communication which, according to the police, is serious offence. Reported in SaharaSamay

Police plans to check cyber cafes turning terror hubs

HYDERABAD: As terrorists are going hi-tech and giving advance information about their strike plan using the Internet, the Hyderabad police are seriously planning to formulate rules and regulations for cyber cafes. Reported in Times of India

Delhi Police gets first batch of cyber experts

Cyber crime increasing at the rate of 100% annuallyNew Delhi: With a whopping 100 per cent increase in cyber crimes annually, the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police will require more trained personnel to fight white collar crimes. In a first-of-its-kind effort, the first batch of 100 investigating officers of Delhi Police and two officers of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were handed certificates in ‘Cyber Crime Investigation and Computer Forensics’ on Tuesday. Reported in MSN

International

Beijing Braces for Olympic Cyber-War

With the world’s eyes firmly focused on Beijing, officials and IT staff are bracing themselves for a flood of cyber-attacks … Reported in Byteandswitch

Max24.pl becomes the latest victim of cyber crime

A large Polish Internet store lost over zł.1 million in three days due to a hacker attack, and according to estimates, the European economy is losing euro 65 billion annually due to cyber-crime. Reported in WBJ
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza

International phishing gang busted

US authorities have charged 38 members of an international criminal gang that allegedly used spam e-mails to steal bank account details and passwords from thousands of customers. Reported in FINEXTRA

IBM X-Force Report: Cyber Threats Accelerate, Browser Vulnerabilities Proliferate in First Half of 2008

Mid-Year Report From IBM Internet Security Systems X-Force(R) Finds 94 Percent of Browser-Related Exploits Occurred Within 24 Hours of Vulnerability Disclosure. Published in CNN

US Senate polishes new teeth for cyber cops

The US Senate has passed a bill to strengthen the hands of federal prosecutors who fight computer crime by removing some of the more common hurdles in prosecuting online miscreants. Reported in the Register

New Guidelines Aim to Reduce Fraud

US: New guidelines for fighting fraud have been released jointly by three leading professional organizations. “Managing the Business Risk of Fraud: A Practical Guide” is sponsored by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Principles for establishing effective fraud risk management, regardless of the type or size of an organization, are outlined in the guide.

“Managing the Business Risk of Fraud: A Practical Guide” can be downloaded for free from the sponsoring organizations’ Web sites at http://www.acfe.com/, http//www.aicpa.org/, and http://www.theiia.org/.

U.S. government cyber-security worse than previously thought

The latest report from ZATZ Publishing highlights a surprising lack of government record-keeping oversight, along with critical cyber-security gaps that without proper records management, America won't have critical records of the operation of their government. Reported in EchannlLine

Cyber-bully advice

In her new book 101 Facts about Bullying: What Everyone Should Know, author Meline Kevorkian offers suggestions for overcoming cyber-bullying. For tips for parents and kid read an article Published in Miami Herald