Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Dark Net of Hell


“Perhaps the short story has matured to a point where the form can no longer be shocked.” New York Magazine 

Georgia man linked to 2014 UNI data breach charged with tax fraud:
Bernard Ogie Oretekor, 45, also known as Emmanuel Libs, was charged last week with theft of government property and aggravated identity theft.
TaxGrrrl, Another State Puts Brakes On Tax Refunds, Citing Concerns About Identity Theft

The infamous dark web hacking forum called “Hell,” where hackers and cybercriminals share stolen data and hacking tips, just relaunched months after it was shut down amid rumors of its founder being arrested and the forum being swarmed by undercover cops. Last year, Hell made headlines when a hacker dumped the personal details and sexual preferences of almost 4 million users of the hookup site Adult Friend Finder. The data dump was only discovered months after the hack, forcing Adult Friend Finder to admit the breach. A couple of weeks later the site’s administrator and founder, known as “Ping,” disappeared, prompting rumors that he had been arrested. Even though Ping resurfaced a few days later, the website closed down shortly after in mid-July. (It was then briefly resurrected before going offline for good.) Now, an old forum moderator has relaunched the site, which looks and feels exactly the same way—and it’s still only accessible by using the anonymizing software Tor. The Dark Web Hacking Forum ‘Hell’ Is Back Online

Cyber security is climbing its way up the boardroom agenda as UK firms face determined attacks from organised hackers  Cybercrime

Ads for dangerous drug ice multiply on craigslist


Street gangs migrate from drugs to white-collar crimes NEW YORK (AP) - The Van Dyke Money Gang in New York made off with more than $1.5 million this year - but it wasn't in gunpoint robberies or drug running, it was a Western Union money order scheme. In New Jersey, 111 Neighborhood Crips used a machine to make dozens of fake gift cards for supermarkets, pharmacies and hardware stores. In South Florida, gangs steal identities to file false tax returns Gangs

Shodan Lets You Browse Insecure Webcams Bruce Schneier 

The Pentagon Has No Clue How Many Weapons It Has Lost to ISIS Mother Jones (reslc). That’s a feature if true. It would never want to admit to how bad it is.
“The war against cash”: government vs. the cash economy [Daniel Mitchell, Cato, first and second post]

Does any city have a more stratified sleep economy than wintertime Delhi? The filmmaker Shaunak Sen, who spent two years researching the city’s sleep vendors for a documentary, “Cities of Sleep,” discovered a sprawling gray market that has taken shape around the city’s vast unmet need for shelter. In some places, it breeds what he calls a “sleep mafia, who controls who sleeps where, for how long, and what quality of sleep.”  Desperate for Slumber in Delhi, Homeless Encounter a ‘Sleep Mafia

Does any city have a more stratified sleep economy than wintertime Delhi? The filmmaker Shaunak Sen, who spent two years researching the city’s sleep vendors for a documentary, “Cities of Sleep,” discovered a sprawling gray market that has taken shape around the city’s vast unmet need for shelter. In some places, it breeds what he calls a “sleep mafia, who controls who sleeps where, for how long, and what quality of sleep.” - See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/#sthash.BIjW3W87.dpuf


A culture of poor cyber hygiene plagues the Office of Personnel Management and "likely aided the adversary" in the large-scale hack of the agency, according to a Department of Homeland Security and FBI report obtained by FCW. A lack of strong IT policies leaves OPM "at high risk for future intrusions," investigators concluded. "Convenience and accessibility [have] been prioritized over critical security practices," states the Dec. 23 "cyber alert," distributed to cleared contractors by the Defense Security Service on behalf of DHS and the FBI. "Inadequate" patching of OPM's sub-system is "symptomatic of a greater patching problem" within the agency, the document states. The breach, revealed in June 2015, led to the loss of more than 21 million personnel records. The unclassified memo reveals just what computer security experts at DHS' Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the FBI have learned from a hack that has roiled Uncle Sam's personnel agency, infuriated lawmakers and changed the cybersecurity conversation in Washington. The quietly distributed, dispassionate analysis is arguably more instructive for information security professionals than the hours of congressional hearings that have been devoted to the breach What DHS and the FBI learned from the OPM breach

Google paid Apple to maintain search on iPhone, court documents say Christian Science Monitor


Shackelford, Scott and Russell, Scott, Operationalizing Cybersecurity Due Diligence: A Transatlantic Comparative Case Study (January 12, 2016). South Carolina Law Review, 2016. Available for download at SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2714529
“Although much work has been done on applying the law of warfare to cyber attacks, far less attention has been paid to defining a law of cyber peace applicable below the armed attack 

The White House raised the pressure on the tech industry Friday to help rein in terrorism, dispatching top national security officials to Silicon Valley and announcing the creation of a task force to help prevent extremist groups from using social media to radicalize and mobilize recruits. The moves come a month after President Obama addressed the nation in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack, when he urged high-tech and law enforcement leaders "to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice." Although the tech industry says it wants to help, it's reluctant to give away private information and data to government agencies, arguing that doing so fosters user distrust and raises the risk of hacker attacks. The newly created Countering Violent Extremism task force will be led by the departments of Homeland Security and Justice but will include staff from the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center and other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In addition, the State Department will establish a unit called the Global Engagement Center to work with allies to deter terrorists from carrying out attacks overseas Washington raises pressure on Silicon Valley in fight against terrorism

Chinese officials discuss bitcoin and their own digital currency SYdney Morning Herald

 ICE and USCIS Could Improve Data Quality and Exchange to Help Identify Potential Human Trafficking Cases – January 4, 2016
Ukraine is reviewing security on its government computer systems after reporting a cyberattack on the main airport in Kiev originated from a server based in Russia

Via Wired – “In October 2013, a young entrepreneur named Ross Ulbricht was arrested at the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public library. It was the culmination of a two-year investigation into a vast online drug market called Silk Road. The authorities charged that Ulbricht, an idealistic 29-year-old Eagle Scout from Austin, Texas, was the kingpin of the operation. They said he’d reaped millions from the site, all transacted anonymously with Bitcoin. They said he’d devolved into a cold-blooded criminal, hiring hit men to take out those who crossed him. The story of how Ulbricht founded Silk Road, how it grew into a $1.2 billion operation, and how federal law enforcement shut it down is complicated, dark, and utterly fascinating. This two-part series tells that story.”
Twitter “is being sued by the widow of an American killed in Jordan… [Tamara Fields] said Twitter knowingly let the militant Islamist group use its network to spread propaganda, raise money and attract recruits.” [Reuters]

Future of the Internet Initiative White Paper. Internet Fragmentation: An Overview. William J. Drake, Vinton G. Cerf, Wolfgang Kleinwächter. January 2016 -“A thriving and open Internet provides the foundation for the fourth industrial revolution. 

Authorities in the Netherlands arrested 10 people as part of a money-laundering investigation involving bitcoin and the dark web

ATO's fraud squad probes Bitcoin 'creator' Craig Wright

Is Bitcoin Breaking Up? Wall 

Italian woman asks for help from firefighters after losing keys to her chastity belt

Seven ways technology has changed us Martin Wolf, FT. “[T]he new technologies have reinforced tendencies towards greater inequality, in at least three respects. One is the rise of ‘winner-takes-all’ markets in which a few successful people, businesses and products dominate the world economy. Another is the rise of globalisation. A last is the explosion in financial trading and other rent-extracting financial activities.”  

Ten arrested in Netherlands over bitcoin money-laundering allegations  

Troubled myGov website to be taken from Human Services and given to Digital Transformation Office for streamlining