Cyber bullying writ large.

[SANGKA]

H Security posted:

According to a report by McAfee, since 2006, cyber-espionage has been carried out against a total of 72 organisations in 14 countries in a series of professional hacking attacks. 49 of the 72 organisations targeted are located in the US and include government agencies, defence contractors, an academic institution, and the New York and Hong Kong offices of a news organisation. Reportedly, the news organisation in question is Associated Press.
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So this security expert/blogger found a control server for some monolithic entity that has basically been stealing any and all intellectual property to be had from poorly secured servers1 across the globe.

Here are some of the kinds of things this RAT is into:




Don't feel bad if you drew the same conclusion from this infographic as I did (it's probably China, the Washington Post and Dmitri Alperovitch (the researcher who published his findings on McAfee) concur.

The most damning thing in here (which points to government interest and not cyber-criminals or corporations) though is the hacking of the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The IP addresses of their compromised servers sit side by side on this machine with data on oil and gas drilling, US government think tanks, defense contractors, and other sensitive topics from over a dozen different countries.




Hopefully we can have people from other countries weigh in on this as well because I don't want this to be all rabid nationalism and US vs. China. Here for example is a BBC article about German firms worrying about China's rampant IP theft.

So I guess my questions are: How ambitious is China? Will they be able to utilize the alleged petabytes of data stolen? Did they just assume there won't be any repercussions when they got caught because of the economic situation? Why is no one making a peep about them basically stealing the rest of the world's homework like a petulant child? Are we going to step up our security or just keep being cheap, lazy and self indulgent2? And I guess, is Mr. Alperovitch full of poo poo? Are we doing well on the network security angle? I'd say no, but I'm just kind of a dilettante or enthusiast on the subject.




I wish to note that intellectual property theft by a government represents the very essence of organized crime.
-Howard Berman






1 Read: Microsoft

some guy on the McAfee forums posted:

Were the initial intrusions all on Microsoft OS machines? Also, was a particular browser targeted?
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Dmitri Alperovitch posted:

All the malware we’ve seen was Windows-based. There were a variety of vulnerabilities used
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2 A lot of the vulnerabilities involved here were from stupid management types who felt the need to surf the web as admins and so basically negate whatever security had been put in to place.

 

[Stone]

Interesting stuff but I a bit suprised that a few other counties are 'below the radar'

 

[Ivor the Engine]

Interesting stuff but I a bit suprised that a few other counties are 'below the radar'

Mother To Take Action Against Online Trolls

3:20pm UK, Saturday 09 June 2012

Video: Landmark Case Against Online 'Trolls'
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A mother who was targeted by so-called online trolls has won backing from the High Court to have her tormentors' identities disclosed.
Nicola Brookes, 45, faced "vicious and depraved" abuse on Facebook after she posted a comment supporting former X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza when he left the show last year.
Her anonymous tormentors set up a fake Facebook profile in her name using her picture to post explicit comments and lure young girls, her solicitor Rupinder Bains said.

Frustrated at what she considered a lack of action by Sussex Police to help track the perpetrators, Ms Brookes decided to go to court.
She took her case to the High Court in London where an order was granted last week compelling Facebook to reveal the IP addresses and other information of the people who had abused her.
Once they have been identified, Ms Brookes, a single mother who suffers from Crohn's disease, intends to bring a private prosecution against the abusers.
Ms Brookes, from Brighton, East Sussex, said: "I'm going for the strongest possible prosecution against these people.
"I want them exposed. They exposed me and they invaded my life. I didn't ask for it. They wanted a reaction from me and now they have got it."
She added it was the "speed and viciousness" of the postings that first alarmed her, along with the lack of action by police.
She said: "After posting the comment about Frankie Cocozza, I went back to Facebook about an hour later and there was loads of abuse. At the time, I thought of it as banter.
"But after a few days people starting saying to me, 'You're popping up all over the internet.'
"People were inciting hatred against me. They weren't just targeting me, they were also dragging young girls into it as well. They weren't playing."

Although Ms Brookes' case is believed to be the first of its kind, there have been others where the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have brought trolls before the courts.
They include student Liam Stacey, 21, from Pontypridd, South Wales, who was jailed for 56 days for mocking Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba on Twitter after he collapsed with a heart attack.
Sussex Police said they asked Facebook to remove any abusive posts about Ms Brookes and said their investigation was still continuing and had been reviewed.
A police spokesman said: "We have looked at the material sent to us by Ms Brookes and we have told Facebook to remove anything offensive or abusive towards her."
Facebook said it will supply information such as IP addresses and subscriber names but all demands for information must be backed up by a court order.
A Facebook spokesman said: "There is no place for harassment on Facebook, but unfortunately a small minority of malicious individuals exist online, just as they do offline.
"We respect our legal obligations and work with law enforcement to ensure that such people are brought to justice."