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Cybercriminals Thrive in 2009

Paul Lilly — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:36:25 -0500

Cybercrime has never been more profitable, according to a new report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The annual report notes more than 336,000 complaints in 2009, a 22.3 percent increase from 2008. Businesses and individuals unwittingly forked over nearly $560 million to online fraudsters last year, more than double the amount in 2008.

"Law enforcement relies on the corporate sector and citizens to report when they encounter online suspicious activity so these schemes can be investigated and criminals can be arrested," stated Peter Trahon, section chief of the FBI's Cyber Division. "Computer users are encouraged to have up-to-date security protection on their devices and evaluate email solicitations they receive with a healthy skepticism -- if something seems too good to be true, it likely is."

Ranking high on the too-good-to-be-true list of scams were advanced fee scams that fraudulently used the FBI's name. This was followed by non-delivery of goods and/or payment as the second most reported offense, IC3 reports.

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Image Credit: IC3

Online Crooks Try to Cash in on Haiti Disaster

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:51:03 -0600

The cataclysmic turn of events in Haiti has sent shockwaves throughout the world. There is no dearth of individuals looking to financially support the monumental relief effort currently underway in the island nation. Everyone can be rest assured that there is no dearth of those gloating over Haiti's misery, either. Gangs of cyber scavengers have hit top gear and are pulling out all the stops to hoodwink unsuspecting, well-intentioned donors. Their methods may be old but still tend to yield rich dividends.

Since the vast majority of online charlatans use fake internet addresses, unsolicited emails and social networking sites to reach their prey, it is very easy to deny them by just ignoring the links and attachments contained in them, howsoever affecting the cry for help. Some useful advice on identifying and reporting scams is available on the FBI's site. There Better Business Bureau also offers some valuable information on the subject, including a list of charitable organizations with proper accreditation, on its web site. Here is a typical scam doing the rounds in the UK.

Image Credit: Msf.org.uk

Man Accused of Uploading Wolverine Movie Calls Charges "Ridiculous"

Paul Lilly — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:35:32 -0600

Gilbert Sanchez, a 47-year-old budding musician nabbed by the FBI for uploading the Wolverine movie a month before its theatrical release, doesn't deny putting the pirated flick on the Internet, but he does pretty much deny any wrongdoing.

"It's just ridiculous," Sanchez told reports from The New York Daily News. "I bought it from a Korean guy on the street for five bucks. Then I uploaded it. I didn't make any money."

Sanchez contends that there's much bigger fish the FBI should be going after and that he wasn't responsible for the original leak. And according to CNet's "Hollywood sources," the authorities have ruled out Sanchez as the original source of the leak, though it isn't clear if he knows someone behind the scenes at studios who would have access to unreleased movies.

"I had FBI with search warrant in my place," Sanchez wrote in a post at Crazypellas.net under his "SkillfulGil" username. "They took my PC. Now (they're) building a fed case on me for the same thing. Copyright Infringement...So I guess I'll (be) made an example of."

FBI Nabs Man Accused of Uploading Wolverine Movie

Paul Lilly — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:12:10 -0600

You can rest soundly tonight knowing that the villain responsible for uploading the Wolverine movie a month before its theatrical release will probably serve time behind bars. That is, if the FBI has grabbed the right man.

The FBI early this morning arrested Gilberto Sanchez, 47, in Bronx, N.Y., and believe he's the cold hearted criminal who leaked the 20th Century Fox feature film to the Internet in April. By the time the flick made it to the silver screen a month later, it had already been watched about 4.1 million times, says BigChampagne, a market research firm for file-sharing networks.

According to the indictment, Sanchez uploaded the film to Megaupload.com under one of his online aliases, which include "theSkilled1" and "SkillyGilly." But what the indictment doesn't say is how Sanchez managed to get his hands on a working copy of the flim, even though the copy that was leaked was missing a bunch of computer-generated special effects.

It's unclear how much jail time and fines Sanchez would face if convicted, but according to CNet, a New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to copyright infringement charges for uploading the film "Hulk" a few weeks before its big screen debut was sentenced to six months house arrest and slapped with a $7,000 fine.

New DOJ Budget Hints at the Future of Cyber-Snooping

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:52:44 -0500

The release of the FBI’s surveillance programs budget for 2010 has revealed some pretty interesting new programs, one of which fall under the “awesome code name” category.

The budget shows that the FBI is in the process of developing a new “Advanced Electronic Surveillance” program, which is funded at $233.9 million in 2010. It will have 133 employees, 15 of whom are agents.

Along with this, another program named “Going Dark,” will provide support to the electronic surveillance program by collecting intelligence and evidence. “The term 'Going Dark' does not refer to a specific capability, but is a program name for the part of the FBI, Operational Technology Division's (OTD) lawful interception program which is shared with other law enforcement agencies,” stated an FBI spokesman.

Image Credit: ABC News

Part of Patriot Act Struck Down

Erin Simon — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:01:59 -0500

An Oregon District Court has struck down two sections of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as amended by the Patriot Act for violating the Fourth Amendment. 50 U.S.C. §§ 1804 and 1823 allow the government to conduct surveillance without a warrant when collection of foreign intelligence is “a significant purpose” of the surveillance. A line of cases interpreting the Fourth Amendment's probable cause and warrant requirements has held that foreign intelligence must be the “primary purpose” of such surveillance in order to square with the Constitution.

The case began with the misidentification of a fingerprint in the investigation of 2004's train bombings in Madrid. The FBI mistakenly identified Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim convert, as a suspect in that act of terrorism. Before arresting him, the Bureau accordingly searched his house and office, put him under round-the-clock surveillance, and wiretapped his phone, all without judicial oversight, and all permitted under the language of the Patriot Act's revisions to FISA.

Mayfield settled part of the suit for $2 million dollars, but the settlement left the door open for the attorney to challenge the law that had authorized his surveillance. A Department of Justice internal probe called the Mayfield investigation inappropriate and potentially motivated by his Muslim faith.

Yesterday's District Court opinion stressed the importance of the 4th Amendment's check against such abuses: "For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law - with unparalleled success. A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised."

Photo courtesy nolifebeforecoffee.

Free as in Speech Week

Erin Simon — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:26:59 -0500

The First Amendment guarantees that the government cannot abridge the people's right to free speech. That protection made headlines in two cases this week, one copyright-related and another dealing with surveillance law.

In Golan v. Gonzales, the 10th Circuit held that a law re-copyrighting material that had fallen into the public domain implicated the First Amendment. While not striking down the law, it did remand the case back to the lower court to evaluate the effect of the copyright expansion on protected speech. The case was brought by tech law guru Lawrence Lessig, who has a happy writeup at his website. Another recent case in the 9th Circuit, Kahle v. Gonzales, held that a similar copyright expansion didn't raise First Amendment problems because it was within the “traditional contours” of copyright law (a standard set by a previous Supreme Court case Eldred v. Ashcroft, upholding yet another copyright expansion). The circuit split increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court will review the issue.

Meanwhile, a New York District Court has struck down a provision in the Patriot Act on First Amendment grounds. The Patriot Act authorized the FBI to issue National Security Letters (NSLs) demanding private information about individuals. These letters, unlike warrants, have no judicial supervision, and the recipient of the NSL is under a gag order never to discuss even the fact that they have received such a demand. The ACLU (here's their happy writeup) filed suit in 2004 on behalf of one Internet company that had received such a letter, whose identity had to remain concealed thanks to the secrecy provision. In Doe v. Gonzales, the Southern District of New York held that the NSLs were an unconstitutional intrusion on free speech without allowing meaningful judicial review.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of roland.