Category Archives: Case Studies

Shoulder Surfing & Your Smartphone A Case Study ‘For Your Eyes Only’

For Your Eyes Only

Whilst reading an excellent article this morning in The Age ‘Keeping Out Smart Phone Snoops, by Brian Chen I noted the underlying theme of his article was locking your smartphone, where the article clearly stated: ‘One of the easiest ways to add a layer of security to your smartphone is requiring a password to get past the initial lock screen’.

Having read the article and agreeing with its range of valuable tips on protecting your data in your smartphone, I thought it prudent to bring to subscribers of Cyber Guardians Online the background of a common criminal activity known as ‘Shoulder Surfing‘ that surfaced in the early 1990′s.

Shoulder Surfing

I personally came across shoulder surfing as a Federal Agent, where as one of the inaugural members of the newly formed Computer Crime Unit in Sydney, a significant file came across my desk involving an Australian traveling on business in New York City and coming home to a home phone bill in excess of $2 Million. It was early in the 1990′s, pre mobile phones, where travelers could opt to link a home phone account to a ‘Calling Card‘. Calling cards were great, go to any phone in the world, call a local dedicated number and either tell the operator or on some occasions just key in your calling card number and personal identification number (PIN) to make a call anywhere and have it recorded on your home phone bill.

One major problem back then was that phone companies did not have safeguards built in to detect simultaneous calls from the same calling card that were being made from various locations around the globe and as such fraud was rife. The manner in which the fraud was conducted was quite simple, all one had to do was obtain the calling card number and PIN and all calls were made at the account holders expense.

Free international phone calls in a multicultural city like New York City was a commodity that was extremely valuable on the black market, where a person with just one calling card number and PIN could on sell the details hundreds of times a day usually for $20 and of course the purchaser of that calling card number and PIN would also then on sell the details as well. Furthermore, the illicit transaction could be guaranteed with all parties ‘testing’ the cards validity at a local phone box.

Obtaining the Account Number and PIN

As you could imagine obtaining calling card details became very lucrative and this is where criminal enterprises resorted to some basic surveillance 101 tactics of which I will refer to here in dot point form:

  • Standing behind the person at the payphone and memorizing the persons account number and PIN (clearly an apprentice card counter in the making) :)
  • Using telephoto lenses and video taping persons entering personal details into the payphone
  • Standing close by or on the other side of the row of payphones in airports, bus interchanges and railway stations and writing down account details and PIN’s as customers spoke to a calling card operator.

As you can see it was not that hard to obtain such personal details and turn a simple few numbers into a positive cash flow operation within minutes and generally the card would remain active until the unsuspecting victim received a telephone bill he/she could not jump over.

Yes, phone companies became smarter over time and introduced safeguards similar to what banks have in place now with ATM card transactions. However, the above scenario was the breeding ground for producing ‘Shoulder Surfing’ experts who now operate with a view to obtaining your mobile/cell phone after securing your PIN from Shoulder Surfing.

Locking Your Phone Is Not Enough

Hence the underlying theme of this post is to warn you that locking your phone with a PIN is your first level of defense, your PIN needs to protected with vigilance. How many times do you sit in the open and enter your PIN without covering your actions whilst:

  • At Bus/Train stops?
  • On public transport?
  • At bars/cafes?
  • Walking along crowded streets?
  • Opposite a work colleague?

Furthermore, how many of you have your mobile/cell phone PIN’s set the same as your bank ATM cards? Surprisingly a high majority do so and this opens a whole new Pandora’s box, with ATM and credit card fraud.

All it takes is for the person who has acquired your phones PIN code to obtain your phone and ATM cards either through pickpocketing, bag snatch and or surveilling you home or to work and obtaining your phone and cards where at times you may not notice the theft until the morning or at the end of your workday. The domino effect can lead to your suffering severe financial loss as banks are reluctant to reimburse funds to persons who do not protect PIN numbers.

Finally what other data is stored on your phone as The Age article highlighted and as indicated here in this post, crime gangs the world over have had years to perfect the simple art of ‘Shoulder Surfing’ and it is re-emerging as a criminal activity that will capitalize on unsuspecting citizens going about their daily business.

Reference

The Age, Chen, B., Sunday April 5 2013,

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/keeping-out-smartphone-snoops-20130405-2hb1z.html#ixzz2PhK8sJER

For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

Facebook ‘Friend’ or Foreign ‘Spy’

The internet  and the current phenomenon of social media has changed the way we communicate, do business and even socialize,  it is a paradigm shift that society has embraced at such speed and ease that rarely a moment goes by in a civilised nation where such technology has not impacted each and every person.

The way in which social media flourishes is that it requires engagement and ‘engagement’ is encouraged by ‘sharing’, and ‘sharing’ comes in various forms whether it be via Facebook’s or LinkedIn ‘Likes’ or actual ‘sharing’ buttons, to sharing the mobile App you have downloaded via a ‘share’ button.

Sharing introduces a whole new realm to how we perceive trust. Studies have shown that the majority of the figures below are a result of people ‘sharing’.

General Internet statistics 2012Internet

  • In one day on the Internet:
    • Enough information is consumed to fill 168 million DVDs
    • 294 billion emails are sent
    • 2 million blog posts are written (enough posts to fill TIME magazine for 770 million years)
    • 172 million people visit Facebook
    • 40 million visit Twitter
    • 22 million visit LinkedIn
    • 20 million visit Google+
    • 17 million visit Pinterest
    • 4.7 billion minutes are spent on Facebook
    • 532 million statuses are updated
    • 250 million photos are uploaded
    • 22 million hours of tv and movies are watched on Netflix
    • 864,000 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube
    • More than 35 million apps are downloaded
    • More iPhones are sold than people are born

(http://thesocialskinny.com/100-social-media-mobile-and-internet-statistics-for-2012/)

As we know ‘sharing’ brings trust, loyalty and generally out of this comes relationship development, whether personal or professional and in turn it is here vulnerabilities may emerge.

Recently the media has been awash with not only industrial cyber espionage reports but of a major issue facing the internet community and that is ‘country sanctioned’ cyber espionage and or attacks.

History may one day reveal that as the United States fretted over the possibility of a “cyber Pearl Harbor” – a catastrophic attack that would take down electrical grids – its economic lifeblood was being slowly drained away by a massive hacking enterprise located in the People’s Republic of China. (Magnuson, 2012)

Cyber Command Commander Army Gen. Keith Alexander last year called the cyber-espionage being conducted against U.S. companies the largest transfer of intellectual property from one nation to another in the history of the world. (Magnuson, 2012)

Eric Rosenbach, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, said the nation is not as focused on intellectual property theft as it should be. A catastrophic cyber war is important to prepare for, but an unlikely scenario. Stealing data important to the nation’s economic security, meanwhile, is occurring here and now. (Magnuson, 2012)

We all have seen them on our travels or have had friends bring back ‘knock offs’ from trips to Asia, watches, handbags, sunglasses, fashion items even IPHONEs and computer software. All produced with such high quality similarities that it is hard at times to distinguish the ‘fake’ from the real item.

The proliferation of the internet and its related activity has allowed for ‘copying’ to occur at a rate that cannot be controlled or monitored. The aforementioned figures identify the staggering internet traffic and streaming that is taking place on any given day.

Experts describe a large, technologically advanced and well organized enterprise coming out of China that is going after businesses large and small. Any firm that has a trade secret, or could be used as a stepping stone to a larger company, is a potential target. Intellectual property theft has the potential to erode a company’s profits or even bankrupt it. There is no magical software that can stop every intrusion attempt, but even companies with few resources can take steps to mitigate the risk, experts told National Defense. (Magnuson, 2012)

To thwart the Chinese cyber-espionage enterprise, it is important to characterize it. In the world of network security, it was once called the “advanced persistent threat.” But government officials have done away with using that euphemism: it’s China, they now say. The October 201 1 “Foreign Spies Stealing U.S. Economic Secrets in Cyberspace” report, produced by the FBI‘s office of  national counterintelligence executive, acknowledged that the attacks came from China, but stopped short of blaming the Chinese government, which routinely denies involvement. (Magnuson, 2012)

Jason Lewis, chief technology officer of Looking Glass Cyber Solutions, said, “In general, when you have a situation where the state runs everything, you have to assume that the state is involved in any enterprise.”

Phishing Attacks

In country “scouts” doing the reconnaissance are increasingly using social media websites to gather personal information to use in phishing attacks, said Dave Papas, chief operating officer of Cyveillance, a subsidiary of QinetiQ North America that provides security for Fortune 500 companies. (Magnuson, 2012)

Friends, hometowns, hobbies, anything that can be placed in the email to make the target believe it is a legitimate message, can be used and every piece of information is a means to an end.

It was recently reported in the Australian Financial Review that  an “…Australian chief executive was travelling in China recently when he received a curious email from his adult daughter asking if “Daddy” was having a good time. But it wasn’t his daughter who had sent the email…” (Grigg, 2013) It was a ‘phishing’ attack to penetrate the chief executives lap top and such a line in the email idicates the logistical efforts of a well resourced and technologically advanced team to not only hack into the executives daughters email but to establish his travel movements and the like. Had it not been for the executive being alert and realising that his daughter had not called him ‘daddy’ for a long time, the attempt by the perpetrators failed on this occasion.

This attack is a clear example of an attack that attempts to infiltrate a network in the form of an phishing email, a well-crafted letter that seemingly comes from a friend or business associate. This tactic has not changed in years, but is growing more sophisticated and frequent. Why? Phishing attacks work and, “it is a lot easier to control humans than the technology,” said Rick Doten, vice president of cybersecurity for DMI, a firm that does work for the U.S. government. (Magnussen, 2012)

This example clearly, supports that we must not count on it being written in anguished English like the common scam letters purportedly originating from Nigerian princesses as it is common place now that native speakers of English are helping compose the phony emails.

Once an attachment or a link to a fake website is opened, specialists in moving around a network without being detected take over and probe for other vulnerabilities. This may mean taking over an email account in order to generate more trusted, fake emails as most likely would have bene the case with the example identified in the Australian Financial Review.

It is well founded that smaller companies, particularly in the defense industrial base, may be used to go after bigger companies – big prime contractors – higher in the food chain. Once the cyberspies have located the information they want, another team takes over to exflltrate it. It is ideally ferreted away in normal traffic without being detected. (Magnussen, 2012)

Unit 61398

Unit 61398 Shanghai

Unit 61398 Shanghai

Open source defence journals have reported the following:

  • A US company has identified an organisation in China that it says is responsible for stealing hundreds of terabytes of data from US government organisations and companies
  • According to the company, the organisation receives direct funding from the Chinese government through a PLA department called Unit 61398

China is conducting a campaign of sustained and persistent state-sponsored hacking by an organisation referred to as Advanced Persistent Threat 1 (APT1), according to a report from US cyber security company Mandiant that was released on 18 February.

The report, entitled ‘APT1: Exposing One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units’, details wide-ranging hacking activities that Mandiant has traced back to China. It focuses on a particular series of cyber security breaches and intrusions carried out against at least 141 victims from 2006, all of which Mandiant has attributed specifically to APT1. According to the report, “hundreds of terabytes” of data have been stolen in these attacks.

Mandiant concludes that APT1 is able to carry out such sustained and extensive hacking activities because it receives direct government backing. It names the 2nd Bureau of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department’s 3rd Department, or Unit 61398, as the organisation behind this activity. This group is also informally referred to as Comment Crew or Comment Group. Mandiant states the allegations are based on its own forensic analysis of similarities in the characteristics and geographical sources of hacking activity.

Comment Crew’s activities were traced to the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, where Unit 61398 is believed to engage in computer network operations. Mandiant said Unit 61398 is staffed by “hundreds, if not thousands” of people that have undergone cyber training and are proficient English speakers. Of the victims tracked in the Mandiant report, 87% are headquartered in countries where English is the native language.

Andrew Beckett, head of cyber security consulting at Cassidian, told IHS Jane’s that “the Mandiant report provides no surprise to those involved in cyber security and this should provide a wake-up call to industry and governments. Comment Crew are one of many groups Cassidian know of that are operating in this area”.

China’s Ministry of National Defence rejected Mandiant’s findings. “The Chinese military has never supported any kinds of hacker activities, so saying that the Chinese military is involved in internet attacks is neither professional nor consistent with the facts,” it said in a statement released on 19 February.

However, I recall from one of my lectures in my Masters of National Security, from American Military University that China allegedly has in excess of 50,000 persons engaged in ‘internet espionage at any one time.

So, next time you get that ‘friend’ request or you ‘like’ or ‘fan’ a page in Facebook or in any other form of social media or email, always remember that ‘friend’ or ‘like’ could be just be a foreign spy……

References:

Grigg, A, 2013, ‘Australian Execs Among Those Hacked In China’ The Australian Financial Review, 26 January 2013.

Magnuson, S. (2012). Stopping the chinese hacking onslaught. National Defense, 97(704), 26-28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1026586020?accountid=8289

Social Skinny, 2012, http://thesocialskinny.com/100-social-media-mobile-and-internet-statistics-for-2012/

 

Crimes That Create Community Outrage And Fake Social Media Accounts

Several recent tragic events both here in Australia and in the United States have been exasperated by persons creating fake social media sites and posting comments that are about criminal matters before the courts. In Australia these comments can be deemed ‘sub judas’ (under judicial consideration) and may constitute interference with due process leading to contempt of court proceedings. The United States do not have such tight restrictions on comments sub judas due to the First Amendment and the right to free speech,  however, cases have been overturned where the defendant was convicted in an atmosphere of a media circus.

Facebook & Twitter Impacting Serious Criminal Cases

As the police either charge an offender or identify a suspect  with regards to a major crime and if that crime has been featured in the media, persons appear to create Facebook and twitter accounts at an alarming rate in the name of the suspect almost immediately  after the crime has occurred and post comments that are either in what appear to be a sarcastic positive light towards the person charged or extremely disturbing comments and opinions that on occasion contain graphic images.

In addition to the aforementioned abhorrent behaviour some people who are appear to be deeply psychologically disturbed create phenomenally disturbing Facebook and Twitter accounts and post comments and images that can have an impact not only the court proceedings but also on the metal well being of persons who read such posts. Additionally, these comments may also be deemed to fall under one of the categories of cyber bullying, stalking, harassment, intimidation and or vilification creating anxiety and psychological trauma to victims, their friends, relatives and the community in general.

A review of social media sites over the last six months especially after crimes that have featured heavily in the media has revealed the following.

Examples:

  • A fake Facebook page depicting to be the brother of an alleged murderer and posting comments how the victim deserved to be raped and murdered.
  • Hundreds of comments on the actual alleged murderers Facebook page that due to its virility in cyberspace such actions could lead to the person not being able to have a ‘fair trial’ in the relevant jurisdiction.
  • A fake Twitter account depicting to be of the father of a victim with comments about the victim.
  • A fake twitter account of a shooting victim showing images of the victim with bullet wounds and making several comments as to how ‘good a shot’ the perpetrator was.
  • Hundreds of detrimental comments on Facebook pages of persons recently deceased in car accidents where the deceased person may have been at fault in the accident and death or serious injuries have resulted to other persons.
  • Threats of violence and intimidation posted on the Facebook pages of family members of persons suspected of committing a crime.

The speed in which these fake social media accounts are created and the manner in which they generate vulgar comments is of particular concern in that anyone anywhere can create a Facebook or twitter account in a matter of seconds as all that is required is a computer/smart phone or tablet and an internet connection.

The ease and proliferation in creating a social networking site which are used to connect people either publicly or privately via private messages and chat forums increases the risk of ‘fake’ social networking that ultimately is leading to an increase in cyber stalking and bullying related offences.

Whilst no identification verification is required to open a social networking site, it appears no protection is afforded society from persons who are intent on causing distress to recipients of their communication.

Once a person has created the fake account they can commence their antisocial behaviour that may constitute bullying, harassment, stalking and or intimidation and it is here it is important to generically define some of these terms.

Overseas Outsourcing For Fake Account

Information suggests persons are using overseas outsourcing sites like O-Desk to create false accounts offshore in places like India, Bangladesh and several Eastern Bloc countries resulting in virtually untraceable social media account. Some contractors in O-Desk work for 25 cents per hour therefore creating a low cost alternative for a person who is intent on creating hundreds of fake social media accounts. This activity also allows for ‘Imposter’ accounts to be created. (A separate blog will be posted regarding imposter accounts)

Online Harassment 

Analysis of some online behaviour can be classed as online harassment that includes cyber stalking and cyber bullying that has been described by Stone (1999) to consist of “communications which are often constant, filled with disturbing and inappropriate content, and do not cease even after the victim asks for the behaviors to stop”. Cyber bullying is described as the act of threatening and harassing an individual via messages including blog posts, status updates and chat forums in social networking sites aimed at hurting and humiliating an individual.

As identified by Alba (2012) Wylie (2007) writes that examples of tactics used by bullies include sending a continuous amount of harmful messages or creating humiliating online content via social networking sites as well as posting fake ads to draw the attention of victims. Cyber stalking refers to “the malicious and repeated following and harassing of another person that threatens his or her safety” (Meloy & Gothard, 1995, p.258). Cyber stalking can be performed in various ways including threatening, intimidating and impersonating profiles (Sreedevi, 2012). As described by Neo (2011) cyber stalking may also include actions like “false accusations, monitoring, making threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, soliciting minors for sex, or gathering information to harass”.

A person can create with relative ease a fake profile on social networking sites that can include photos, descriptions, multimedia content and information regarding personal interests and location.  Additionally, the person creating the fake  profile may infiltrate a persons ‘friends’ network and appear to be ‘connected’ whereby others in the ‘friends’ circle may inadvertently link with the person behind the fake account.

Furthermore, Alba (2012)reported that Postmedia News (2012) wrote that victims who experience harassment at school or other environments, for example in the workplace, can now also experience harassment while in the privacy of their own home via social networking sites. Accessibility to social networking sites from not only the home but also via mobile communication means that victims can now be harassed at all hours of the day and the audience for cyber bullying and stalking has become much larger as opposed to traditional social environments.

Sreedevi (2012)  points out that cyber criminals have the opportunity to remain anonymous online, making it more difficult for them to be traced and easier to target innocent people. Miller (2010) adds that as bullies or stalkers are not faced with victims who show real feelings online, harassment is easier for attackers making it worse and more hurtful for victims.

Day (2012) writes about a recent case of Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old American college student who committed suicide after his private life was exposed publicly. A video was created of him having sex with a male which was broadcast over the internet via social networking sites. His room mates were also involved in posting and exchanging harmful messages on twitter and failed to realise that these messages can be viewed by all, leading to serious consequences.

Global Instantaneous Reach

Alcindor (2012) explains that unlike exchanging messages on Facebook which can be restricted to a group, Twitter messages are broadcast publicly to a much larger audience. This is an example of how online harassment via social networks can cause real life consequences in real time.

Inability To Take Action 

London based Bains Cohen LLP Solicitors (2011) have stated that victims often feel too frightened and powerless to report online harassment to the police and in any case the solicitors explain that often when incidents are reported, victims experience a lack of support as they find that police are either not interested, lack knowledge or the investigation involves a lengthy process. Not all police have sufficient knowledge to deal with online harassment.

On many occasions in Australia the state police will refer the complainant to the Australian Federal Police citing that it is a Commonwealth matter (Federal offence) as the relevant law that govern telecommunications services is a Commonwealth Act, being the Crimes Legislation Amendmnet (Telecommunications Offences and Other Measures) Act (No.2) 2004. However the state police can investigate telecommunications offences and are generally in a better position to do so on most occasions as they are quite frequently domestic related offences. However, with the globalization of  digital communication the shift in offence patterns is now shifting towards more complex investigations and as highlighted below the range of offences now under the act is is quite broad and somewhat complex, but nevertheless encompassing in that the legislation captures previously mentioned anti-social. behaviour.

Division 474—Telecommunications offences  

Subdivision A—Dishonesty with respect to carriage services  

  • 474.1  Dishonesty
  • 474.2  General dishonesty with respect to a carriage service provider

Subdivision B—Interference with telecommunications

  • 474.3  Person acting for a carrier or carriage service provider
  • 474.4  Interception devices
  • 474.5  Wrongful delivery of communications
  • 474.6  Interference with facilities
  • 474.7  Modification etc. of a telecommunications device identifier
  • 474.8  Possession or control of data or a device with intent to modify a telecommunications device identifier
  • 474.9  Producing, supplying or obtaining data or a device with intent to modify a telecommunications device identifier
  • 474.10  Copying subscription-specific secure data
  • 474.11  Possession or control of data or a device with intent to copy an account identifier
  • 474.12  Producing, supplying or obtaining data or a device with intent to copy an account identifier

Subdivision C—Offences related to use of telecommunications          

  • 474.13  Use of a carriage service
  • 474.14  Using a telecommunications network with intention to commit a serious offence
  • 474.15  Using a carriage service to make a threat
  • 474.16  Using a carriage service for a hoax threat
  • 474.17  Using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence
  • 474.18  Improper use of emergency call service
  • 474.19  Using a carriage service for child pornography material
  • 474.20  Possessing, controlling, producing, supplying or obtaining child pornography material for use through a carriage service
  • 474.21  Defences in respect of child pornography material
  • 474.22  Using a carriage service for child abuse material
  • 474.23  Possessing, controlling, producing, supplying or obtaining child abuse material for use through a carriage service
  • 474.24  Defences in respect of child abuse material
  • 474.25  Obligations of Internet service providers and Internet content hosts
  • 474.26  Using a carriage service to procure persons under 16 years of age
  • 474.27  Using a carriage service to “groom” persons under 16 years of age
  • 474.28  Provisions relating to offences against sections 474.26 and 474.27
  • 474.29  Defences to offences against section 474.26 or 474.27

Furthermore, resolving harassment cases can be very complicated as it is not always easy to provide sufficient evidence especially when attackers are anonymous and located in other towns or countries. Bains Cohen LLP Solicitors (2011) identified a recent case which involved an internet savvy person who created intimidating blogs and websites against a victim who was jailed after being convicted of online harassment however it took police at least 18 months to track down the attacker, and even then, the harmful comments remained online as it was still difficult for the police to have the content removed. As a matter of fact, due to the enormous publicity related to the court case, the blogs and websites received even more attention causing even more distress to the victim. Ogilvie (2000) points out that in the case of attackers and victims being located in different countries or cities, it becomes difficult to determine which jurisdiction to apply to a case making justice and the resolution of problems very complicated.

Identifying the Offender

Identification is the key issue in that most people who have had a telecommunications service connected as a post pay service are familiar with having to produce some for of identification to obtain the service as credit is involved. Whilst this has been a somewhat reliable source of information for law enforcement in the past, it was not without its flaws. Some of the issues facing telecommunication companies and law enforcement are:

  • False identification being produced.
  • Having another person apply for the service (sometimes with an unknown person for a cash fee)
  • Corruption within the sales department of the telecommunication service whereby identification is not verified as per company guidelines.
  • Store clerk error in recording identification details.

All of the above lead to telecommunication services being provided to persons where identity is not adequately recorded if recorded at all.

Information also suggests that the ‘black market’ for untracebale SIM cards is ‘rife’ in Australia and the United States and these SIM cards are being connected onto networks at an alarming rate and could be facilitating criminal activity across all levels from petty street crimes and harassment to organized crime rackets involving drug importations and distribution, murder andkidnapping.

A major issue with law enforcement is how mobile telecommunications devices use a dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) as opposed to a static IP. (Zytrax 2012) As the names imply Static IP addresses are the same every time you connect with Dynamic IP addresses having the ability to change each time a person connects to the Internet. Dynamic IP addresses are the normal customer access method used by most ISPs or Service Providers. When using dynamic IP addresses, even if you are permanently connected (always-on) some ISPs/Service Providers change dynamic IP addresses every 24 hours, others change less frequently (monthly or even longer in certain cases).

Additionally, some persons may use internet cafes and register emails at Yahoo and the like from there where they then conduct the online harassment, whilst some persons scour the suburbs for ‘open’ wireless networks to gain access to ‘wifi’ connections from outside the premises. Such activity leads investigators to the usually ‘Static IP’ address and therefore allowing the person total anomoninity.

Resources

Like with all policing, success comes down to solid investigative work and with all of the aforementioned issues identified the proliferation of social media accounts and the ease they can be created both here and offshore combined with law enforcement agencies having to do more with less it is no wonder cyber bullying, harassment and the like is on the increase. Whilst law enforcement agencies have proactively created ‘computer crime units’ and national ‘High Tech Crime’ sections, front line police need better training and advice with regards to the ever changing world of ‘computer’ related crime.

Connectivity is a way of life now for all persons almost from the age of 4 years of age if not younger and an important part of our daily lives and with such reliance comes ‘familiarity’ and instances where our most vulnerable let their guard down and it is here we need to protect them with investigating and prosecuting persons who use the internet for illicit means.

Maybe, time has come for some civil action to be taken against perpetrators of internet based crime and start having monetary penalties applied.

References:

Alba, Anna. (2012). Social Networks: the rise of online harrassment. Retreived from http://networkconference.netstudies.org/2012/socialnetworksonlineharassment/

Alcindor, Y. (2012, March 19). Lesson of Rutgerscase: Online actions carry consequences. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-16/rutgers/53574554/1

Bains Cohen LLP Solicitors. (2011). Internet Law Experts: Online harassment, online intimidation and the criminal justice system. Shall I Report Online Harassment To The Police? Retrieved from http://www.bainscohen.com/online-harassment-online-intimidation

Day, E. (2012, March 11). The hurt caused by private lives being made public. The Observer. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/11/elizabeth-day-cyberbullying-social-media?newsfeed=true

Meloy, J. & Gothard, S. (1995). A Demographic and Clinical Comparison of Obsessional Followers and Offenders with Mental Disorders, American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 258–63.

Miller, D. (2010, March 10). The Darker Side of Facebook: Cyber-Bullying. Australian Women Online. Retrieved from http://www.australianwomenonline.com/the-darker-side-of-facebook/

Neo. (2011, January 3). How to Handle Online Harassment & Cyber Stalking. Retrieved from http://thepizzy.net/blog/2011/01/how-to-handle-online-harassment-cyber-stalking/

Ogilvie, E. (2000). Cyberstalking. Australian Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/4/7/A/%7B47A7FA60-8EBF-498A-BB9E-D61BC512C053%7Dti166.pdf

Postmedia News. (2012, March 24). Online bullying is now everyone’s problem. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/Online+bullying+everyone+problem/6353905/story.html

Sreedevi, K. (2012, March 25). Beware! E-mafia is at work on social media. DECCAN Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/beware-e-mafia-work-social-media-439

Stone, D. M. (1999). Online Harassment. Urbana, IL: University Laboratory High   School. Retrieved from http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/crime/harassment.htm

Wylie, M. (2007). Online Family Safety – Eight ways to handle cyber-bullies. Retrieved from http://www.yoursecurityresource.com/cobrand/in/articles/cyberbullies/index.html

Zytrax (2012). Retrieved from http://www.zytrax.com/isp/faqs/static.htm

 

This is icon for social networking website. Th...

This is icon for social networking website. This is part of Open Icon Library’s webpage icon package. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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