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GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS URGED TO JOIN FRAUD BUSTING SCHEME
(The Guardian, dated 16th May 2012 author Juliette Jowit)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Government departments have been criticised for not joining a fraud-busting initiative despite ministers promising to crack down on illegal benefit claims and other wastes of public money.
The Audit Commission, an independent watchdog on public spending, says on Wednesday that the National Fraud Initiative has saved nearly £1bn of taxpayers' money since it was introduced 16 years ago, and more than a quarter of that in the last two years alone.
But despite being used by 1,300 public bodies including police forces, the NHS and local councils, only two central government departments - the Highways Agency and the Department for Communities and Local Government - have yet adopted the system, which constantly compares data from 8,000 data sets, each comprising details of sometimes millions of people, and flags up anomalies for investigation.
Michael O'Higgins, chairman of the Audit Commission, has now written to the head of the civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake, urging him to make participation in the NFI compulsory for government departments after previous requests had failed. O'Higgins said he had had requests for more information and meetings, but no firm commitment from any other ministers so far. "I think it's inertia rather than anything else [that is to blame]," said O'Higgins. "This is in line with the thing minsters are concerned about, and I expect there's more official level resistance - or resistance might be too strong for it: it's easier to not decide to do something than decide to do it."
Some government departments do share information, for example about housing benefit claims, but this did not allow the fraud system to investigate and detect fraud by employees. "Unless we believe there's no fraud being committed by anybody in centrral government - that might be a reason not to participate, but it's hard to think that might be the case," added O'Higgins.
The NFI identified savings of £275m across the UK in the previous two years, but the Audit Commission said it could not say whether the increase in the rate of detection was due to higher fraud levels or better detection.
In the last two years, the highest amount saved was in pensions, usually by avoiding them being paid to people who had died, saving taxpayers £98m, followed by £50m which would have been paid to people wrongly claiming council tax discounts for living alone, and £31m in housing benefit fraud and wrong payments.
Other findings included 164 workers identified by the NFI as having no permission to work in the UK and 321 false applications for social housing. More than 31,000 blue badges for disabled drivers were removed. In total, 731 people were prosecuted, 636 of them for benefit fraud.
4.6m data matches have been identified as needing further investigation, of which about one fifth were considered a priority, though many could have turned out to be legitimate claims and payments.
O'Higgins said that one striking case spotted with the help of the fraud detection software was a nurse working for two hospitals by taking regular sick leave from one or the other.
The Cabinet Office said: "Within just a few months of coming into office, ministers set up the first ever cross-government taskforce to tackle fraud - from its pilots alone this new team has already helped save £72 million for taxpayers.
"Because fraudsters do not work in silos, we recently unveiled our plan to create a new counter-fraud checking service - a groundbreaking partnership between the public and private sectors to improve fraud prevention and make checks quicker. The new service will allow us to adopt a "check first, pay after" approach.
"As part of our new approach we are working with the National Fraud Initiative and building on their current model."
(18th May 2012)
THE VICTIMS OF SEX GANGS ARE NEVER HEARD
(The Guardian, dated 9th May 2012 author Julie Bindel)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Much of the media coverage and discussion of the trial of nine men convicted of sexually abusing five teenage girls is focused on ethnicity. That eight of the perpetrators are Asian appears to be more relevant than the reasons why the rape of young, vulnerable girls is so widespread and the crime so difficult to prosecute.
I have written about organised criminal gangs grooming young girls for sex on a few occasions during the past five years, such as the disappearance of Charlene Downes, who was 14 when she went missing in 2003 and has never been found. What was discovered during the police investigation, however, was endemic child sexual abuse and prostitution in her home town of Blackpool. Dozens of girls were being bought and sold for a bag of chips, cigarettes and vodka by sexual predators of all ages, cultures and ethnicities.
It is my firm belief, based on interviews with a number of victims, family members, campaigners and professionals such as police and social workers, that where the gangs are of Asian origin there has been a tendency in some areas of England to ignore the issue for fear of being branded racist. I have also been clear that ethnicity of perpetrators is indeed relevant, in that folk seem to be more interested and appalled by criminal gangs raping girls when the gang is Asian. Contrary to what the British National party would have us believe, this is not an epidemic of Pakistani child abusers abusing white girls - it is more that we as a society ignore the voices of those who know best about child abuse: the victims and their advocates.
The uncomfortable truth is that there is complacency about organised sexual exploitation, which leads to few convictions regardless of the ethnicity of the perpetrators. We choose instead to blame the victims. Why otherwise would girls who are raped and sexually exploited be so routinely disbelieved? Why are we not hearing more outrage about the fact that the victim who came forward in this case four years ago was deemed not to be a credible witness by the Crown Prosecution Service? Had she been taken seriously this gang could have been detected and scores of other victims could have been spared. We kid ourselves if we think the CPS would have pushed ahead if her rapists had been white.
Despite the traumatic effects of child sexual grooming on both the victims and their families we are still not convicting many of those responsible. What we know from those victims who have dared come forward is this: the process by which offenders select and manipulate victims is organised and complex. First there is the gaining of trust. Next, desensitisation (the normalisation of abusive acts to the point where the victim comes to believe she deserves it); isolation (from friends, family members and school); and sexualisation (so that the girls "act out" their abuse in a way that results in them being seen as "asking for it" rather than abused). A deadly combination of threats and bribes secures victims' compliance.
But there is much we do not know, which is why so many of these gangs escape detection. There is also a distinct lack of knowledge about how best to protect victims, and secure convictions when they do come forward. We choose to "know" about the ethnicity of the perpetrators, when what we need to discover is how such gangs operate, where they prostitute the girls, and what happens to the money they make from this vile operation. Let us listen to the experts within the criminal justice and child protection system - and, more important, the girls and their families about how we can carry out proper prevention and risk assessment.
The truth is that the victims of the most horrendous abuse are being let down - viewed as troublemaking slags, in fact - which is why opportunist grooming gangs can get away with it so often.
Greater Manchester police apologised to the victims of the recent case, saying that now that they know more about this type of crime they would conduct future investigations differently. And yet those of us who are involved in the attempt to combat child sexual exploitation have known about these men and the way they operate for decades. The victims have told us. Why have they been sidelined once again in favour of a good old ruck about race?
(18th May 2012)
WHY DON'T WE START PRIVATISING THE POLICE
(London Evening Standard, dated 17th May 2012 author Tim Evans)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
So Home Secretary Theresa May is "destroying" the police - at least that's what the Police Federation claimed yesterday. But the real problem is not that May's reforms to pay and working conditions are too radical, it's that they are nowhere near radical enough.
Officially, London is policed by four tax-funded forces - the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police, the British Transport Police and to a much lesser extent the Ministry of Defence Police. In reality, though, British law and order also now depends on more than half a million people employed in private security roles, an industry estimated to contribute more than £6 billion a year to the economy.
Private security companies nowadays encompass a huge array of specialities, ranging from traditional uniformed security officers to highly skilled technicians installing security systems. The sector includes biometrics technicians, CCTV operators, close protection officers, community wardens, contract bailiffs and security dog handlers.
Private security has become an integral part of law enforcement - and that is true above all in London. In recognition of this, the Home Secretary and the Met Commissioner should be setting out a much more proactive, open, consumer-focused vision for the future.
For a start, borough commanders should contract with private providers for a wide range of services including beat and traffic patrols.
It is vital that the kind of high-quality law enforcement services available in Belgravia and Chelsea are also there for those at the opposite end of the social spectrum. That is why in high-crime areas where the police are deemed to be failing residents, local authorities and housing associations should be free to provide private security support. And as a result, they should be able to withhold local tax transfers to the police.
Similarly, all private railway companies, Network Rail and London Underground should use private security services, in line with other privatised public spaces such as major shopping malls. The British Transport Police should no longer have a role.
Parks and open spaces in London's boroughs would benefit from improved front-line private security. Valuable police resources should not be expended on patrols in these areas but instead only deployed when required. The provision of all police community support officers should also be contracted out - as happens with other vital services such as refuse collection - and residents and shopkeepers should have the right to form locally licensed patrols.
Finally, the Mayor should commission an independent inquiry into the ways the insurance industry could enhance the capital's law enforcement. For example, how might residents' associations access private law enforcement services from innovative insurers and entrepreneurs, so that they become customers with real clout?
In an era of spending squeezes, such measures would free up more expensive police resources to concentrate on the core problems of genuine crime and disorder. And the police must face up to this truth: only a radical expansion of private and voluntary sector involvement can give London the law enforcement it needs.
Tim Evans is a senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute.
Further Information (uaware additions)
Comment : One of the major things that you need to consider when you read these articles is; "who is their sponsor and who has been there sponsor in the past". In the good old days and I am probably going back to Victorian times here, Institutes were normally of a philanthropic nature (eg The City and Guild Institute ), they helped society in some way. It appears now that they are associated with other words such as think tank and lobbyists. Whether the Adam Smith Institute comes under this other definition I do not know.
As for their funding; they mention "to keep impartial" they are not funded by Government. Does that mean they could possibly be funded by security companies or Stakeholders of such companies as far as this issue is concerned. You need to consider who would benefit from the implementation of these ideas.
The words used in the article seem akin to ones used in previously published articles about Police cuts this year where I have described them as being someones dissertation for their Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
The Adam Smith Institute (In their own words)
Website : www.adamsmith.org [Note 1]
History and Mission (In their own words)
The Adam Smith Institute was founded in the 1970s, as post-war socialism reached its high-watermark. Then, as now, its purpose was to educate the public about free markets and economic policy, and to inject sound ideas into the public debate. It has always been a practical think-tank rather than an academic organization, and despite its strict political independence, it has endeavored to work with policymakers to deliver real change, and to make free market ideas reality. In its early days, the Institute was known for its pioneering work on privatization, deregulation, and tax reform, and for its advocacy of internal markets in healthcare and education.
How are they funded (In their own words)
To protect our independence, the Adam Smith Institute accepts no government funding. Most of our funding comes from private individuals who believe in liberty and want to see a freer world; the rest comes from various foundations, businesses and the sales of our books.
Past thoughts: An Arresting Idea (a summary from their website)
Reports Written by Tim Evans (author or recent article), Nicholas Elliott & Simon McIlwaine
Dated : 26th November 1991
For full report : www.adamsmith.org/research/reports/an-arresting-idea [Note 1]
At the centre of the problem for the Police Service is the fact that while the crime rate appears to rise inexorably, local authorities and central government have to operate within an economic framework of financial restraint. Resource allocation to the police therefore not only implies difficult decisions, but is further complicated because the business of evaluating the success of the police is an imprecise and highly subjective matter.
The Police Service with its monopolistic, un-competitive structure, operates all too easily in an environment where there is little or no yardstick for comparison against alternatives. This report looks at the different ways that crime is combatted. It also argues that a return to local policing is the way forward to fight the rising levels of crime with the major restructuring of the police serivce giving rise to greater service evaluation, improved efficiency and a more flexible response to the increasing market demand for choice.
(18th May 2012)
NEW HUB LETS POLICE MONITOR CCTV WITHIN SECONDS OF A CRIME
(London Evening Standard, dated 17th May 2012 author Justin Davenport)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
Police could track crimes as they happen with a giant new CCTV network unveiled today.
The system will be in place for the Olympics and gives detectives access to 33,000 cameras on train and Tube stations across London and the country.
Footage will be streamed into a new hi-tech hub manned by experts trained to spot suspicious behaviour.
The £14?million hub, opened today by Transport Secretary Justine Greening in a police station at Victoria, will allow officers to track suspects and re-trace their movements within minutes of crimes being committed.
In the past police have had to seize CCTV film from cameras and then watch the footage. After the 7/7 London bombings police spent days watching 60,000 hours of CCTV to trace the bombers' routes.
British Transport Police deputy chief constable Paul Crowther said: "That could now be done instantly. Operators are monitoring calls and can focus on a crime scene within seconds."
BTP today announced that crime levels nationally had fallen for the eighth year in a row.Crime on the London Underground was down 10 per cent.
RAIL CRIME IS DOWN BY A THIRD, THOUGH SEX CRIME UP
(Metro, dated 18th May 2012 author Aidan Radnedge)
www.metro.co.uk [Note 1]
Crime on the railway network has fallen by more than 30% in the past 5 years.
Vandalism has dropped almost 22% in a year while the number of reported robberies fell 9%.
However, sexual offences were up 6.5% and vehicle crime rose by 8%, according to statistics from the British Transport Police (BTP).
The figures come as a CCTV hub prepares to open in London, providing access to 33,000 cameras covering the networks of 16 rail operators.
In what the BTP called "a successful year", the number of offences dropped for the eigth year in a row. They reported that, in all, crime fell 9.1% in the past 12 months.
Violent crime dropped by 2.9%, according to the statistics, while the theft of passengers' property was also down 10.4%. The theft of railway property fell 12.8%.
Chief constable Andy Troter said :" This sustained downward trend in crime is a tribute to the partnerships we have with rail operators who continue to invest in the security of customers and staff. It also reflects the hard work of BTP staff at a time when we demand more as budgets decine".
And Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operatoring Companies, said : "Its good news that the crime rate on Britain's railways continues to get ever lower. "But train companies are not complacent and will continue to work with the BTP and other industry organisations to ensure our railways remain as safe as they can be."
(19th May 2012)
ROAD DEATHS, POLICE ADVISE RETURNING SOLDIERS
(Police Oracle, dated 8th May 2012)
http://www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Roads policing officers have been teaming up with counterparts in the MoD to help soldiers who have recently returned from ops stay safe behind the wheel.
The move comes in the wake of statistics showing that troops are more vulnerable to collisions when they return from theatres such as Afghanistan.
The grim figures show that UK road deaths among military personnel are on the increase again, with 28 killed off duty, and nine on duty, during 2010.
This compared with some 27 off-duty and one on-duty death the previous year. The statistics hit a recent spike in 2007, when 37 died off duty and 14 on duty.
It is believed that up to six months of driving in unusual conditions, on the wrong side of the road or commanding slower military vehicles may be among the reasons why.
The post operational RTC fatalities have included LCpl Paul Knight (20) of 4th Battalion The Rifles, who died with 22-year-old Nathan Long in an RTC five years ago near Bulford Camp in Wiltshire - just hours after returning from Iraq.
In a move to help soldiers stay safe on their post operational leave Northern Constabulary - which covers the Fort George area where the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch) is based - has been forging strong relationships with troops who have just returned from Afghanistan.
Officers recently joined forces with MoD Police colleagues for a presentation on safer driving with the message - "You are tough, but not invincible".
Capt Alec Rose, second-in-command of the battalion rear party, told reporters: "Before they head off on post operational leave I felt it beneficial to give soldiers a reminder of the dangers of driving on the UK road network.
"It would be incomprehensible for a soldier to have survived his tour in Afghanistan only to succumb to a road traffic collision - the event gives everyone a timely reminder of the need to drive both safely and considerately."
Insp Derek Paterson, Head of Roads Policing at Northern Constabulary said: "We welcome the support of the Army and it is pleasing to see it providing troops with road safety information, including the risks of speeding and drink-driving."
Alan Jones, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales's Roads Policing Group, said officers could play a role in helping to keep troops safe.
Praising the Northern Constabulary initiative he added: "At the end of the day, if we can assist with road safety in any way then that has to be a good thing.
"It is entirely understandable that soldiers who have been away for some time will have been under considerable strain - they may wish to look at their driving habits again."
(17th May 2012)
COOKIES : MAJORITY OF GOVERNMENT SITES TO MISS DEADLINE
(BBC News, dated 17th May author Dave Lee)
www.bbc.co.uk
Ahead of a nationwide deadline over regulating the use of cookies, the BBC has learned that the "majority" of the UK government's own websites will fail to comply in time.
All UK sites have been given until 26 May to make sure visitors are able to give "informed consent" over cookies. Cookies are pieces of personal data stored when users browse the web. The Cabinet Office said the government was "working to achieve compliance at the earliest possible date".
Once the new rules take force, consent will most likely be obtained by ticking a "yes" box when visiting a site - although other approaches have been suggested. The regulations are designed to protect user privacy when using the web.
"As in the private sector, where it is estimated that very few websites will be compliant by the 26th May, so it is true of the government estate," a Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC.
"The majority of department websites will not be compliant with the legislation by that date."
Showing 'commitment'
The BBC understands that the sites, which range from those run by local councils to national departments, have been told that no action will be taken by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) over the deadline miss - provided they were "showing a commitment" to eventually make changes.
"The impression I'm getting from the ICO is that even if there are complaints and you're found not to be compliant, unless it can be shown your intent was to avoid compliance, then they would work with you," said Mike MacAuley from the Local Government Association, which has hosted discussions on the issue.
The ICO did not want to comment on the issue when contacted by the BBC.
On 26 May the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) imposes an EU directive designed to protect internet users' privacy.
The law says that sites must provide "clear and comprehensive" information about the use of cookies.
In computing, cookies are small text files that help organise and store browsing information. However, cookies are increasingly being used to power targeted advertising, by gathering data about sites visited and search terms used.
It is these "tracking" cookies, which users do not often know about, which the EU hopes to clamp down on with the regulations.
The deadline had originally been set for May last year. However, the ICO - which will be enforcing the rules in the UK - decided to give firms an extra year to comply with the laws in order to avoid an "overnight" change.
At the time, communications minister Ed Vaizey said: "It will take some time for workable technical solutions to be developed, evaluated and rolled out so we have decided that a phased in approach is right."
'No problem'
While government websites do not carry advertising, cookies are still used to carry out various tasks, such as helping site administrators monitor levels of traffic.
"If people listen to our advice and are prepared to take steps towards compliance there shouldn't be a problem," Dave Evans, the ICO's group manager for business and industry, told E-Consultancy last month.
"However, if businesses deliberately stop short of total compliance, then there is a risk."
Mr MacAuley said meetings had been held earlier this month between the LGA's members and the ICO to discuss how best to comply.
"I think the issue is really more about what the spirit of the regulations is intended to prevent," he said.
"They're intended to prevent any kind of malicious exploitation of cookies, or any wilful avoidance of the regulations. I think the ICO takes a very dim view of that.
"However I don't think local governments would in any way try to do either of those things."
Business frustration
Vinod Bange, a lawyer for Taylor Wessing who has spent time consulting companies who are cautious of the changes, said the small number of businesses who have invested in meeting the guideline deadline could be left feeling frustrated.
"There will be some companies out there wondering why they've gone to the expense, and committed a lot of resource, into trying to tackle a problem which is not going to be enforced," he said.
In the interview with E-Consultancy, the ICO's Mr Evans said there would not be a team of investigators seeking out infringing sites, but would act on complaints.
"How likely it is that complaints will flood in, we don't know," he said.
"It may be that the great British public simply isn't that concerned about cookies."
COOKIE FLAVOURS
Cookies are small files that allow a website to recognise and track users. The ICO groups them into three overlapping groups:
Session cookies
Files that allow a site to link the actions of a visitor during a single browser session. These might be used by an internet bank or webmail service. They are not stored long term and are considered "less privacy intrusive" than persistent cookies.
Persistent cookies
These remain on the user's device between sessions and allow one or several sites to remember details about the visitor. They may be used by marketers to target advertising or to avoid the user having to provide a password each visit.
First and third-party cookies
A cookie is classed as being first-party if it is set by the site being visited. It might be used to study how people navigate a site.
It is classed as third-party if it is issued by a different server to that of the domain being visited. It could be used to trigger a banner advert based on the visitor's viewing habits.
uaware comment
Typically if a website is commercial, has many advertisements, offers social networking access then it will have plenty of third party cookies to download to your computer. For example when I checked a rail company's website it had the potential to download 20 third party cookies, a telecoms company website had the potential to download around 15 of the "little critters ! I say potential, they can be blocked if you set you Browser ( Internet Explorer, Firefox etc ) up correctly. In addition some security software products also offer defence against them.
You may say whats the problem with third party cookies ? Well there purpose to track what websites you go on then "report back" their parent company. Some of the websites on which they operate are of quite sensitive personal nature and I think to link some of this information together is some infringement of privacy.
(17th May 2012)
BOTNET ARMY FLICKS OFF SWITCH AT UK CRIME AGENCY WEBSITE
(The Register, dated 3rd May 2012 author Brid-Aine Parnell)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
The UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency's website has been taken offline following a DDoS attack that started last night and is still going on.
SOCA decided to take the site down itself around 10pm last night to stop the distributed denial of service attack from bothering other connected websites.
"We took the site off temporarily to limit the impact of the DDoS on other clients who are hosted by the same service provider," a spokesperson told The Reg.
The botnet army has succeeded in getting the site offline, but not a whole lot else.
"Frankly, DDoS are a temporary inconvenience to website visitors but they're not a security risk to the organisation," the spokesperson said.
"The information available on the SOCA site is only publically available information; it doesn't provide access to intelligence or operational material," the spokesperson added.
SOCA was recently involved in a multinational operation to take down 36 websites that were being used by criminals to sell reams of stolen credit card and bank account data. But the agency wouldn't say if it knew anything about who was behind the DDoS attack.
"Nobody has claimed responsibility for it," the spokesperson said. "The timing is interestingly close together so it could be a logical assumption, but we're not aware of somebody specifically claiming it to be so."
SOCA has already had to take down its website before because of a DDoS attack, when hacktivist group Lulzsec sent out its botnet army in June 2011.
(16th May 2012)
41% OF TRAFFICKED VICTIMS ARE MEN
(London Evening Standard, dated 26th April 2012 author Craig Woodhouse)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
More than two-fifths (41%) of those supported in the first six months of a contract to help adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales were men, according to new figures.
However, there is a lack of awareness of their plight among the public, The Salvation Army, which is delivering the contract, found.
A survey of English and Welsh adults carried out by YouGov discovered that, on average, respondents thought 29% of all trafficked victims in England and Wales were male.
Respondents also thought that an average of 68% of trafficked victims were sexually exploited, yet The Salvation Army said that of those supported by the new contract, 45% were forced into sexual exploitation, 43% were involved in labour exploitation and 8% were trafficked into domestic servitude.
The Salvation Army also dealt with its first case of human trafficking for organ removal within this period. Last year, The Salvation Army was awarded the contract from the Ministry of Justice to provide specialist support for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales, including safe accommodation, counselling, medical care, translation services and legal counselling.
Between July 1 and December 31 2011, The Salvation Army, and its 12 sub contractors across England and Wales, supported 112 women and 78 men through their experiences and they were given time to try to rebuild their lives.
Most victims were referred from the police (44%), with the south east of England (54%) accounting for the majority of referrals. The victims helped have come from all over the world, including 58% from eastern Europe, 25% from Africa, 12% from Asia and 4% were trafficked from within the UK.
Major Anne Read, The Salvation Army's anti-trafficking response co-ordinator, said: "Male or female, no matter where the victim is in England and Wales or the reason that they are trafficked, we are helping all people caught up in all types of trafficking to get them the support they need, when they need it.
"The Salvation Army has a strong track record of supporting victims of human trafficking and we are working with a wide range of experts in delivering the contract to ensure that specialist, individually tailored support is available to every victim. This includes gender-specific services and support for victims with disabilities and mental health needs."
Minister for Justice, Crispin Blunt, said: "The support The Salvation Army offer to trafficking victims, regardless of gender, was a key reason why they were awarded the contract. In the first six months of providing this service, The Salvation Army have shown that they are able to offer a high quality, tailored system of support to some of the most vulnerable victims, regardless of their country of origin, religion or gender."
IDENTIFYING VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING
(Salvation Army website, dated 21st March 2012)
www.salvationarmy.org.uk [Note 1]
Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them. First and foremost, human and trafficking is a crime against humanity.
Adult victims of trafficking
Are trafficked all over the world for little or no money - including to and within the UK. They can be forced to work in the sex trade, domestic service, forced labour, criminal activity or have their organs removed to be sold.
There is no typical victim and some victims don't understand they have been exploited and are entitled to help and support.
Victims are often trafficked to a foreign country where they cannot speak the language, have their travel and identity documents removed and are told that if they try to attempt an escape, they or their families will be harmed.
Estimated figures
- 300,000 people are trafficked within the EU every year
- From 1 July 2011 to 6 January 2012 The Salvation Army supported 193 victims to get their life back
- Victims come from all over the world - including nine from the UK
Identifying trafficked people
- Is the victim in possession of a passport, identification or travel documents? Are these documents in possession of someone else?
- Does the victim act as if they were instructed or coached by someone else? Do they allow others to speak for them when spoken to directly?
- Was the victim recruited for one purpose and forced to engage in some other job? Were their transport costs paid for by facilitators, whom they must pay back through providing services?
- Does the victim receive little or no payment for their work? Is someone else in control of their earnings?
- Was the victim forced to perform sexual acts?
- Does the victim have freedom of movement?
- Has the victim or family been threatened with harm if the victim attempts to escape?
- Is the victim under the impression they are bonded by debt, or in a situation of dependence?
- Has the victim been harmed or deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care or other life necessities?
- Can the victim freely contact friends or family? Do they have limited social interaction or contact with people outside their immediate environment?
What to do
If there is immediate danger to the suspected victim or if you think that the suspected victim is under 18, inform the police and call 999 as a matter of urgency.
The Metropolitan Police with Stop the Traffik have a 24 hour hotline for victims to call or to report suspected trafficking. The number is 08007832589.
Please call our 24 hour confidential Referral Helpline on
0300 3038151 anytime of the day or night to refer a victim of trafficking or receive advice.
Of course not all victims want to be rescued and there many be instances where reporting a suspected trafficking case puts the potential victim at risk.
(16th May 2012)
OLYMPIC GAMES "NOT IMMUNE" TO CYBER-ATTACK
(BBC News, dated 3rd May 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
The London Olympics "will not be immune" to cyber-attack, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has warned.
He said attackers "would seek to disrupt the Games", noting that the Beijing Olympics saw 12 million cybersecurity incidents in 2008.
"We have rightly been preparing for some time a dedicated unit which will help guard the London Olympics against cyber-attack," he said.
"We are determined to have a safe and secure Games."
Mr Maude, who is responsible for the UK's Office of Cyber Security, made the comments during a visit to Estonia, a country considered a pioneer in the field.
"UK government networks continue to be regularly targeted by foreign intelligence agencies, or groups working on their behalf," he said.
"And we know that the threat is accelerating."
'Fast and flexible'
Mr Maude added: "High-end cybersecurity solutions that were used 18 months ago by a limited number of organisations to protect their networks may already be out in the open marketplace - giving cybercriminals the knowledge to get round these protective measures.
"Our responses have to be fast and flexible. What works one day is unlikely to work a matter of months or even weeks later."
Last year, the government announced a dedicated team charged with protecting this summer's Games from cyber-attack.
A series of worst-case scenarios is being tested on the computer systems throughout this month - although Olympics bosses have said they are unaware of any specific threat.
Mr Maude said that despite the risks, the government would "resist the temptation to over-regulate and control" the internet.
Last month saw the government heavily criticised over plans to extend "snooping" abilities online.
The minister added: "We need to protect the internet from hostile actors - the criminals, the hackers, the terrorists - who want to exploit it for less positive ends."
During his three-day visit, Mr Maude will also visit Nato's Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
uaware comment
One of the popular ways that hackivists attempt to bring down websites is via denial of service (dos) attacks. A denial of service can happen to any website under normal circumstances; it happened when the Olympic ticket booking website opened, it also happened when the Police openned its crime mapping service. So many people want to look at the new website that the system cannot cope and "falls over" ! So cyber-criminals recreate this scenario by infecting anything up to millions of computers with malicious software that takes over peoples computers around the World simultaneously and gets their browsers (IE, Firefox etc ) to attempt to gain access to one website. Millions of computers attempting to access one website at one moment in time will cause it to fail.
SO, DO YOUR BIT. Ensure that you have security software loaded onto you computer and ensure that is kept up to date. If your computer cannot load updates it probably means that your computer has been infected with some form of malicious software already. If that is the case contact the security software company's helpdesk.
(16th May 2012)
(London Evening Standard, dated 1st May 2012 author Martin Bentham)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
Squatting will become a criminal offence at the start of September after legislation to protect homeowners was passed by Parliament today.
Under the change, squatters will face up to six months in jail and a maximum £5,000 fine if they move into a homeowners' property.
It will be the first time that squatting has become a crime and follows a spate of cases in which residents have returned to find their homes occupied, and often damaged, by intruders who refuse to leave.
Charities and other campaigners have complained that the measure, contained in the Government's Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill, will criminalise the homeless and add to the numbers living on the streets.
Justice minister Crispin Blunt insisted today, however, that homeowners needed more protection as he announced that the new law would come into effect from September 1.
"For too long squatters have had the justice system on the run," he said. "Not any more. Hard working homeowners need and deserve a justice system where their rights come first, this new offence will ensure the police and other agencies can take quick and decisive action to deal with the misery of squatting."
As well as making squatting a crime, the new legislation contains other changes intended to make easier for homeowners to prove that their home is being occupied unlawfully.
There will, for example, no longer be a requirement to show that a squatter has displaced a resident and that the victim has nowhere else to live in. Squatting has previously only been a civil offence. That has left homeowners facing potentially lengthy and expensive legal battles to remove squatters.
Further information (uaware comment)
The law as it is now :
www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/Derelictbuildingsandsquatters/DG_10022452
(16th May 2012)
AFFECT AND CAUSE ?
Much is currently reported about the UK's current financial situation; how the recession in the Eurozone has reduced our exports. It appears that the implication of what appears to be minor changes in laws in other European countries may also effect the levels of criminality within the UK. The following three articles provides some examples where we all appear to be paying for this one way or another :
CANNABIS FARMS : 21 FOUND EACH DAY
(BBC News, dated 30th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
An average of more than 21 cannabis factories were found daily in Britain last year, police chiefs say. Officers confiscated marijuana in the UK with a street value of £100 million, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) report. The number of farms discovered increased to 7,865, more than doubling in four years.
The UK is at "significant risk" from criminal gangs who cultivate cannabis on a commercial scale, says the report. It estimates that the number of recorded cannabis production offences in the period from April 2011 to March 2012 will rise to 16,464, up from 14,982 in 2010-11.
In the last two years, police forces have seized 1.1 million cannabis plants.
Based on a street value of £134 per ounce, the drugs are valued at £207 million.
Organised crime
Commander Allan Gibson of the Metropolitan Police, Acpo's lead on cannabis cultivation, said: "Increasing numbers of organised crime groups are diverting into this area of criminality, but we are determined to continue to disrupt such networks and reduce the harm caused by drugs."
The report also recorded an increase in robberies, burglaries and violence - including the use of firearms linked to cannabis farms. There is evidence of "taxing", or stealing of crops, while debt bondage is being used to control some cultivators.
Criminals are spreading risk, to reduce detection and financial losses, by paying a large number of "gardeners" to manage smaller crops in residential areas.
The study notes a shift from cannabis farms in commercial and industrial properties to "multiple site" small scale factories.
It also says that with the economic downturn and a reduction in amounts supplied by drug dealers, the number of personal use cultivation offences is rising. Police intelligence suggests the purchase of seeds and hydroponic equipment (for growing the plants without soil) is on the increase.
More offences
More farms were found in the West Yorkshire force area - 936, or 42 factories per 100,000 people - than any other in the country.
But South Yorkshire had 64 farms for every 100,000 people, the highest per capita in the UK, with 851 farms. Some 663 farms were found in the West Midlands or 25 per 100,000 people, while the Metropolitan Police had 608 farms, or eight per 100,000 people.
The highest rise in the number of farms since 2009/10 was recorded in Devon and Cornwall, where the number rose 1,664% per cent from 11 to a projected total of 183.
Fife saw a 488% increase from eight farms to a projected 39 for 2011/12.
Areas with most cannabis farms per 100,000 people
South Yorkshire 64
West Yorkshire 42
Avon and Somerset 40
Merseyside 30
Lancashire 29
West Midlands 25
Northamptonshire 24
Staffordshire 20
Cheshire 19
Nottinghamshire 19
Source: projected Acpo figures for 2011/12
Further information (uaware data extraction from ACPO report *)
What didn't appear in this article is projected growth of the Commercial Cannabis farms, bracketed figures are plants seized :
Year 2007/8 : 3,032 (501,905)
Year 2008/9 : 4,951 (576,790)
Year 2009/10 : 6,866 (749,927)
Year 2010/11 : 7,660 (551,930)
Year 2011/12 : 7,865 (544,867) [Projected 2011/12]
Drug Farms by County Constabulary
Un-bracketed number is for 2010/11; number in brackets (n) is projection for 2011/12
Avon & Somerset : 527 (653)
Bedfordshire : 28 (37)
BTP : 2 (13)
Cambridgeshire : 56 (73)
Central Scotland : ? (?)
Cheshire : 184 (195)
City of London ? (?)
Cleveland : 23 (36)
Cumbria : 17 (28)
Derbyshire : 126 (116)
Devon & Cornwall : 191 (183)
Dorset : 91 (93)
Dumfries & Galloway : 8 (3)
Durham : 42 (52)
Dyfed Powys : 4 (5)
Essex : 131 (128)
Fife : 29 (39)
Gloucestershire : 28 (37)
Grampian : ? (?)
Greater Manchester : 465 (441)
Gwent : 102 (91)
Hampshire : 96 (103)
Hertfordshire : 55 (49)
Humberside : 145 (148)
Isle of Man : ? (?)
Kent : 87 (91)
Lancashire : 397 (419)
Leicestershire : 36 (31)
Lincolnshire : 20 (29)
Lothian & Borders : ? (?)
Merseyside : 520 (403)
Metropolitan 621 (608)
Norfolk : 19 (25)
North Wales : 20 (52)
North Yorkshire : 142 (119)
Northamptonshire : 142 (168)
Northern : ? (?)
Northumbria : 57 (71)
Nottinghamshire : 200 (209)
PSNI : ? (?)
South Wales : 44 (31)
South Yorkshire : 837 (851)
Staffordshire : 180 (211)
Strathclyde : 99 (140)
Suffolk : 29 (17)
Surrey : 56 (47)
Sussex : 88 (55)
Tayside : 2 (0)
Thames Valley : 96 (43)
Warwickshire : 60 (39)
West Mercia : 49 (73)
West Midlands : 694 (663)
West Yorkshire : 809 (936)
Wiltshire : 6 (12)
* Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Report :
www.acpo.police.uk/documents/crime/2012/20120430CBACCofCPP.pdf
CANNABIS FARMS £200m STOLEN ELECTRICITY COST STAGGERING
(BBC News, dated 1st May 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Cannabis farmers steal about £200m worth of electricity across the UK every year to grow their illegal crops, according to new figures.
Crime expert Phil Butler, an academic and former detective inspector, said the "staggering" amount was enough to power every Newcastle home for a year. He said the farms' use of electricity and water made them "death traps".
A two-day conference in Newcastle will investigate possible solutions that would help to prevent farms being made.
'Industrial scale'
Mr Butler, co-director of Newcastle University's Centre for Cybercrime and Computer Security, will join forces with other organisations to investigate how new technology can be used to crack down on the criminals.
He said: "The cultivation of cannabis is happening on an industrial scale but at the moment the police are still very much reliant on intelligence and tip-offs."What we are trying to do is develop technologies that will enable us to take a more proactive approach in the fight against cannabis cultivation."
Growing cannabis indoors without soil under lights produces more potent strains but cultivation with lamps requires a lot of energy.
"The electricity costs associated with even a small-scale farm are astronomical," said Mr Butler, formerly with Northumbria Police.
"To get around this, the individuals responsible find ways of siphoning off the electricity from the main source often this literally means digging down underground outside the premises and hooking into the main supply."
'Lethal combination'
Mr Butler said the financial sums were "staggering" but added: "It's about more than money. "These farms are essentially death traps. In one small space such as a loft or a garage you have all this electricity and gallons of water which is a lethal combination."
The problem is being discussed at a two-day conference in Newcastle set to be attended by people from the fire service, the Association of Chief Police Officers, energy companies and the Home Office.
Solutions include sophisticated meters which could detect spikes where unexpectedly high levels of electricity were being withdrawn from the grid.
Experts will also attend from Holland, where scratch and sniff cards are used to educate the public about the distinctive smell associated with a cannabis farm.
The conference follows the Acpo announcement that more than 20 cannabis farms were found by police every day, with 1.1 million plants worth more than £207m discovered in the past two years.
TOURISTS BANNED FROM DUTCH CANNABIS CAFES
(Evening Standard, dated 27th April 2012 author Bo Wilson)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
A Dutch judge today upheld the government's plan to ban foreigners from the country's cannabis-selling "coffee shops". A group of cafe owners had attempted to fight the proposals through the courts, but were told today that the law will come into effect as planned.
In a written ruling, the district court in The Hague agreed with gov~rnment lawyer Eric Daalder that the fight against criminality linked to the drug trade justified the measure. A lawyer for the cafe owners said he would file an urgent appeal against the decision.
Before the ruling, the group said that they would take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The law will ban anyone except Dutch nationals in possesion of a valid ID from buying the drug. It is due to come into effect on May 1 in three southern provinces, and would follow in the rest of the Netherlands next year.
There is growing concern about "drugs tourism" - people visiting purely to smoke cannabis and fears that foreigners are buying it in bulk before dealing it illegally at home.
The ban is part of the Conservative-led coalition government's tougher 11 approach to drugs, but the cafe owners argue that the law is discriminatory against foreigners. The mayor of Amsterdam joined the fight against the plan, because it is believed that a third I of the city's tourists visit to smoke cannabis.
Michael Veling, a spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association, was among those challenging the plan."It is going to cost me 90 per cent of my turnover," he told the BBC. "That is a very good reason for anyone to oppose any plan. Second, it puts our customers in a very difficult spot, because why do you have to register to buy a substance that is still illegal?"
There are more than 700 coffee shops in the Netherlands, according to gov¬ernment figures, with more than 200 in Amsterdam.
(2nd May 2012)
CAR INSURERS BLACKLISTING TEXT DRIVERS
(Metro, dated 1st May 2012 author Jenni Marsh)
www.metro.co.uk [Note 1]
Insurers are refusing to cover motorists who get caught texting or making phone calls while driving.
They are blacklisting drivers if they have just a single conviction for using a mobile at the wheel, even though it carries a similar penalty to speeding. If insurance companies will offer a quotation, they are bumping up premiums by about 20 per cent, according to research by the AA.
Spokesman Ian Crowder said: 'Insurers are taking mobile phone offences very seriously. Their opinion is a motorist might break a 30mph speed limit without noticing but no one sends a text message, email or makes a phone call behind the wheel by accident. 'It might seem severe but when operating a mobile phone you don't have both hands on the steering wheel, you aren't looking fully at the road and can't change gears safely.'
AA researchers tested insurers by seeking quotations for a 40-year-old man driving a Ford Mondeo. Three companies refused to cover anyone with a conviction for using a phone. Premiums went up by less than ten per cent for a single speeding conviction, which carries the same penalty of a £60 fine and three points.
The Association of British Insurers said: 'One conviction for using a mobile is unlikely to preclude a motorist from getting insurance altogether although inevitably it will cost more.'
More than 170,000 motorists a year in England and Wales are caught using their phones while driving.
(2nd May 2012)
CYBER-CRIME TRAINING FOR POLICE TO BE ROLLED OUT
(Police Oracle, dated 30th April 2012 author Nic Brunetti)
A major police training programme on cyber-crime is to be delivered across the ranks in a bid to improve the way forces approach and deal with offending.
ACPO Lead on e-Crime Prevention, Chief Constable Stuart Hyde, said the holistic programme would include everybody from PCSOs to senior detectives where training was deemed necessary.
It comes as part of ACPO's National e-Crime programme for which the government has provided £30 million over four years to improve national capability.
CC Hyde said the programme was currently in its design stage with learning outcomes being looked into. Once complete, planners are set to explore how the programme will be delivered with a range of possibilities available, including private companies and universities at the helm.
CC Hyde told PoliceOracle.com that everyone had to be in the know and up to date with technology. He said: "The important thing is that people have the right training and knowledge to do the right job."
It is understood that training would range from a base knowledge level of cyber-crime up to a more advanced level and this could also depend on the rank of the officer or staff member and their level of involvement with the subject. It would also encompass collecting evidence and proceeding with investigations.
CC Hyde said: "It will cover all the training requirements - for detectives to child protection officers but also those who deal with domestic violence or harassment."
He added: "If you are a PCSO you are likely to be called in to deal with something and need to know how Facebook works. "A lot of enquiries we get in relation to Facebook are cyber bullying, stalking and abuse - and they could be the first point of contact."
He later clarified that PCSOs would primarily be used in relation to crime prevention, such as the distribution of information material in local communities.
The Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary said the training would additionally cover senior leadership.
He announced the plan initially at the Counter Terror Expo in London where PoliceOracle.com was in attendance.
(2nd May 2012)
ISLINGTON COUNCIL BREACH LEFT DRUG-TAKERS WITH RESIDENTS' DETAILS
(BBC News, dated 29th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
A data breach led to people reported for anti-social behaviour and drug taking getting information on those who complained. Extra police patrols are now in place at the Andover Estate in Holloway, north London, following the breach by Islington Council.
Names and phone numbers of 51 complainants were passed to 10 people facing a ban from the estate. The council has apologised to the affected residents.
A group of people, who are not from estate, began gathering there earlier this year and residents complained about loud music, smoking drugs and verbal abuse.
The council had prepared legal injunctions against 13 people to ban them from the area, and 10 had been served this month.
But those 10 were also given paperwork including a log of all calls reporting anti-social behaviour, with names, phone numbers and street or estate names if they were given.
Louise Round, Islington Council's corporate director of resources, said: "This information should not have been released, and we are extremely sorry that, through an error on our part, it has been disclosed.
"The council is in the process of contacting every single person who is on that list - in total 51 people - to offer our apology and any practical support we can give.
"This includes additional security measures if they request it.
"We're working closely with the police, who are putting extra patrols on the estate to reassure residents and deter any further anti-social behaviour."
She added the breach has been reported to the Information Commissioner and a review of procedures is taking place to help prevent such an incident again.
(29th April 2012)
ALLEGATION OF POLICE RACISM
(Metropolitan Police - Circulation to London Borough of Enfield residents, dated 27th April 2012)
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Directorate of Professional Standards are investigating an alleged racist incident involving an off-duty police officer.
The incident happened at 7.40am on 23rd April in New Barnet when an off-duty officer is alleged to have racially abused a local authority parking enforcement officer.
A serving officer of Inspector rank, based on Enfield borough, was arrested on Tuesday 24th April in connection with the incident. He was arrested on suspicion of a Section 4 Public Order Act offence (racially aggravated words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress) and was taken to a north west London police station and bailed to return pending further enquiries on a date in late April. This case is now sub-judice and cannot be discussed in more detail for legal reasons.
The case will be thoroughly investigated by the Directorate of Professional Standards and has also been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
I am aware of the concern that this will cause in our community, I'm also aware of how this may be perceived and how it may affect community trust and confidence and the positive relationship we enjoy with our community. I want to reassure you and categorically set out again that I expect the highest standards of behaviour from Enfield staff and in particular when we are dealing with our communities. I'm committed to working and engaging with our communities and to ensuring that my staff are professional and fair.
Regards
Jane Johnson
Borough Commander Enfield
(29th April 2012)
SAFEGUARDING YOUR MOBILE PHONE
(Distributed by the Metropolitan Police Neighbourhood Netlink, dated 26th April 2012)
Safeguarding your mobile phone
As many as 10,000 mobile phones are stolen every month. Two thirds of the victims are aged between 13 and 16. Here are some practical measures you can take to keep your mobile phone safe.
Remember to...
- to register your mobile phone at www.immobilise.com
- keep your phone out of sight in your pocket or handbag when not in use
- use your phone's security lock code, if it has one
- record details of your electronic serial number (ESN) and consider separate insurance
- some phones have an IMEI number which is a unique identifier for the phone; you can obtain this number by typing *#06# (star hash 06 hash) into your mobile phone and it will display a 15 digit number
- property mark your phone with your postcode and door number to help police identify stolen ones
- report a lost or stolen phone to the police immediately
- inform your service provider if your phone is stolen or lost
Don't...
- attract attention to your phone when you are carrying or using it in the street
- park in isolated or dark areas
- leave your phone in an unattended car - if you must, lock it out of sight. It only takes seconds for a thief to smash a window and steal your phone.
By taking these simple precautions, you can protect your phone. If you see anything suspicious, call the police - dial 999.
uaware comment
Many people have their life recorded on their mobile phone; their address book, telephone numbers (business and personal, their diary ( business and personal ). In the past people had a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), now these facilities are included in many mobile phones.
Therefore, to reduce the likelihood of a "great loss", back your mobile phone up to your or a family members computer. If that option is not available write (yes write !) your mobile phone directory contents in a paper note book and keep it somewhere safe.
Lastly, to make things hard for any thief; lock your mobile phone with a password. The mobile then become useless to them; they can't use it and neither will it work for someone they try to sell it on to.
(29th April 2012)
SOCA SHUTS 36 CREDIT CARD FRAUD SITES
(The Guardian, dated 27th April 2012 author Charles Arthur)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Operation by Serious Organised Crime Agency aims to shut down large-scale theft and use of stolen card information.
Police have arrested two men arrested and shut down 36 web domains used to sell compromised credit and debit card data, as part of an initiative by the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), working with the FBI and US Department of Justice.
The men, who were arrested earlier this week, were suspected of making large-scale purchases of data about cards from the sites, which specialised in selling stolen payment card and online bank account details.
Soca says that they used e-commerce type platforms known as Automated Vending Carts (AVCs) which let criminals sell large quantities of stolen data quickly and easily.
People trying to access these sites are now directed to a screen indicating that the web domain has been seized by law enforcement.
Along with the arrests, the UK's Dedicated Cheque & Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) seized a number of computers suspected of being used to facilitate offences under the Fraud Act
Acting on information from Soca, an AVC operator based in Macedonia has been arrested by the Macedonian Ministry of Interior Cyber Crime Unit.
Soca has been tracking the development of AVCs and monitoring their use by criminals who support payment card and online banking fraud on a global scale.
Working with the FBI, the BKA in Germany, the KLPD in the Netherlands, the Ukraine Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Australian Federal Police and the Romanian National Police, Soca has recovered over 2.5m items of compromised personal and financial information over the past two years.
The recovered data has been passed to UK and overseas financial institutions to help prevent potential fraud taking place against the accounts and mitigate the impact of large-scale data thefts.
The potential international fraud prevented by the identification of this detail is estimated at being in excess of £500m.
Charlie Abrahams, vice president of MarkMonitor, which provides brand protection services online, said: "This is excellent progress, although the challenge for law enforcement is that internet crime typically crosses so many jurisdictions - consumer in one country, website hosted in a second, perpetrator in a third, etc.
"Brand owners themselves have the core responsibility to educate and protect their customers from the risks that go along with the benefits of transacting online."
Lee Miles, the head of cyber operations for Soca said: "This operation is an excellent example of the level of international cooperation being focused on tackling online fraud.
"Our activities have saved business, online retailers and financial institutions potential fraud losses estimated at more than half a billion pounds, and at the same time protected thousands of individuals from the distress caused by being a victim of fraud or identity crime."
For several years, cyber criminals have been stealing large volumes of compromised financial information (bank account, credit and debit card details) and selling them in bulk to a growing market of online fraudsters.
The past 18 months has seen criminals increasingly adopting e-commerce platforms to facilitate the sale of stolen data.
The emergence of automated vending carts has enabled criminal groups to sell data in larger volumes and more quickly than they were previously able to do.
(28th April 2012)
LONDON KNIFE CRIME ; HOW BAD IS IT ?
(The Guardian, dated 12th April 2012 author Teodora Beleaga)
Full Article : www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/2012/apr/12/london-knife-crime#data [Note 1]
Only last week a fatal stabbing was reported from the Blackberry BBM party in London, yet data compiled by the
Guardian shows that the highest rate of severe knife related crime recorded in the capital in the 2010-2011 financial year is less than 0.5% of total crime for each area.
The highest number of murder knife victims (or otherwise where the weapon used was a "sharp instrument"), for 2010 and 2011 calendar years, was only six - in just two London boroughs.
As the table below shows, in most London authorities the numbers of such deaths were on average between two and four. That being said, the figures for Southwark, where the stabbing took place just after a Jessie J concert, spiked from no homicide victims of knife crime in 2010 to six in 2011.
In order to paint an accurate picture of seriously injured knife crime victims across London we cross-referenced crime data from the Metropolitan Police's website with scraped knife crime figures from this freedom of information response also provided by the Met. The merged data shows the percent of severe stabbings in individual boroughs in the financial year 2010-2011.
Haringey recorded the highest rate of seriously injured knife crime victims in London - which was 0.31% of the total levels of crime recorded for the area by the Met. Check the map below to see the rate of severe stabbings in each borough.
Homocide Victims of Knife Crime
The following table was created by combining data from graphs and a table from the Guardian article quoted above.
Key :
Borough name : [Deaths 2010] (Deaths 2011) n = Knife crimes 2010/11
Barking and Dagenham : [2] (1) 36
Barnet : [1] (3) 31
Bexley : [0] (3) 8
Brent : [3] (2) 47
Bromley : [0] (1) 23
Camden : [1] (2) 26
Croydon : [0] (4) 67
Ealing : [3] (2) 54
Enfield : [3] (5) 47
Greenwich : [1] (2) 40
Hackney : [3] (2) 68
Hammersmith and Fulham : [2] (1) 34
Haringey : [2] (5) 76
Harrow : [?] (?) 25
Havering : [?] (?) 29
Hillingdon : [0] (2) 19
Hounslow : [2] (0) 24
Islington : [2] (2) 64
Kensington and Chelsea : [?] (?) 16
Kingston upon Thames : [?] (?) 11
Lambeth : [3] (3) 93
Lewisham : [4] (3) 60
Merton : [0] (1) 27
Newham : [6] (1) 74
Redbridge : [1] (3) 27
Richmond upon Thames : [?] (?) 9
Southwark : [0] (6) 78
Sutton : [3] (1) 28
Tower Hamlets : [2] (3) 38
Waltham Forest : [2] 2) 37
Wandsworth : [0] (2) 37
Westminster : [0] (1) 39
(28th April 2012)
CRIME STATISTICS FOR ENGLAND AND WALES : WHAT IS HAPPENING TO EACH OFFENCE ?
(The Guardian, dated 19th April 2012 author Simon Rogers)
Full Article [Note 1] :
www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/14/crime-statistics-england-wales
The latest figures for England and Wales are out today.
For the first time, they're published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - here's the link - rather than the Home Office. The switchover hasn't done anything to make them any less opaque, however, and we'll have to wait for more detailed annual tables for 2011/12. These cover the figures up to the end of 2011. And the data shows that muggings and street robberies are up - despite an overall fall in crime.
The key figures are:
• Total recorded crime fell from 4,159,553 to 4,043,339 - a fall of 3%
• Muggings and street robberies increased by 8% last year
• Violence against the person decreased by 7%
• Domestic burglaries dropped 3%
• Car thefts increased by 2%
• Separate figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) - the new name for the British Crime Survey - showed "no statistically significant change in overall crime" with police recording 3% fewer incidents
British crime statistics are complicated partly because of double recording. Firstly, there are the official police figures (which historically under-record the true level of crime). Then there is the old British Crime Survey - now the Crime Survey for England and Wales - where 50,000 people are asked for their direct experiences of crime. This is regarded as the most authoritative of either.
Best Areas
Workingham
Chiltern
Cambridge
Rushcliffe
Reading
North East Derbyshire
Mid Bedfordshire
Aylesbury Vale
Rother
Worst Areas
Isles of Scilly
North Shropshire
Rochford
North Cornwall
Horsham
East Devon
Taunton Deane
Redditch
Mendip
Copeland
Murder
Murder statistics often confound received wisdom. Those figures showed:
- Of the 636 murders in 2010/11, the biggest single number used a sharp instrument, such as a knife, for the murder weapon
- The vast majority of child murder victims are killed by a parent - 36 out of 56. In total, 43 of those victims knew their murderer
- The same goes with total murders - 64% were known to their victim, 33% were friends
- 60% of murders are caused by a quarrel and loss of temper. Only 3% are as a result of theft or robbery
Detection Rate
The police detection rate - meaning that a suspect has been identified and interviewed and there is sufficient evidence to bring a charge - remained at 28% in 2010/11. So, under a third of all crimes get solved.
Crime Perception
But one of the most interesting figures is about the perception of crime. The Crime Survey asks people whether they think crime is getting worse where they live and nationally. So, people think crime is getting worse - but not where they live. It's the perception gap between what we know is going on and what we think is going on.
For example, for the British Crime Survey question " is there a little, or, a lot more crime than 2 years ago" (Remember, this is based on individuals perception of crime). The following is an extract of figures from a graph within the article.
For 1996 those thinking it had Nationally = 75% ; Locally = 55%
For 1998 those thinking it had Nationally = 58% ; Locally = 46%
For 2000 those thinking it had Nationally = 66% ; Locally = 50%
For 2001/2 those thinking it had Nationally = 55% ; Locally = 51%
For 2002/3 those thinking it had Nationally = 72% ; Locally = 54%
For 2003/4 those thinking it had Nationally = 65% ; Locally = 48%
For 2004/5 those thinking it had Nationally = 61% ; Locally = 42%
For 2005/6 those thinking it had Nationally = 63% ; Locally = 42%
For 2006/7 those thinking it had Nationally = 65% ; Locally = 41%
For 2007/8 those thinking it had Nationally = 65% ; Locally = 39%
For 2008/9 those thinking it had Nationally = 75% ; Locally = 36%
For 2009/10 those thinking it had Nationally = 66% ; Locally = 31%
For 2010/11 those thinking it had Nationally = 60% ; Locally = 28%
uaware comment
When politicians make their decisions on police numbers, management and strategy; do they consider the "actual figures" or their voters perception of "local crime". So, if "locally" a voter perceives crime to be in decline why should there be the same level of policing. Police employment is a soft target anyway, they can't strike ! In accountancy terms, they can be replaced with Volunteers (free) or by renaming the PCSO's and giving them higher level duties (lower pay) !
Politicians in the main don't "really" live in their constituencies,or, for that matter probably in the main neither do the Chief Constables live within "their patch", particularly in London. Their only link with the London streets being their chauffeur driven journey to the office from their homes in the Home Counties or the Shires !
(25th April 2012)
SCAMS FLOURISH AS RATES HIT ROCK BOTTOM
(The Sunday Times - Business, dated 15th April 2012 author Ben Marlow)
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk [Note 1]
William McNaught still ues the day he spoke to the slick salesman from Commercial Land. If he had ignored the call, he might not still be forced to work as a removals man at the age of 76.
In October 2006, Commercial Land cold-called him, offering the chance to invest in land it claimed was ripe for development and would soar in value. McNaught's instinct told him there was something fishy, but the salesman's charm quickly eased his doubts.
Still, McNaught was reluctant to hand over any cash. He had a chunk of inheritance money but premium bonds were l1-bout as risky as his portfolio got, and they paid out a pittance.
For an initial £10,000 investment, Commercial Land was promising a profit of 100%-130% over 12 to 18 months. A few follow-up calls and a glossy brochure reeled him in. McNaught saw a last chance to strike it rich.
Over the next four years he handed over £160,000 to two firms, but instead of the bumper returns promised, the pensioner ended up with a few scraps of worthless land that never stood a chance of receiving planning permission. The scams wiped out his life savings.
"I used to be able to buy virtually anything I wanted, but I can't afford anything any more. They bled me dry and now I'm facing the rest of my life in penury," said McNaught.
Far from being an isolated case, he is typical of the growing number of gullible, middle-class Britons being ripped off by simple scams. Fraudsters, it seems, have been the big beneficiaries of the financial crisis and the resulting economic difficulties.
With interest rates and stock market returns at record lows, inflation roaring, and trust in high street banks yet to be fully restored, the temptation for ordinary people to gamble their savings on risky investments has grown.
From well-established cons such as Ponzi schemes and boiler room operations to a sudden explosion of bogus land banks, and the more exotic fake ruses in fine wine and even 'ostrich farms, fraud is booming.
""Fraud is on the rise. When the bottom dropped out of the financial markets it created a huge lack of faith among the public in the banks. The typical target is" someone who is 65 years of age, middle class and worked hard all their life. they've also been brought up to trust certain people with an air of authority," said Detective Superin¬tendent Bob Wishart of the City of London police. '
Hitesh Patel, a forensic partner at KPMG, the adviser, said fraud was flourishing: "2011 was an extraordinary year for fraudsters. The pressures on individuals as a result of the downturn continue to act as a catalyst for more fraud."
According to the National Fraud Authority, fraudsters cost the UK economy a staggering £73 billion last year. Investment scams account for a fraction of that figure - about £500m, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) estimates, but still snare thousands of innocent victims. Many end up financially ruined, some contemplate suicide. The fraudsters, meanwhile, often enjoy a luxurious life abroad, with, fast cars and swanky villas.
The FSA received about 5,000 calls last year from people who suspected they had been a victim of unauthorised financial schemes. Sometimes their call comes too late.
"unfortunately about 20% of these people have already paid money to the criminals, but this has fallen from about 60% a few years ago," said the FSA's Jonathan Phelan.
According to the FSA, victims lose £20,000 on average but in some cases can end up millions out of pocket. The biggest individual loss recorded by the police is £6m. A single bogus scheme can often snare hundreds of investors and net the masterminds tens of millions of pounds.
Wishart is the senior policeman at the City of London's Economic Crime Directorate, tasked with apprehending Britain's biggest financial fraudsters. On the wall of his office, tucked away in a quiet City back street, hangs a giant poster advertising the film "Boiler Room". Wishart says the movie, about a college dropout
who joins an illegal brokerage that "pumps and dumps" shares in fake companies, is such an accurate account of the sales tactics boiler rooms employ, real scammers use it as a training video for new staff. "Technology has industrialised fraud and criminals can be quite sophisticated, operating across multiple countries," said Wishart.
Boiler rooms - so-called because of the high-pressure sales tactics and often poor working conditions continue to be the biggest money spinner overall. The FSA uncovers between 300 and 350 new illegal firms every year, estimated to be generating about £lOOm.
Ponzi schemes, the classic "get rich quick" device have the ability to net the largest sums individually. Ponzis are still relatively rare in Britain. Before 2008, only one had been uncovered, a ruse set up by Kent businessman Kevin Foster that managed to squeeze £34m from 8,000 investors in south Wales. But they are on the rise nonetheless. The FSA has smashed a further six since, responsible for losses totalling about £lOOm.
Last month, Kautilya Pruthi was jailed for 14 years for masterminding the UK's largest ever Ponzi scheme. Nicknamed, "Britain's Bernie Madoff', after the American fraudster, pruthi managed to embezzle £115m out of nearly 600 investors including famous celebrities such as cricketer Darren Gough.
"This type of fraudster offers fantastic sounding investment opportunities," said Phelan. "At the beginning, if you ask for your money back you get it. It looks so great that often investors refuse to believe it's a con, but at some point the money runs out and it gets ugly."
The FSA has beefed up its operations in response to the growth in financial fraud, doubling the number of people in its "unauthorised businesses" department to 40. And the watchdog isn't fighting alone. The Serious Fraud Office, a government department, gets involved in cases expected to exceed £lm, or that cross national borders.
In 2010, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) a new, dedicated anti-fraud unit, was set up by the City of London police. At its heart is a database that combines fraud intelligence from the government, the police and other agencies, with data from banks, insurance and credit card firms.
The authorities have their work cut out. In an attempt to stay one step ahead, scammers frequently dream up new and inventive ways to rip off investors. "Typically, we are dealing with career criminals," said Wishart. "They're often proper villains that have done bank robberies and drug dealing and moved on to large scale fraud."
The latest scam to sweep across Britain is that which left William McNaught penniless. "Land banks" are a simple idea. Investors are persuaded that a piece of land is about to receive planning permission or be bought by a big developer.
The "lucky" ones are offered the chance to buy a slice of the land before its value shoots up. But the land has no chance of ever getting planning permission, often because it is in a green belt, and turns out to be worthless.
The schemes began to emerge about six years ago. Since then, the FSA has uncovered 150. One of the biggest was ordered by the High Court last month to repay £32m stolen from more than 300 people. The largest single loss was £400,000. "They are a problem. We had 60 reports last year, but 50 of them were in the first six months, so there are signs they are already dwindling as a result of court action," said Phelan.
Fraudsters are also quick to spot trends. In the 1980s, a raft of whisky, fine wine and champagne scams sprang up. The late 1990s saw a burst of fake ostrich farms. More recently, boiler rooms have begun touting carbon credits as the next big thing in an effort to tap into the growing green agenda.
One thing doesn't change. Fraudsters are feeding on people's inherent vulnerability and desire to be rich.
Adam Truman (not his real name) spent a week 'working in a boiler room in Barcelona, a hot spot for financial fraudsters, before resigning in disgust. Sales staff were instructed to tell potential customers they were calling from a firm called ABC Investments. Victims were offered the chance to be one of the first investors in a company that had made big gold and diamond discoveries in SWaziland. It was all a lie. "We told people 'Beat the rush, get in early'," said Truman. "I thought we were taking money off millionaires. That didn't seem so bad, but after a couple of days I had a bloke on the ph0ne who was a self-employed gardener. "That didn't sit well with me so I told my bosses, but their attitude was "They're all greedy. They've got loads of money F*** em."
(25th April 2012)
TROJAN SNEAKS INTO HOTEL, SLURPS GUESTS CREDIT CARD DATA
(The Register, dated 19th April 2012 author John Leyden)
Full Article [Note 1] : www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/19/hotel_trojan_scam/
Cyberooks are selling malware through underground forums which they claim offers the ability to steal credit card information from a hotel point of sale (POS) applications.
The ruse, detected by transaction security firm Trusteer, shows how criminals are using malware on enterprise machines to collect financial information in addition to targeting consumer PCs with banking Trojans and other nasties.
The hospitality industry attack involves using a remote access Trojan program to infect hotel front desk computers. The malware includes spyware components that steal credit card and other customer information by capturing screenshots from the PoS application. The malware is capable of stealing credit card numbers and expiration dates, but not CVV2 numbers in the sample Trusteer inspected.
The attack code is being offered for $280 in Visa underground forums. According to Trusteer, the price tag includes a guide configuring the malware and tips on how to trick front-desk managers into installing it.
The security biz added that at the time of publishing its blog on Wednesday, the malware had not yet been detected by any anti-virus application. More details on the malware - including a screenshot from the underground forum where it was offered for sale.
Last week Trusteer warned about a ZeuS-based Trojan that targeted cloud-based payroll service providers. The transactions security firm reckon the hospitality industry malware it found on an underground forum is part of the same trend, involving the diversification of Trojan-based attacks away from traditional targets such as consumers and small business bank customers.
"Criminals are increasingly expanding the focus of their attacks from online banking targets to enterprises," said Trusteer's CTO Amit Klein. "One of the reasons for this shift is that enterprise devices can yield high value digital assets when compromised. In addition, the prevalence of bring your own device (BYOD) usage by employees makes it easier to infect unmanaged smartphones, tablets and laptops that are used to access sensitive enterprise systems and applications."
www.trusteer.com/blog/no-reservations-%E2%80%93-remote-access-trojan-pilfers-credit-cards-hotels [Note 1]
(25th April 2012)
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS "TORCH" UK SMUT BLOCKING MASTER PLAN
(The Registry, dated 19th April 2012 author Kelly Fiveash)
Full Article [Note 1]: www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/19/ispa_criticises_smut_blocking_plan/
Telcos have clobbered an independent Parliamentary inquiry into online child safety by saying that its recommendations are unworkable.
Prime Minister David Cameron indicated in the House of Commons yesterday that he welcomed the plans, but the broadband industry's lobby group, the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) questioned the proposals.
"Forcing ISPs to filter adult content at the network level, which users would then have to opt out of, is neither the most effective nor most appropriate way to prevent access to inappropriate material online," retorted ISPA secretary general Nicholas Lansman.
"It is easy to circumvent, reduces the degree of active interest and parental mediation and has clear implications for freedom of speech. Instead parents should choose how they restrict access to content, be it on the device or network level with the tools provided," he added.
Earlier this week, chair of the inquiry, Tory MP Claire Perry, claimed that many kids in the UK were "accessing internet pornography" as well as other "inappropriate" material such as websites that promote self-harm and anorexia.
She described such activity as "hugely worrying".
Perry said:
While parents should be responsible for their children's online safety, in practice people find it difficult to put content filters on the plethora of internet-enabled devices in their homes, plus families lack the right information and education on internet safety.
It's time that Britain's Internet Service Providers, who make more than £3bn a year from selling internet access services, took on more of the responsibility to keep children safe, and the government needs to send a strong message that this is what we all expect.
Among other things the report recommended that "ISPs should be tasked with rolling out single account network filters for domestic broadband customers that can provide one-click filtering for all devices connected to a home internet connection within 12 months".
However, the ISPA attacked such a plan, saying that telcos already provided a number of services to customers to help them decide what content should be accessed online at home. "A variety of measures are available to parents and carers and a network level filter should not be viewed as a silver bullet," said Lansman.
The ISPA also questioned "who decides what inappropriate material is".
The 89-page cross-party report failed to offer up a definition. Instead it pointed to how other forms of media police the availability of porn and other content that some consider should be shielded from children's view.
The report went on to stop short of "mandatory government censorship of internet pornography" but added that a "new approach" was required.
A network-level 'Opt-In' system, maintained by ISPs, that delivered a clean internet feed to customers as standard but allowed them to choose to receive adult content, would preserve consumer choice but provide an additional content barrier that protected children from accessing age- inappropriate material.
This model would emulate the system already used by most major UK mobile phone companies, where access to adult content is blocked until an age verification check is conducted by the network operator, and could use the filtering technology already operating in all schools and on some public Wi-Fi hubs.
Further Information
The majority of proprietry security software comes with some form of child protection software (Kaspersky and McAfee ) or an option to install it (Norton).
Nortons Security [Note 1] :
The ISP's also provide service to help protect children online, for example *:
BT [Note 1] : http://bt.custhelp.com/app/hub/c/346,510/h/s/?s_cid=con_FURL_help/netprotectplus
Virgin Media [Note 1] : http://store.virginmedia.com/broadband/broadband-extras/security.html
Talk Talk [Note 1] : http://sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/homesafe
A further source of information on Parental Control is www.getsafeonline.org . When on the website homepage, from the menu bar near the top of the screen, click-on "Knowledgebase"; there you will find a section for parents, teachers and young people.
* These companies are the main suppliers in the UK and have been quoted for that reason only. Other suppliers may provide similar services.
(25th April 2012)
DOZENS DIE IN LATEST BACKPACKERS RESORT
(The Sunday Times, dated 15th April 2102 author Chris Haslem)
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk [Note 1]
A tiny town in a remote Southeast Asian backwater is emerging as one of the world's most dangerous destinations for young travelers: at least 27 backpackers died there in 2011.
Students preparing for their gap-year travels have been warned to take care in Vang Vieng, the latest stop on the backpacker trail, five hours north of the Laotian capital, Vientiane. Lying on the banks of the Nam Song river, in a fairy-tale landscape of karst peaks, rainforest and rice paddies, the town has grown from rural hideaway to a half-mile sprawl of riverside bars where excessive drinking, drug abuse and ill-considered stunts have become the norm.
Apart from free shots of home-brewed Lao-Lao whiskey and milkshakes laced with marijuana, opium or methamphetamine, the big draw in Yang vieng is river tubing - riding downstream on inner tubes and that's where backpackers incapacitated through drink and drugs have been dying.
"You get in upstream and float down past the riverside bars," said Jason Morley from London, who was in the town three weeks ago. "Bar staff hold out poles so they can drag you in for a drink. A couple of operators offer life jackets; but most don't - there's no regulation - and all along the stretch there are slides, rope swings and other hazards with people leaping off them. A Croatian girl in our group had her front teeth knocked out when a drunk Israeli landed on her tube."
In 2011, 27 tourists were pronounced dead at Vang Vieng's tiny hospital, but doctors say the real number was higher, because other fatalities were registered in Vientiane.
The Foreign Office (FCO) recently updated its advice to travellers to Laos, warning that "white-water rafting, kayaking, tubing and other water-based activities are dangerous and incidents of drowning and serious injuries have been reported".
The adventure tour• operator Exodus said: "There are dozens of outfits renting inner' tubes and, once you get in, you're on your own. Nobody counts you in or out. It's just too dangerous for us to promote the activity."
Neighbouring Thailand remains the most lethal stop on the backpacker trail, according to statistics from the FCO, and the numbers of deaths and injuries is rising. In 2010-11, 246 visitors to the country were hospitalised as a result of accident or illness - up 24% on the previous year - while 101 British visitors died, including three 19-year-old students killed in a bus trash in the first week of their two-month break.
(25th April 2012)
MI5 CREATES A VIRTUAL COMPUTER ATTACK ON THEMSELVES !
Based on an article in The Register [Note 1] : www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/16/mi5_digi_cert_snafu/
The MI5 intelligence forgot to replace the expired digital security certificate for its website over the weekend.
The schoolboy error meant anybody trying to securely access the Security Service's site - perhaps to report suspected terrorist activity - would have been warned by their browser that the connection was untrusted. Communications would have still been encrypted if surfers chose to proceed regardless of the alert.
The digital paperwork expired on Sunday, 15th April, and a new one wasn't installed until Monday morning. They did have a new certificate issued by Verisign on 25th March, but failed to install it (no overtime due to budget cuts perhaps ) !
Spook-watching Spyblog points out that the glitch was particularly embarrassing for MI5 because its www.mi5.gov.uk web server is configured to be accessible only over a secure connection. They went on to comment "Since the MI5 website redirects to an SSL/TLS HTTPS-only version, they have effectively created a Denial of Service attack on themselves."
(17th April 2012)
IPCC TO HANDLE ALL METROPOLITAN POLICE RACISM COMPLAINTS
(BBC News, dated 16th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
All complaints of racism against Metropolitan Police officers are to be automatically referred to the police watchdog, it has been announced.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it would also conduct a "thematic review" of past and current cases to identify any trends.
It comes as 18 officers are being investigated over racism allegations.
The IPCC said it was now looking at a further two cases of allegations of racism, bringing the total to five.
The two additional investigations are an allegation of racial abuse in December 2011 and another in September last year of racial abuse and excessive force in custody.
The IPCC had previously announced that it was looking into three allegations; one from a 21-year-old man who filmed an incident on a mobile phone, another of a 15-year-old youth allegedly assaulted at Forest Gate police station, and a third in which a group of police officers allegedly made racist comments to one another.
The IPCC has decided not to investigate a further six complaints.
IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said: "The police must not hide behind statistics and must recognise that actual recorded allegations of racism are probably an indication of much wider disaffection and dissatisfaction."
He added: "We know that allegations of racism are often difficult to prove as in many cases they are a complainant's word against an officer or officers, but that does not necessarily mean it did not happen."
METROPOLITAN POLICE CRITICISED AFTER RACISM INQUIRY
(BBC News, dated 6th April 2012
www.bbc.co.uk
A senior police officer has joined criticism of Scotland Yard's record on racism, saying warnings have fallen on "deaf ears" for more than a decade.
Supt Leroy Logan, of the Black Police Association, said the Met needed to put racial issues "back on the agenda".
Two former senior Metropolitan Police officers have also criticised the force after eight officers were suspended over allegations of racism.
The force has said racist language is "abhorrent" and not tolerated.
In total, 18 officers and one civilian staff member are being investigated in relation to 10 claims of racism.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating the claims which include bullying, abuse and physical assault.
Three officers from Newham were suspended on Thursday while five other officers and one civilian member of staff had previously been suspended at various stages over the past year.
Supt Logan, who was a founder member of the National Black Police Association, said attitudes to race relations had recently deteriorated.
"Every year since 2001, the young people have been saying how they believe they are being dealt with disrespectfully, not shown enough dignity, casual racist comments were being used," he said. "Like so many things, it lands on deaf ears until such a time as a free press - the media - get hold of it and forces people into action." Supt Logan said the force needed to "get its act together" and "root out the bad boy cops". "The issues haven't been reviewed effectively by external agencies, that's why we are getting these incidents," he said.
'Greater diversity needed'
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One that the force still did not have "sufficient black and Asian officers".
"One of the ways of challenging any aspect of the canteen culture is if they [officers] live and work together and are able to share histories with people of different colour."
Mr Vaz told the BBC News Channel that the IPCC would take some months to report back and a broader inquiry was needed.
"When there are cases of this kind they have to be dealt with immediately and they have to be dealt with properly - otherwise there is a public perception that people don't care," Mr Vaz said.
He suggested that another organisation, such as Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, should produce "some very clear and very decisive guidelines" for all the UK's police forces demonstrating a "no-tolerance attitude to racism and racist behaviour".
Mr Vaz added that the management of the Met was on the list of inquiries the committee was looking to carry out.
Mark Reckless, the Conservative MP for Rochester who is also on the Home Affairs committee, said: "It's quite wrong that we don't have any ethnic minorities at senior level."
He said although quotas were not helpful, he hoped elected commissioners would be able to look outside "the usual routes of clubs of senior officers" to recruit a greater diversity of people when they are introduced in November.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the allegations of racism needed to be taken "extremely seriously".
"The police must ensure there is zero tolerance of racism in their ranks, and must act fast to deal with any suggestion of racism that arises.
Ms Cooper said it was "vital for justice" that every community could be confident in the impartiality of the police.
'Unacceptable behaviour'
Retired Flying Squad commander John O'Connor told BBC London that managers should have been pro-active after the force was accused in 1999 of "institutional racism" by the 1999 Macpherson Inquiry. The inquiry looked into the force's handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation.
Mr O'Connor said after the force was "vilified" by the inquiry, checks and balances "should have been put in place".
"We need to find out why this is happening. It's no good having the deputy commissioner almost washing his hands and saying 'we won't put up with racism'.
"Well what are you doing about it? You need to do something.
"There are too many of these incidents for it to be brushed under the carpet and I think there needs to be more research."
On Thursday, Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said he was reassured that of the 10 cases which have been referred to the IPCC, six came to light after other officers raised concerns.
He said of the force's 50,000 staff, the "vast majority act with the professionalism and high standards we expect".
"I will always want to work in an organisation where someone who believes they've seen unacceptable behaviour feels they can challenge it and report it - knowing action will be taken, as it has been in these cases and as it will be whenever it occurs.
"The Met does not tolerate racism."
(17th April 2012)
CARE HOME LOSES CHILD 130 TIMES
(The Sunday Times, dated 15th April 2012 author Tim Rayment)
www.sundaytimes.co.uk [Note 1]
Thousands more youngsters go missing than are officially reported - and are at risk on the streets.
A CHILD has gone missing from a private care home at least 130 times in a single year, according to a senior police officer who claims the problem of children absconding from care is much worse than official figures show.
In the worst case uncovered by Detective Inspector Philip Shakesheff, who is deputy chairman of a national police group that records missing people, the child was absent from a home in Telford, Shropshire on more than one day in three last year.
To be officially categorised as missing, a child must have been absent for more than 24 hours. Absence from care, even for short periods, is a recognised warning sign of groom¬ing for sexual exploitation. Missing children are also exposed to drink or drugs and some end up on the streets.
The full scale of the problem has been revealed in a study of police records by Shakesheff which indicated that 7,000 children in local authority care in England went missing in 2010 more than seven times the official figure of 920. "A lot of harm is coming to children [even if] they don't get involved with sexual exploitation," said Shakesheff. "Going missing is a very good indicator of myriad risks."
Shakesheff decided to investigate after he became concerned about the accuracy of the statistics for his area, which are based on numbers supplied by the local authority. He found that in West Mercia, his own police force, government figures recorded 15 children as missing from care for more than 24 hours in 2010. Yet police data showed 120.
In the previous two years, no children appeared in official figures. The police had 157. Elsewhere it was a similar story. Two councils on Merseyside reported no children missing from care for three years in a row. Police figures showed 264.
Shakesheff contacted other forces and found cases where councils claimed to have no missing children when dozens had been reported to police.
The detective will give evidence to MPs next week. His work was brought to light by the Human Trafficking Foundation, which is concerned that children in care are at risk of being trafficked. "It's as if the social services want to prevent anyone getting at the real facts of this appalling story," said Anthony Steen, the former Tory MP who chairs the foundation.
The number who go missing is one of the indicators on which Ofsted judges how well children's homes are performing and the homes have a legal duty to keep accurate records.
However, there is evidence some homes are failing to do so. In one case, Ofsted gave a good report to a private children's home in Worcestershire when police records showed 1,630 missing person reports in five years. Police stationed an officer at the home and pressed Ofsted to look closer. The home was downgraded to inadequate and it later closed.
The risks of being missing from care are demonstrated by Zoe Thomsett, 17, who was Westminster council's responsibility. It sent her to a care home in Herefordshire, where she went missing several times, the final time for three days. She had earlier been found at an address in Hereford, but because no record was kept, nobody checked the ,address. She died there of a drugs overdose.
The troubled life of Dane Edgar, 14, ended with a drugs overdose at a friend's house after he repeatedly went missing from a children's home in Northumberland. Another 14-year-old, James Jordan, was killed when he absconded from care and was the passenger in a stolen car.
Care staff have no legal power to prevent young people leaving homes. But in many cases local authorities and private care homes appear to have little interest in doing anything beyond reporting their absence to the police.
"In 30 years of service I've never had a phone call from anybody in a care home ashlg for an update," shakesheff said.
A spokesman for tte 'Department for Education said: "Local authorities have a duty to report this information accurately. It is in everyone's interest that data are as robust as possible and we are happy to look at the way the information is collected to see if changes need to be made."
(17th April 2012)
CRIME PREVENTION TIPS
(Distributed by Metropolitan Police Neighbourhood Link, dated 16th April 2012)
While the chances of being burgled are statistically low we know that being burgled can be a distressing experience.
While we are taking action to target and arrest those responsible, we remind home owners to take some simple measures which can further reduce the chance of them becoming a victim of burglary.
Most burglaries tend to be opportunistic rather than planned. So if your home does not look secure, seems unlived in, or provides unobserved access, it could be at risk. Understanding what burglars look for when choosing their target will help you identify weak spots in your home's security.
Our 10 Top Tips:
- Mark or etch your property with your postcode, house or flat number or the first three letters of your house name.
- Register items with a serial number at [Note 1] : www.immobilise.com
- Do not leave your car keys or ID documents near doors, letterbox or windows.
- Always check who's at the door and don't open it if you feel anxious.
- Close and lock all your doors and windows, even if you are only going out for a few minutes.
- Keep your valuables out of sight.
- Leave some lights on if it will be dark before you get home.
- Install a visible burglar alarm.
- Always keep sheds and outbuildings locked.
- Cancel milk or other deliveries if you will be away for days or weeks at a time.
For more advice and information please visit www.met.police.uk/crimeprevention/burglary or contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods team by visiting www.met.police.uk or by calling 101.
(16th April 2012)
LONDONS CRIME STATS ANALYSED
(Guardian online, dated 12th April 2012 author John Burn-Murdoch)
Full article [Note 1] : www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/2012/apr/12/ukcrime
In the lead-up to the London mayoral elections the datablog has analysed figures on a series of London's key socioeconomic indicators.
This comprehensive analysis of crime statistics shows that while crime has fallen across the capital as a whole in the last decade there are a number of interesting sub-trends.
There has been a general downward trend in crime rates, where the number of recorded crimes per 1,000 of London's inhabitants has fallen by almost a third over the last nine years. In 2002/03 the figure stood at 151.6, but the most recently available figure - for 2010/11 - has dropped to 106.9.
Trends in the rates of different crimes; however, have varied. While violence against the person has seen an overall drop from 25 instances per 1000 people in 2002/03 to 21.5 in 2010/11, the rate of drug offences has risen by 75% over the same period, from 4.7 to 8.3.
Instances of theft against a vehicle saw the most dramatic fall over the nine years studied, the most recent figure standing at just over half of what it was in 2002/3.
Exploring the data on a regional basis also yields interesting results. Three Boroughs - Camden, the City of London and Westminster have seen reductions of 40% or more in overall crime rate between 2000/01 and 2010/11.
By contrast, the crime rate in Tower Hamlets has increased by 5% over the same period, from 116.6 to 122.7 per 1000 people. Lewisham fared only marginally better, with the equivalent figure dropping by under 2%.
Overall crime rates rose for for ten boroughs over the most recently available year-on-year period - between the 2009/10 and 2010/11 financial years - with Hammersmith & Fulham witnessing the largest increase.
While the figures for Westminster may appear startlingly high, this can be explained in part by the difference between its day- and night-time populations. The borough has disproportionately high numbers of visitors during the day compared to its numbers of permanent residents, meaning crime rates measured by population are skewed upwards.
Data for the most recent financial year is missing figures for March 2012, but to-date Westminster has the highest crime rate by a large margin. The borough's figure for theft & handling offences dwarfs the corresponding statistic of any other borough for which data is available. The figures are from the Metropolitan Police, and as a result does not include data for the City of London, where crime rates measured against population tend to be much higher than any other borough.
Comment : The top 5 "worst" Boroughs (2011 / 12)
This is a summary of the figures from this article . It is based on offences per thousand residents within the Borough, it does not include visitors or tourists. As previously mentioned, for Westminster offences against tourists distort the figures. If Westminster appears in the top 5 another Borough will be added for that category.
Violence against the person :
Westminster - 30.11
Brent - 26.2
Newham - 24.36
Islington - 23.81
Hammersmith and Fulham - 23.29
Lambeth - 23.03
For the Olympics } Tower Hamlets (7th Place) - 22.34
Sexual Offences
Westminster - 2.13
Newham - 1.67
Lambeth - 1.67
Tower Hamlets - 1.66
Southwark - 1.61
Hackney - 1.57
Robbery
Lambeth - 9.99
Newham - 9.4
Brent - 7.88
Southwark - 7.82
Westminster - 7.45
Waltham Forest - 6.9
For the Olympics } Tower Hamlets (10th Place) - 5.41
Burglary
Haringey - 14.7
Brent - 14.05
Islington - 13.46
Hillingdon - 13.1
Camdem - 12.93
London Borough of Enfield
Violence against the person (24th) - 12.75
Sex Offence (26th) - 0.83
Robbery (19th) - 3.35
Burglary (20th) - 10.86
Note
The full article provides graphs and actual data to allow comparison between the 32 Metropolitan Police Boroughs.
(14th April 2012)
HACKTIVISTS NICKED MORE DATA THAN CYBER-CROOKS IN 2011
(The Register, dated 22nd March 2012 author John Leyden)
Full article [Note 1] : www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/22/verizon_security_breach_trends/
Hacktivism had a massive effect on the overall data breach scene last year.
More than half (58 per cent) of data stolen last year can be attributed to hacktivism - hacking to advance political and social objectives - according to the latest edition of the Data Breach Investigations report from Verizon. The figures contrast sharply with findings from previous years, when the majority of attacks were carried out by cybercriminals, whose primary motivation was financial gain.
Seventy-nine per cent of attacks covered by Verizon's report were opportunistic. Only 4 per cent of the overall total were rated as particularly challenging for hackers to carry out. In addition, an estimated 97 per cent of breaches might have been avoidable without recourse to difficult or expensive countermeasures.
Wade Baker, director of risk intelligence at Verizon, told El Reg that 44 per cent of the attacks exploited default or easily guessable credentials. However he qualified this remark by saying that default passwords were a far greater problem in hacks involving smaller organisations.
Breaches originated from 36 countries around the globe, an increase from 22 countries during 2010. Nearly 70 per cent of breaches originated in Eastern Europe and less than 25 per cent originated in North America.
The report covers 855 data breaches that collectively spilled 174 million records, the second highest number since Verizon began collating this type of data back in 2004. External attacks were blamed for the vast majority (98 per cent) of data breaches. This external attacker group includes organised crime, activist groups, former employees, lone hackers and organisations sponsored by foreign governments.
Hacktivism by groups like Anonymous and LulzSec figured in many data breaches last year. Wade reckons recent arrests might reverse this trend, but he's far from sure on this point.
"Anonymous is a movement. It's hard to stop a movement by taking out individuals," he said.
Attacks were overwhelming led by outsiders of one type or another. Only 4 per cent of attacks relied on the involvement of internal employees. Business partners were a factor in than 1 per cent of data breaches.
Hacking appeared in 81 per cent of breaches (compared with 50 per cent in 2010) and malware featured in 69 per cent of breaches last year (also up from the 49 per cent recorded in 2010).
The increase is easily explained: hacking and malware offer outsiders an easy way to exploit security flaws and gain access to confidential data. The ready availability of easy-to-use hacking tools also contributes to this effect.
Social engineering (tricking end users into doing something stupid or handing over information to attackers) and SQL injection attacks against vulnerable webservers also figured as a factor in many attacks.
Another important factor in attacks is the slow speed at which organisations patch up vulnerable systems and the length of time between a successful compromise and its discovery, which is most often measured in months or even years. Third parties continue to detect the majority of breaches (92 per cent).
Industrial espionage revealed criminal interest in stealing trade secrets and gaining access to intellectual property. "This trend, while less frequent, has serious implications for the security of corporate data, especially if it gains steam," Verizon warns.
Wade said that attacks involving intellectual property theft were an "undercurrent in [the] data set". Industrial espionage was the prime motive in around 5 per cent of attacks, he said. In such cases insider involvement was more common.
While compliance programmes, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, provide sound steps to increasing security, being PCI compliant does not make an organisation immune from attacks.
The US Secret Service and the Met Police's Central e-Crime Unit collaborated with Verizon in preparing the report, which this year also involved input from other police agencies in the Netherlands and Australia. Verizon's annual study, now in its fifth year, is considered among the best of its type in the infosec business.
Verizon's report, which includes separate recommendations for enterprises and small businesses on guarding against cyber attacks, can be found here [Note 1] :
http://www.verizon.com/enterprise/2012dbir/us
(16th April 2012)
ONGOING INVESTIGATION OF THE DEATH OF MR KESTER DAVID
(From Met Police Neighbourhood link e-mail, dated 12th April 2012)
This is the latest update in respect to a fresh investigation into the death of a man in Palmers Green in 2010 is to take place.
Police were called at 11:10hrs on 7th July 2010 to reports of a body beneath a railway arch in Broomfield Lane, N13.
Enquiries were undertaken and the body was identified as Kester David, aged 53, of Wood Green.
A post-mortem examination gave cause of death as burns and inhalation of fumes. Enfield borough police investigated the case and concluded the death was non-suspicious.
An inquest took place at Barnet Coroner's Court on 31 January 2011 and recorded an open verdict.
Following concerns from Mr David's family, two reviews into the investigation were carried out by senior officers from Enfield borough in September 2011 and January 2012.
The results of those reviews remain under consideration and detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command are to reinvestigate.They retain an open mind about the circumstances of Mr David's death.
Officers will be in close contact with the family throughout the investigation to discuss its progress with them.
Could you please contact you local Safer Neighbourhood Team if you, your friends or family have any concerns in respect to the above investigation.
If you have any information about the death of Mr Kester David you can provide this anonymously via Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 .
Crimestoppers is an independent charity (www.crimestoppers-uk.org)
(13th April 2012)
SOUTH YORKSHIRE PCSO's COULD GET BIGGER FRONT-LINE POLICING ROLE
(BBC News, dated 12th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Police community support officers (PCSOs) in South Yorkshire could take on a bigger front-line policing role if new plans are given the go-ahead.
A report to be considered by South Yorkshire Police Authority suggests PCSOs should become the "first line of contact" for the public.
This would free up regular officers for other duties, the report states.
The South Yorkshire Police Federation criticised the plan, saying officers and PCSOs should work together.
If the authority approves the proposal, PCSOs would be given the role of Local Beat Officers (LBOs) with responsibility for one or more beats.
'Reputational risks'
The move would mean regular PCs could be "better utilised and make better use of their warranted powers and problem-solving abilities", the report suggests.
It recommends that PCSOs receive extra training to prepare them for their new role and responsibilities.
The South Yorkshire force could face "reputational risks" if regular PCs were no longer the first point of contact for members of the public, the report concedes, but it concluded that "service will not suffer and should actually improve".
David Crompton, South Yorkshire's new Chief Constable, said the recommendations were merely an attempt to match the duties of regular police officers and PCSOs with the powers they had.
'Same coverage'
The number of police officers and PCSOs in South Yorkshire would not be affected if the proposals were approved, said Mr Crompton "Nobody is being taken away from these areas. They will get exactly the same sort of coverage they have done," he said.
PCSOs were "the glue that sticks neighbourhood policing together", Mr Crompton added.
Jim Lucas, from the South Yorkshire Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file police officers, said he could not accept the proposal.
"What we don't want is for police officers to only turn up when someone needs either arresting or dealing with," said Mr Lucas.
"We don't want to be seen to be the bad guys. We've spent years and years with communities building up a relationship with the police."
South Yorkshire Police Authority will consider the proposal at a meeting on Friday.
Comment
We are now moving into the world of management accountancy - this looks like another piece of someones Police MBA ( see Police Privatisation article on the website dated 6th March 2012).
(13th April 2012)
THE VICTIM FIRST
(The Job - Met Police in-house magazine, dated February / March 2012)
www.met.police.uk
Summary : Describes the Mets new initiative "Total Victim Care"
In many areas of policing, the Met is the best at what it does. But one area where we've consistently lagged behind all other forces is victim care. Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has made it a central priority to not just improve satisfaction among those we serve, but to eventually be the best at it in the country. After all, it's why many of us joined the police in the first place, isn't it? We wanted to help people - and that doesn't end with catching the criminals, it extends to making sure that the people who are affected by crime feel thatwe are there to help them get through it.
The name of the Met initiative to improve customer satisfaction is Total Victim Care - part of the Commissioner's overall strategy that also calls for a Total War on Crime and Total Professionalism. It places victim careat the centre of our culture and creates consistency in victim satisfaction across our B/OCUs and communities. It will also be a central tenet for an off icer's promotion and progression.
"Victim care is no longer a peripheral issue for the Met but should be at the forefront of everyone's minds as we each go about our day-to-day work," says Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh. "No crime is routine and every one can be traumatic for the victim. Showing consistent care is one way that we achieve justice for them."
Everyone in the organisation has a part to play in ensuring we treat victims well. Each business group has submitted an action plan of how they will deliver the strategy and improve performance around the key areas of Contact, Actions and Treatment, and Follow Up, all key drivers in victim satisfaction. They also showed how they would coordinate plans in the larger scheme of things, taking into account liaison with other Met change programmes such as TP Development and the Confidence agenda.
Improvements have already begun in parts of the Met. The new centralised Telephone Investigation Bureau (TIB) has new guidance to deliver a higher level of service to volume crime victims. All calls from TIB will be recorded from March 2012 and supervisors will quality assure the standard of the initial investigation and the standard of care of victims. Performance of TIB and frontline officers will be scrutinised so that victims receive equally high-quality service whether they report a crime by phone or in person.
PHASE ONE ROLLING OUT
In February, the first phase of Total Victim Care was launched, complemented by a communications campaign, spearheaded by the Commissioner in his briefings to officers, and by an intranet and poster campaign by the DPA.
The way that the Met does business changed overnight. TP is launching three key initiatives that will affect uniform officers, crime management units and CID. Below are those changes.
VICTIM CARE CARDS
Officers have four-page information Victim Care Cards to give to victims during the initial crime investigation.
They've been sent to frontline officers in every directorate and lay out what the victim can expect from the Met.
Richard Gittings, Head of Customer Service for TP, says: "Our officers told us that there are so many pressures in modern policing and processes can be so complex that they needed an easy way to remember it all.
"So we devised the Victim Care Card, which will provide a higher quality of service to the victim and make it easier for the officer." On the front of the card, the investigating officer writes their name and the email address for the BOCU Crime Management Unit, the incident number and name of their line manager. On the back, there are emergency and non-emergency numbers for the Met and promises to investigate the person's case to the standards laid out inside the card. Inside, the card has a tick box of everything the officer should have discussed with the victim (see box, right) and lays out the next steps (see box overleaf, 'The Next Steps').
Use of the card is mandatory for every crime report, regardless of crime type, and a card is left with every victim. Local supervisors or briefing officers will brief all officers on using the cards, in February.
VICTIM LETTERS
All victims of crime receive a letter that notifies whether their reported crime will be passed to a dedicated investigating officer or closed until further information comes to light. However, the letters were impersonal and didn't always fully explain why a particular decision on the investigation of their case had been reached.
As a result, TP redrafted the letters to include more detailed information and to improve the
information regarding Safer Neighbourhoods teams and Victim Support. The letter now provides detail of the work we carry out that the victim may not be aware of, such as the analysis in the BIU. Victims can also phone their local Crime Management Unit if they want more information about why their investigation has been closed.
VICTIM'S CODE OF PRACTICE GUIDANCE (VCOP)
With the imminent closure of Victim Focus Units, investigating officers on boroughs are now required to update victims according to the VCOP. TP has put together a briefing to ensure that investigating officers understand the requirements of VCOP. The code requires police to complete 47 obligations within one to five days, depending on the victim's vulnerability. The main change for CID is that the OIC must make initial contact with the victim within 24 hours of being allocated the crime. The new VCOP guidance outlines the minimum standards for this contact and the points to cover. The OIC must come to an agreement with the victim around the frequency and method of update.
CHANGES AT TP
TP has recognised that keeping victims updated can be a challenge for officers working shifts and with high caseloads. To make it easier for investigating officers, particularly CID, the Met will roll out key innovations during 2012:
* Aide-mémoires for CID officers that must be displayed on every terminal in every CID office and writing room;
* CRIS is being upgraded to auto-prompt the OIC to contact victims, making it much easier to comply with and even exceed VCOP obligations;
* The Victim Care Cards prompt the initial investigating officer to record the victim's email address. This is critical to making it easier for secondary investigators to contact them;
* DoI is developing the introduction of TrackMyCrime, a secure online service for victims to follow the progress of their case investigation. The system is successfully being used in other forces across the country, including Avon and Somerset, which hosts the portal. CID officers in Avon and Somerset report that this has made compliance with VCOP much easier, switching the main form of contact to email and providing a seamless experience for the victim between initial investigation all the way through to the case going to court;
* Possible automatic referral to the Victim Support Service for all victims, based on best practice in Leicestershire.
MEASURING COMPLIANCE:
QUALITY CALL BACK (QCB)
A key part of improving the standards of service to victims is through effective compliance and supervision.
Officers and staff should be aware that any victim of crime may be contacted by the Met and the performance of the officer assessed. TP has redesigned the Quality Call Back (QCB) process and will launch the new system in February.
QCB will be standard across the Met and the feedback will be provided quickly to sergeants and inspectors so that they can share best practice and highlight good work, while driving improvement when the service has been lacking. BOCU Commanders will be measured on the results of QCB and the extent to which they use the process to drive improvement.
In the spring, there will be an Awards dinner to recognise those who demonstrate good practice in bringing the Commissioner's priorities forward. Victim Care will be a major category during the ceremony.
DID YOU REMEMBER?
- During the initial investigation of a crime, don't forget to discuss the following items with the victim…
- Your role as the initial investigator
- Any vulnerabilities you feel they might have, and offer to refer them to Victim Support
- Have they been a victim of crime before?
- Details of the crime, potential evidence, like forensics, CCTV or house-to-house enquiries, and their expectations of the police response
- Crime prevention advice
- Their contact details, including email
- What the next steps are, including what will happen to their crime report, and decisions about further investigation
- Their understanding of what you've told them and the information given.
Comment
As this was from an in-house Police magazine it is full of abbreviations and acronyms, but you can get the gist of the initiative.
The thing is, can you teach empathy for a victim ? Can you write a checklist that covers every problem or concern that a victim has ?
The initiative appears to be based on another paper process that the police need to follow. I understood that they were meant to be cutting back on paperwork so more Bobbies can get back on the beat. The thing is, if a
Bobby doesn't follow the 47 items on the "Total Victim Care" checklist they will get issues placed against them in their annual appraisal.
This looks like it was based on something that was going around most organisations in the late 80's, early 90's. Total Quality Management (TQM); where organisations were meant to look up to Marks & Spencer and Rolls Royce. You know the companies; the retailer who has all of its clothes made outside the UK and the premium car company now owned by the Germans with a German engine ! There is bound to be "Quality Wheel" diagram in this process that includes feedback and self congratulation; oh and don't forget statistics.
Looking at the "Did you remember" list above, they appear to have forgotten one item; did you turn up in the first place !
As TQM is involved this looks like another piece of someones Police MBA ( see Police Privatisation article on the website dated 6th March 2012).
(12th April 2012)
COUNCILS' FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD GETS NEW PACKAGE OF ONLINE TOOLS
(Guardian Government Computing, dated 5th April 2012)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Local authorities will be able to use a set of online products to help them fight housing tenancy, council tax and blue badge parking frauds, under new government guidelines.
The tools have been created as part of the Fighting fraud locally strategy. The strategy was the result of an eight month review led by the National Fraud Authority (NFA), and is being supported by the department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Local Government Association (LGA).
The NFA said it worked with private and public sector partners to develop the online package of anti-fraud products and guides to support the strategy, including:
• A fraud checklist to help local authorities identify possible gaps in a council's current fraud response.
• An online fraud resilience check to help local authorities measure their resilience to fraud and assess if they need to improve.
• A counter-fraud and corruption e-learning training course to help councils raise levels of awareness among staff and facilitate better detection rates.
• An online 'fraud zone' and discussion forum containing examples of anti-fraud best practice.
The free fraud resilience assessment tool asks users to answer 29 questions, based on professional standards for counter fraud work. It assesses the extent to which their organisation is effectively protected against fraud and is designed to help authorities ensure they have adequate protection in place.
Mike Haley, the NFA's director of public sector fraud, said: "If councils implement the recommendations and adopt the good practice set out in the strategy significant savings could be made - money which can be used to protect frontline services. We hope the free products we have helped develop will make a tangible difference in helping defeat fraudsters who target councils."
In its recently published annual fraud indicator report, the NFA estimates that fraud costs the economy £73bn a year - £2.2bn of which affects local government.
(10th April 2012)
FAKE COP TROJAN FALSELY "DETECTS OFFENSIVE MATERIALS" ON PC'S
(The Register, dated 5th April 2012 author John Leyden)
Full article [Note 1] : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/05/police_themed_ransomware/
Security firms are warning about a rash of police-themed ransomware attacks.
The Reveton Trojan warns victims that illegal content has supposedly been detected on infected machines, displaying a message supposedly from local police agencies demanding payment to unlock machines.
To unlock an infected machine, marks (victims) are invited to purchase a Paysafecard and pay €100 to obtain an unlock code. But in reality users need not hand over any dosh to regain control of their PCs. Control of infected machines can be established by following a few simple steps. Similar recovery instructions from Microsoft can be found here.
"Even when somebody is savvy enough to recognise the message is a fake, the malware's accusations of offensive materials having been discovered on the user's hard drive creates a chilling effect, which has likely prevented some folks from seeking outside help," the Finnish security firm notes.
Further Information
f-secure description of solution [Note 1] : www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002344.html
Based on the information on this f-secure webpage the fraudster have created individual webpages for the countries that they are targeting. These include : Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the USA.
Similar recovery instructions from Microsoft can be found here [Note 1] :
www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?Name=Trojan:Win32/Reveton.A#recovery_link
(9th April 2012)
UK HOME OFFICE WEBSITE ATTACKED BY ANONYMOUS GROUP
EXPECT MORE ONLINE ATTACKS' ANONYMOUS HACKERS SAY
(BBC News, dated 8th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
The hacking group Anonymous says it will launch online attacks every weekend in the wake of allegations it disrupted access to the Home Office website.
Anonymous Twitter messages warned of the attack on 4 April, and said: "EXPECT a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) every Saturday on the UK Government sites." The website became inaccessible around 21:00 BST on Saturday, and was patchy from 05:00 on Sunday.
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack floods a webserver with so many requests that it can no longer respond to legitimate users.
One message on Twitter said it was a protest against "draconian surveillance proposals" but another claimed it was over extradition from the UK to the US.
There were also claims on Twitter that the 10 Downing Street website had been targeted as part of the same protest. This was dismissed by a Downing Street spokesman - but access to Number 10's site was slow and intermittent for a time.
It is not clear whether the protest was against email surveillance or extradition, but it could be both.
Extradition controversy
One tweet claiming to be from Anonymous said: "You should not give UK citizens to foreign countries without evidence. If an offence happened in the UK, so should the trial."
Last month the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee said major changes were needed to the UK-US extradition treaty to restore "public faith".
The MPs said they believed it was "easier to extradite a British citizen to the USA than vice versa".
Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, has been fighting extradition to the US for 10 years.Mr McKinnon, of north London, is accused of hacking US military computer systems in 2002.
Chris Tappin, of Orpington, south-east London, was extradited to the US on 24 February over allegations of arms dealing. It has been claimed he conspired to sell batteries for use in Iranian missiles.
Student Richard O'Dwyer, of Chesterfield, is also fighting extradition on copyright infringement charges on a website he ran from the UK.
Earlier in the week the Home Office said it planned to "legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows" to bring in email surveillance measures.
Ministers say change is needed to help fight crime and terrorism, but critics warn it is an attack on privacy.
After the website was disrupted on Saturday evening a Home Office spokesman said: "We are aware of some reports that the Home Office website may be the subject of an online protest.
'Monitoring situation'
"We have put all potential measures in place and will be monitoring the situation very closely. If a successful denial of service attempt does occur tonight, we will liaise with the technical team and update as necessary," he added.
Anonymous is a loose group of "hacktivists" who came to the fore in 2010 in the wake of the emergence of Julian Assange's Wikileaks website.
Anonymous began by aiming DDoS attacks on websites, like the credit card firm Visa, who had withdrawn services from Wikileaks. But it has gradually changed into a grouping which claims to battle government surveillance and attempts to police the internet. Earlier this week Anonymous claimed to have defaced almost 500 websites in China. A message put on the hacked sites said the attack was carried out to protest against the Chinese government's strict control of its citizens.
(8th April 2012)
HALF A MILLION MAC COMPUTERS "INFECTED WITH MALWARE"
(BBC News, dated 5th April 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
More than half a million Apple computers have been infected with the Flashback Trojan, according to a Russian anti-virus firm. Its report claims that about 600,000 Macs have installed the malware - potentially allowing them to be hijacked and used as a "botnet". The firm, Dr Web, says that more than half that number are based in the US.
Apple has released a security update, but users who have not installed the patch remain exposed.
Flashback was first detected last September when anti-virus researchers flagged up software masquerading itself as a Flash Player update. Once downloaded it deactivated some of the computer's security software.
Later versions of the malware exploited weaknesses in the Java programming language to allow the code to be installed from bogus sites without the user's permission.
Remote control
Dr Web said that once the Trojan was installed it sent a message to the intruder's control server with a unique ID to identify the infected machine.
"By introducing the code criminals are potentially able to control the machine," the firm's chief executive Boris Sharov told the BBC.
"We stress the word potential as we have never seen any malicious activity since we hijacked the botnet to take it out of criminals' hands. However, we know people create viruses to get money.
"The largest amounts of bots - based on the IP addresses we identified - are in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, so it appears to have targeted English-speaking people."
Dr Web also notes that 274 of the infected computers it detected appeared to be located in Cupertino, California - home to Apple's headquarters.
Update wait
Java's developer, Oracle, issued a fix to the vulnerability on 14 February, but this did not work on Macintoshes as Apple manages Java updates to its computers.
Apple released its own "security update" on Wednesday - more than eight weeks later. It can be triggered by clicking on the software update icon in the computer's system preferences panel.
The security firm F-Secure has also posted detailed instructions about how to confirm if a machine is infected and how to remove the Trojan.
Although Apple's system software limits the actions its computers can take without requesting their users' permission, some security analysts suggest this latest incident highlights the fact that the machines are not invulnerable.
"People used to say that Apple computers, unlike Windows PCs, can't ever be infected - but it's a myth," said Timur Tsoriev, an analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
Apple could not provide a statement at this time.
Further Information
Java update as quoted above [Note 1] : www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/javacpufeb2012-366318.html
Apple Support information [Note 1] : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5228
Security company f-secure information [Note 1] :
www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml
Dr Web information [Note 1]: http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=2341&lng=en&c=14
According to www.theregistry.co.uk [Note 1]: "The Mac-specific Flashback Trojan created a zombie army of 550,000 Mac machines by exploiting a Java hole that Apple only patched on Tuesday (3rd April 2012), six weeks after Microsoft plugged it up on Windows machines."
"The legions of compromised zombies were mostly located in the US (56.6 per cent, or 303,449 infected hosts), Canada (19.8 per cent, or 106,379 infected computers) and the UK (12.8 per cent or 68,577 cases of infection)".
(5th April 2012)
RAC WHEEL THIEF PUT LIVES AT RISK, SAYS CAR OWNER
(London Evening Standard, dated 3rd April 2012 author Tom Harper)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
An RAC patrolman was arrested after being filmed stealing wheels from a parked car and replacing them with bald tyres.
CCTV footage from a shop in Rainham caught him taking the wheels at about 2.30am from a Peugeot 206 owned by lorry driver Colin Dann. The thief was also filmed attaching the inferior tyres with two bolts instead of four.
Mr Dann, 40, said: "I got in the car to drive to work and it didn't feel right. I thought I'd better pump up the tyres and then realised they were not my tyres. They're almost bald. I took the hub caps off and noticed there were only two bolts."
He later retrieved the CCTV footage from the shop.
Mr Dann told The Sun: "The tyres he put on are illegal and I drove down the A13 at 50mph on them. If the wheels had come off it would have caused an accident or even a death."
A Met police spokesman said a 32-year-old man was arrested and cautioned for theft on Saturday, March 31.
An RAC spokesman said: "We notified police immediately and helped with their enquiries." RAC vans have tracking devices.
Comment
As the cost of motoring increases some people are trying other ways to save their money. The Police, DVLA and Insurance companies are improving the administration of MOT's and Road Tax. The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) fixed to Police cars is starting to pick up the stray offenders. For the unscrupulous this only leaves :
- fuel fraud ( filtering agricultural fuel to remove the dye and using central heating fuel ) where there is lower duty.
- Syphoning off other peoples fuel.
- more theft of other peoples number plates.
- Theft of spares from other peoples cars (including tyres).
- Stealing other peoples tax discs, to cover cursery glances by foot Police at traffic lights etc.
Using the wheel theft mentioned in article above. If Mr Dan (the cars owner) had to purchase a set of 4 new tyres for his Peugeot 206 from Kwik Fit they would cost from £55 to £113 each. If a Ford Focus 1.6 owner was in the same position, the cost would be £63 - £93; and for a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 the cost would be £64 to £93. All prices include a new valve, balancing and VAT.
CRIME PREVENTION
On the other hand, a set of 4 locking wheel nuts and the associated key adapter cost from around £20 depending on make and model of vehicle (Amazon website, dated 4th April 2012) !
Also consider a locking road tax holder ( £10 - £20 ).
Locking screws for number plates. In this case your local police may fit them for free. Or a set from Halfords for about £4 ! A replacement set of number plates will cost around £50, plus all of the inconvenience of hunting out the vehicle registration documents and waiting for the plates to be made.
(5th April 2012)
EU PLANS TOUGHER PUNISHMENT FOR HACKERS - AND THEIR BOSSES
(The Register, dated 3rd April 2012 author Out-Law.com *)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
*Out-Law.com is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons
Full Article [Note 1] : www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/03/businesses_could_be_liable_for_criminal_offences_under_proposed_cyber_attack_laws/
The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee overwhelmingly voted to approve proposals to criminalise certain activity relating to cyber attacks last week. The proposals contain plans to make specified "legal persons" within companies liable for certain offences.
"Legal persons would be liable for offences committed for their benefit (e.g. a company would be liable for hiring a hacker to get access to a competitor's database), whether deliberately or through a lack of supervision," the European Parliament said in a statement. "They would also face penalties such as exclusion for entitlement to public benefits or judicial winding-up."
EU member countries will be required to "ensure that their networks of national contact points are available round the clock" and that they can "respond to urgent requests within a maximum of eight hours" in order to prevent cyber-attacks spreading across borders.
The Committee's proposals would make it a criminal offence to conduct cyber attacks on computer systems. Individuals would face at least two years in jail if served with the maximum penalty for the offence.
A maximum penalty of at least five years in jail could apply if "aggravating circumstances" or "considerable damage. One aggravating circumstance in which the heavier penalty could be levied is if an individual uses 'botnet' tools "specifically designed for large-scale attacks".
Individuals found in possession of or distributing hacking software and tools also face criminal charges under the Committee's proposals.
Using another person's "electronic identity" in order to commit an attack that causes "prejudice to the rightful identity owner" could result in offenders serving a minimum of three years in jail if they are under the maximum penalties that could be imposed.
The Committee's rapporteur hopes to form agreement on a new EU Directive by the summer. Both the European Parliament and Council of Ministers would have to back the proposals for this to happen.
In the UK individuals can face up to 10 years in jail for serious offences under the Computer Misuse Act. Under the Act it is an offence :
- for a person to knowingly cause "a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer, or to enable any such access to be secured" without authorisation.
- if the unlawful computer access is used to commit, or facilitate, some other offences regardless of whether that subsequent offence is to take place in the future or is indeed possible to commit.
- if any unauthorised act with intent to impair the operation of any computer, prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer, impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data, or enabling those acts to be done.
- to make, adapt, supply or offer to supply any electronic program or data intending it, or knowingly it is likely, to be used or to assist in the commission of unlawful computer access or impairment.
- to supply electronic programs or data "with a view to its being supplied for use to commit, or to assist in the commission" of unlawful computer access or impairment.
(5th April 2012)
COMPUTER EXPERT WHO STOLE 8 MILLION PEOPLE'S PERSONAL DETAILS FROM PAYPAL
(Mail Online, dated 2nd April 2012 author Phil Vinter)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
A computer hacker illegally acquired enough credit and debit card details to carry out a potential £800,000 worth of fraud.
Edward Pearson, 23, of Lendale, York, used a trojan virus to download thousands of credit card details along with the postcodes, passwords, names and dates of birth of more than eight million people in the UK.
One of his programs scanned through 200,000 accounts registered to online payment service PayPal - identifying names, passwords and current balances.
Pearson, an 'incredibly talented' boarding school student who carried out the crime for an 'intellectual challenge', has been jailed for two years and two months.
He also managed to shut down part of the mobile phone giant Nokia's internal network for two weeks after hacking in and copying the details of over 8,000 members of staff, Southwark Crown Court heard.
His 21-year-old girlfriend, Cassandra Mennim, a sociology student at the University of York, triggered a police inquiry after she tried to pay for luxury hotel stays using stolen credit card details.
Pearson was arrested after investigators linked a web alias, 'G-Zero', which had appeared on hacking forums, to his personal email address.
On one of his computers officers found 8,110,474 names, dates of birth, and postcodes for adults living in the UK.
Police officers in the case said that if the details were printed onto double-sided A4 it would fill a staggering 67,500 sheets.
David Hughes, prosecuting, said the hacker had carried out a series of 'sophisticated, planned frauds.'
He said: 'Pearson used his considerable expertise for his criminal intentions.
'When police examined other computers they found the details of 2,701 credit or debit cards.
'Based on the average fraud used on a single card being £309, the potential gain to be made by him was £834,000.
'In fact the actual fraud on these credit and debit cards attributed to Pearson amounted to £2,351, but the total on the cards was £39,832.'
The details were all stolen over an 18-month period between January 1, 2010, and August 30, 2011.
Pearson coded trojan viruses, called Zeus, SpyEye and Python, to automatically scour the internet in search of personal details.
His Python program successfully downloaded the details of 200,000 PayPal accounts.
Mr Hughes added that Pearson had hacked into the systems of Nokia and web giant AOL to gain access to their employees' details, as well as other sensitive information.
'This had a significant negative impact on the company, which had to shut its networks down for two weeks while checks were carried out on it,' he said.
Mennim was caught after booking rooms at the Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Lady Anne Middleton Hotel, both in York, using stolen credit card details and PayPal accounts.
Andrew Bodnar, defending Pearson, said his hacking had not been for financial gain, but more as an intellectual challenge. 'This is a young man who has very advance computer skills, but has put them to the wrong use, but he is not the criminal mastermind that everyone claims he is.'The total amount of money he fraudulently amounted, is the figure of £2,351.
'These have been done using the Paypal accounts, to order pizza and other takeaway foods, and to pay for mobile phone accounts.
'It is fair to say that he produced the Trojan, Zeus and other software as an intellectual challenge, and he hacked into Nokia to see if he could.' He added that although he had shared some of the details, he had never sold them.
Stephen Grattage, defending Mennim, who gained 9 A's and 4 A*'s at GCSEs, said she was a vulnerable young women who had found comfort in Pearson following a difficult previous relationship.'She stands before the court, saying she is ashamed of herself, and she is ashamed of her actions and is very sorry.'She says she will pay back the money that she owes to the hotel.'
Sentencing Pearson to two years and two months and handing Mennim a 12 month supervision order the judge Ms Recorder Ann Mulligan said: 'It is extremely regrettable that you two promising young individuals find yourself in the dock.'This was a very sophisticated crime, in which you managed to access highly confidential information and put many many individuals at risk of attack.'You had a staggering amount of personal details, 8.1 million, which included names, dates of births, credit and debit card details and security codes, the use of which they could have been used for, is hard to imagine.'Your computers and software were a devastating tool kit.'I accept that you didn't sell this information, but you shared it with other computer programmers, and you had no way of knowing how they might use this information.
'This stupendous criminality was not about financial gain, but about an intellectual challenge.'
Pearson, originally from Blandford Forum, Dorset, and now of Lendale, York, admitted making an article for use in fraud and two counts of possession of an article for use in fraud.
Mennim, of Balmoral Terrace, South Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, admitted two counts of obtaining services dishonestly.
(5th April 2012)
WHATS NEW IN COMPUTER SECURITY - MARCH 2012
All links under this heading are [Note 1].
ISP'S COMMIT TO NEW CYBERSECURITY MEASURES
(Computer World, dated 22nd March 2012 author Grant Gross)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7922009/930454165/557046/0/
A group of U.S. Internet service providers, including the four largest, have committed to taking new steps to combat three major cybersecurity threats, based on recommendations from a U.S. Federal Communications Commission advisory committee.
The ISPs, including AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications, committed Thursday to implement measures to fight botnets, domain name fraud and Internet route hijacking. The FCC's Communications, Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) adopted the recommendations for voluntary action by ISPs the same day
PRIVACY REGULATORS : US AND EU WILL TAKE DIFFERENT APPROACHES
(Computer World, dated 19th March 2012 author Grant Gross)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7915598/930454165/556499/0/
The development of online privacy protections is at a critical moment as policy makers in both the U.S. and European Union push for changes to their privacy rules, but coordination of enforcement across the Atlantic Ocean may be tricky, several privacy experts said Monday.
The U.S. and the E.U. have very different approaches to privacy enforcement, with the U.S. focused on enforcing privacy promises that companies make and the E.U. enforcing privacy rights even when companies make no promises, said Paul Nemitz, director of fundamental rights and citizenship at the European Commission. The E.U. sees privacy as a basic right, and "our citizens expect that these rights are enforced," he said at an E.U. conference on privacy and data protection at the U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington, D.C.
IN NEW ATTACK ON MOBILE HANDSETS, FRAUDSTERS TARGET ONE-TIME-PASSWORDS
(Computer World, dated 15th March 2012 author Taylor Armerding)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7909078/930454165/556199/0/
Security for mobile handsets keeps improving. But then, mobile threats to those handsets keep improving as well.
Among the most recent, reported by Trusteer, a Boston-based provider of secure web access services, are two online banking fraud schemes designed to defeat the one-time-password (OTP) authorization systems used by many banks.
According to Trusteer, these new threats go a step beyond earlier attacks in which criminals would change a victim's phone number to redirect OTPs to them.
"In these new scams, the criminals are stealing the actual mobile device SIM (subscriber identity module) card," the company said.
DIGITALLY SIGNED MALWARE IS INCREASINGLY PREVALENT
(Computer World, dated 15th March 2012 author Lucian Constantin)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7909078/930454165/556197/0/
Malware authors are signing their malicious creations with stolen digital certificates to bypass antivirus detection and defense mechanisms
Security companies have recently identified multiple malware threats that use stolen digital certificates to sign their components in an attempt to avoid detection and bypass Windows defenses.
When it was discovered in 2010, the Stuxnet industrial sabotage worm surprised the security industry with its use of rootkit components that were digitally signed with certificates stolen from semiconductor manufacturers Realtek and JMicron.
What is this then ? : When a Hardware or software company produce a program that will interact with Windows they typically request a security certificate from an authority body such as Verisign. If and when you try to download a new program, Windows will automatically look for the "Certificate" before allowing the download to go ahead.
18 FIRMS SUED FOR USING PRIVACY-INVADING MOBILE APPS
(Computer World, dated 15th March 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7906661/930454165/555971/0/
Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Yelp and 14 other companies have been hit with a lawsuit accusing them of distributing privacy-invading mobile applications.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of 13 individuals in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas earlier this week. The suit charges 18 companies with surreptitiously gathering data from the address books of tens of millions of smartphone users.
"The defendants -- several of the world's largest and most influential technology and social networking companies -- have unfortunately made, distributed and sold mobile software applications that, once installed on a wireless mobile device, surreptitiously harvest, upload and illegally steal the owner's address book data without the owner's knowledge or consent," the lawsuit alleged.
ANONYMOUS TAKES DOWN SECURITY FIRMS WEBSITE
(Computer World, dated 7th March 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7894809/930454164/555239/0/
Hackers claiming to belong to the Anonymous hacking collective early Wednesday defaced Panda Security's PandaLabs website in apparent response to the arrests of five hackers Tuesday in the U.K. and the U.S.
In a characteristically defiant message posted on PandaLabs' hacked homepage, Anonymous taunted the former LulzSec leader Sabu for helping the FBI nab the hackers, and vowed to carry on its hactivist campaign regardless of the setback.
"We are Antisec we'll fight till the end," the message noted. "To FBI and other s.... come at us bros we are waiting for you," it noted. The message was preceded by a seven-minute video clip set to the tune of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" that appeared to recap Anonymous' activities over the past year.
The attackers also posted what seemed to be the login credentials of numerous Panda Labs employees on the defaced homepage. They noted that the attack on the security firm's site was in retaliation for Panda's alleged role in helping law enforcement crack down on members of the hacking collective.
HACKERS CLAIMING TO BE FROM ANONYMOUS TAKE OUT VATICAN SITE
(Computer World, dated 7th March 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7892867/930454165/555023/0/
The main website of the Vatican was inaccessible Wednesday after what appears to have been an attack by malicious hackers claiming to be affiliated with the Anonymous hacking collective.
An Associated Press story in USA Today quoted Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi as confirming the site's unavailability but declining to comment on the likely source of the problem.
The Vatican could not be reached for comment at deadline.
A website claiming to be the official blog of Anonymous in Italy on Wednesday posted a message taking credit for the attack. A rough Google translation of the message, which is in Italian, suggests that the site was taken down to protest church doctrine and the molestation of children, by clergy members.
The message makes references to the church's alleged prosecution of detractors, its allegedly anachronistic views and the sexual abuse of children by priests.
MOST ORGANISATIONS TAKE MONTHS, YEARS TO DISCOVER A BREACH
(Computer World, dated 1st March 2012 author Lucian Constantin)
FUll Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7883406/930454165/554332/0/
Over 90 percent of data breaches are the result of external attacks and almost 60 percent of organizations discovered them months or years later, Verizon said in a report released at the RSA security conference on Wednesday.
Called the Verizon 2011 Investigative Response Caseload Review, it compiles statistics from 90 data breach cases investigated by the company's incident response team last year, and provides a preview of Verizon's larger annual report that will contain data collected from additional sources like national CERTs and law enforcement agencies.
The report concludes that 92 percent of data breach incidents have had an external cause, which conflicts with the findings of other security vendors, according to whom most data breaches are the result of internal threats.
INTERNET VOTING SYSTEMS TOO INSECURE
(Computer World, dated 1st March 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7883406/930454165/554328/0/
Internet voting systems are inherently insecure and should not be allowed in the upcoming general elections, a noted security researcher said at the RSA Conference 2012 being held here this week.
David Jefferson, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and chairman of the election watchdog group Verified Voting, called on election officials around the country to drop plans to allow an estimated 3.5 million voters to cast their ballots over the Internet in this year's general elections.
In an interview with Computerworld on Wednesday, Jefferson warned that the systems that enable such voting are far too insecure to be trusted and should be jettisoned altogether.
(31st March 2012)
THREE US CREDIT FIRMS WARN OF SECURITY BREACH
(BBC News, dated 30th March 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Visa, Mastercard and Discover have warned that credit card holders' personal information could be at risk after a security breach.
The firms said there had been "no breach" of its own system, instead blaming a third party.Security blog KrebsOnSecurity, which first reported the story, said industry sources believed more than 10 million cards may have been compromised.
Reports suggested the stolen details had been obtained in New York.
The Wall Street Journal quoted its own industry sources as saying card-processing firm Global Payments was the company that suffered the breach. Shares in the company fell by more than 9% on Friday. Global Payments has not responded to requests for comment.
Concern
None of the three companies, which are the three of the largest credit card processors would confirm how many customers were affected.
Visa and Mastercard, also used for debit cards of major US banks, said they had notified banks of the breach.Discover Financial Services said it was monitoring accounts and would reissue cards if necessary.
In a statement, Mastercard said: "[We are] concerned whenever there is any possibility that cardholders could be inconvenienced and we continue to both monitor this event and take steps to safeguard account information. "If cardholders have any concerns about their individual accounts, they should contact their issuing financial institution."
Visa echoed Mastercard's statement, emphasising that its customers are not responsible for fraudulent purchases.
Gartner analyst Avivah Litan said she believed the breach was related to a taxi garage in New York City. "So if you've paid a NYC cab in the last few months with your credit or debit card - be sure to check your card statements for possible fraud," she said.
Further Information
Original source of information [Note 1] :
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/03/mastercard-visa-warn-of-processor-breach/#more-14393
Important Note : It appears that it is currently only US customers that have been affected by this problem, but if you have visited the USA recently and have used any of the named credit cards it may be prudent to closely monitor your credit card transactions / statements over the forthcoming months.
(30th March 2012)
EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT CYBERCRIMS IS WRONG
(The Register, dated 29th March 2012 author John Leyden)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
Assumptions about cyber-criminals are all wrong, according to a study that argues many fraudsters are middle aged and possess only rudimentary IT skills - contrary to the elite bedroom teen hackers portrayed in movies.
The research, led by criminologist Dr Michael McGuire of The John Grieve Centre for Policing and Security at London Metropolitan University, blames 80 per cent of cybercrime on your common-or-garden gangsters. Contrary to Hollywood film scripts, cybercrime is far from the preserve of tech-savvy youths - nearly half (43 per cent) of cyber-crooks are over 35 years old, and less than a third (29 per cent) are under 25.
More cyber-crooks (11 per cent) are over 50 than youngsters aged between 14 and 18, who make up only eight per cent of e-crims, according to the doctor and his team.
The study, sponsored by BAE Detica, is billed as the first comprehensive analysis of the nature of criminal organisations involved in e-crime. The document could help cops tackle banking fraud and other scams more effectively by challenging existing assumptions about the cyber-crook demographic.
The availability of crimeware, which can be easily distributed or purchased, means getting ready-made viruses that exploit the vulnerabilities of individual systems to running botnets of hijacked computers can be accomplished without any particular technical skills. Cyber-crooks are now just as likely to be street gangs, drug traffickers or established crime families as those traditionally associated with digital crime such as ID fraudsters or hacking syndicates.
The "deskilling" of cybercrime has allowed many traditional offline scams to be applied online. For example, money laundering has been extended to the creation of money mule networks to siphon funds from compromised web accounts, and the control of drugs markets has been applied in selling unlicensed medicines.
How many are in your gang?
Half the groups involved in cybercrime are made up of six individuals or more, with one quarter comprising 11 or more. However there's little or no correlation between group size and the impact or scope of offending.
A small group of cyber-crooks can inflict huge financial harm against targeted institutions. And many cybercrime crews have been operating for months rather than years. A quarter (25 per cent) of active groups have operated for less than six months, the Organised Crime in the Digital Age study concludes.
The report reveals that certain clusters of criminal activity exhibit more organisation or structure than others on a spectrum that extends from decentralised swarms through to highly organised hierarchies. In some cases classic crime families that have begun to move their offline activities into cyberspace - rubbing shoulders with extremist groups recruiting members online, and protesters coordinating riots using web tools.
Professor John Grieve, founder of policing centre, commented:
To tackle the problem of digital crime and intervene successfully, we need to move away from traditional models and embrace this new information about how organised criminals operate in a digital context.
The research found evidence of many cases where there has been real success in closing down digital criminal operations. Growth in the digital economy will inevitably cause an increase in organised digital crime, however this need not be seen as an insurmountable problem. Rather, it is a predictable problem that - by better understanding the perpetrators and their working methods - we can meet head on.
The team of researchers who carried out the study combined seeking out information by hand with advanced search tools - such as Detica's NetReveal Analyzer, a bit of gear designed to turn large amounts of structured and unstructured data into intelligence. Stage one of the research involved a review of evidence made up of over 7,000 documentary sources, including public and private documentation to analyse the technologies, activities, group characteristics and miscreants involved in cybercrime.
Then the team performed a demographic analysis of initial organisational patterns found in these sources, and compared the results with evidence from interviews with expert practitioners. Finally, a network analysis of the organisational patterns and activities that emerged at the earlier stages of the research process was carried out to arrive at the study's final conclusions.
(29th March 2012)
EUROPE TO ASSEMBLE CRACK CYBER-INTELLIGENCE NERVE CENTRE
(The Register, dated 28th March 2012 author John Leyden)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
Brussels hopes to establish a European Cybercrime Centre within the continent's police agency Europol by the start of January.
The centre proposed by the European Commission will focus on thwarting online banking fraud, attacks against smartphones, and large-scale coordinated assaults on public services and infrastructure. Other priorities will include protecting social network profiles, halting ID theft and combating the sexual exploitation of children online.
National police agencies, government-run organisations and private sector technology firms across many countries are already grappling with these problems, of course. Eurocrats want the proposed anticrime squad to act as an intelligence and co-ordination hub, as explained in this statement issued on Wednesday:
The centre would pool European cybercrime expertise and training efforts. It would warn EU countries of major cybercrime threats, of new ways to commit online crimes and identify organised cybercrime networks and prominent offenders in cyberspace.
The centre would also be able to respond to queries from cybercrime investigators, prosecutors and judges as well as the private sector on specific technical and forensic issues. It would provide operational support in concrete investigations and help set up cybercrime joint investigation teams.
In related news, a European parliamentary committee put forward a draft directive on Tuesday calling for criminal laws against computer hacking to be enacted across all EU countries, with the maximum penalty set at two years or more, or at least five years if there are aggravating factors - such as financial motivation or attacks that cause widespread disruption.
The proposal also calls for measures to make companies liable for attacks carried out for their benefit and the outlawing of hacking tools.
One man's hacking tool is another man's penetration testing utility, of course. Fortunately the fine print of the proposals recognises this distinction
(29th March 2012)
WHAT CAN AND CAN'T YOU SAY ON TWITTER ? (Summary)
(BBC News, dated 28th March 2012 authors Sarah Bell, Vanessa Barford and Lauren Everitt)
Full article : www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17530450
A student who made racially offensive comments about footballer Fabrice Muamba on Twitter has been jailed for 56 days - the latest case where a comment made on social media has landed someone in court.
Lawyers say there are lots of pieces of UK legislation that can be used to prosecute someone who has fallen foul of the law in the online arena.
So what have people posted that is likely to land them in prison?
Abusive messages
It seems Twitter has become a new terrace for footballers and fans to receive abuse, with a series of convictions so far this year.
The recent case of the individual who was jailed after drunkenly sending a series of abusive tweets in the aftermath of Bolton player Fabrice Muamba's collapse. Having charged him under the Crime and Disorder Act with making racially aggravated comments, the Crown Prosecution Service said it hoped he served as a warning to people posting comments online.
Last month, a Sunderland, received a four-month suspended jail sentence after posting racist comments aimed at Newcastle United fans, under the Malicious Communications Act.
And last week a law student , admitted bombarding former footballer Stan Collymore with a series of racist tweets in an attempt to "snare a celebrity" by provoking a reaction. He was charged under section 127 of the Communications Act with sending grossly offensive messages and given a two-year community order.
Wendy Williams (Head of the CPS in the North East), said : "When a person makes such comments digitally, they effectively hand police and prosecutors much of the evidence needed to build a robust case against them."
Encouraging Riots
Last summer's riots in England saw two people jailed for their posts on social networking sites despite the fact no trouble was reported in either area. One was jailed for four years for encouraging rioting after he created a Facebook event entitled "Smash down in Northwich Town. The other was to a person who invited people to "riot" in Warrington. Both men pleaded guilty under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence.
Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society of England and Wales's criminal law committee says "With the riots there was potential for serious harm and injury. The Muamba tweet was disgusting and offensive but not likely to create greater acts of criminality"
Menacing Communications
In a moment of frustration an individual from Doncaster sent a tweet reading: "Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit... otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"
He was convicted of sending "a message of a menacing character", contrary to provisions of the 2003 Communications Act, fined £385 and ordered to pay £600 costs after judges said it was "clearly menacing".
Prof Duncan Bloy, a media law expert at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, warns that many people do not know the criminal and civil consequences of making comments on social networking sites.
"There was a survey conducted by one of the big global law firms at the end of last year, it found that 65% of respondents, and they were mainly young people, had no idea of the legal consequences of going online," he says.
Kelcey's advice is that people should ask themselves whether they would be prepared to shout it out in a crowded room. "If in doubt don't shout should be the bottom line," he says.
Contempt
The viability of injunctions in the age of social media has been challenged by a number of high-profile cases over the last year.
When a famous footballer, asked Twitter to hand over details of users who had broken an injunction to reveal his identity, hundreds more responded by naming him.
In theory, they were guilty of contempt of court under the law of England and Wales and liable to an unlimited fine or even a two-year prison sentence. But it was suggested by legal analyst Joshua Rozenberg that they would have found safety in numbers.
The Contempt of Court Act 1981 states that once someone is arrested or charged, there should be no public comments about them which could risk seriously prejudicing their trial.
Libel
Last year, a councillor in Caerphilly, Wales, was ordered to pay £3,000 and costs to a political rival for posting libellous comments on Twitter.
Kelcey says : "People need to remember that Twitter and other social networking sites are "published" in much the same way as a newspaper". "In fact publications through this type of medium are arguably worse as they stay on the internet for a long time and can be difficult to remove. There is no doubt either as to the author which makes prosecution easier". "Publications in newspapers have usually gone through an editorial process so the more dangerous remarks are likely to be edited out and there is time for mature reflection before publication," he says.
(29th March 2012)
BT UNLEASHES NEW TECHNOLOGY TO CATCH CABLE THEIVES
(BT Online News, dated 26th March 2012)
www.btplc.com/News [Note 1]
BT today launched a new burglar alarm weapon in the fight against cable thieves. The technology, called RABIT, can act within minutes and detect when a cable has been cut or damaged, accurately pin-pointing an incident to a road or street.
RABIT alerts BT's Security Control Centre, and Police response teams, when cable thieves attack the company's UK telephone and broadband network. A trial of the technology has already forced cable thieves to flee the scene of the crime, in Essex, empty handed.
RABIT (Rapid Assessment Bt Incident Tracker) was trialled in December 2011. The technology constantly monitors the BT network and detects when communication has been disconnected.
Luke Beeson, general manager, BT Security, said: "BT's new burglar alarm on the network will make thieves think again. We are now able to inform the Police of the exact location of malicious network attacks and, if trials are anything to go by, it won't be long before they start catching the thieves in the act."
Paul Crowther, Deputy Chief Constable of the British Transport Police and metal theft lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "In my view this technology will significantly improve Police response times to cable theft incidents and will act as a major deterrent to criminals engaged in this activity. More importantly, communities and businesses should see a sharp reduction in the disruption caused by this type of theft. This is an early example of how Government funding has helped the National Police Metal Theft task Force, assist BT in the battle against cable theft."
The numbers of arrests related to BT cable theft are continuing to rise, with the average number of arrests per month up nearly eight per cent on last year. In the last 11 months the number of arrests has reached more than 480, already more than the 446 arrests in 2010. It is estimated that around 80 per cent of BT's cable theft is carried out by organised crime gangs. BT recovered 240 tonnes of stolen metal in the past eleven months, as a result of visits to scrap metal dealers and working with Police forces on targeted operations and national metal theft days of action.
RABIT is one of a number of measures used by BT Security to help battle copper theft, which cost BT and its customers millions of pounds each year.
Other security measures deployed by BT include using SmartWater, an invisible paint that tags thieves and an Openreach partnership with Crimestoppers. BT also has a dedicated Metal Theft Task Force, which focuses its resources on the enhancement of network security. The Task Force gathers and analyses intelligence from cable theft incidents and help disrupt disposal routes for stolen metal.
(29th March 2012)
WARNING TO THE ELDERLY AFTER THIEVES POSE AS POLICE
(Surrey Police, dated 22nd March 2012)
www.surrey.police.uk
Surrey Police is warning elderly residents to be on their guard as officers investigate a series of distraction burglaries and thefts in which the offenders claim to be police officers.
Detectives are looking at around 30 incidents across the county where elderly people, often living alone, have been approached by offenders posing as police officers or UK Border officials to gain entry into homes.
Victims are approached by between one and three men in dark clothing either at their front door or discover they have entered their property through an insecure door. When confronted, the men often claim they are police officers investigating a crime and show false identification before stealing items.
In some cases the offenders have forced their way inside a property whilst the occupier is in another room or asleep and when challenged have claimed to be police officers.
Over the last three months offences have been reported in Elmbridge, Guildford, Spelthorne, Epsom, and Mole Valley. Last Friday evening (March 16) a 90-year-old woman in Hersham was targeted by thieves posing as police officers who showed her a false silver badge before stealing two handbags and a significant amount of cash. During the incident they pulled the victim's handbag away from her causing her to fall to the floor and injure herself. She was treated in hospital for injuries to her hip.
In another incident in Surrey Heath, two offenders approached the home of an elderly woman and claimed to be police officers who had caught a thief in her garden. They asked to come in under the guise of needed to search the home for evidence but on this occasion nothing of value was taken.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Karen Hughes said: "To target the most vulnerable members of our community in this way is despicable and cowardly. We are doing everything possible to find those responsible and anyone with information which could assist should contact police or call Crimestoppers anonymously
"Detectives are working closely with local Safer Neighbourhood Teams to gather information, look at CCTV and any forensic opportunities. We are also working with neighbouring police forces to see if these offences are occurring over a wider area."
This week Crimestoppers offered a £5,000 reward for information about the offence in Hersham which left a woman requiring hospital treatment.
Neighbourhood Superintendent Sharon Bush said: "Across the county Safer Neighbourhood Teams are working with their local communities and partner agencies, particularly those who support the elderly, to raise awareness of these crimes. We need people to stay vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to us.
"If you live next door to someone who is vulnerable or have elderly relatives living alone please remind them to keep their doors secure even when they are at home and take precautions when answering the door to strangers. If you are not expecting the caller keep your door locked and ask to see some identification - perhaps through a window or letterbox. If you decide to open the door, engage the chain and keep it engaged until you are completely sure the caller is genuine. Genuine police officers will not mind waiting outside whilst you phone the Surrey Police switchboard on 101 to confirm their identity.
"If you do find intruders in your home, your personal safety is the priority. Stay calm and raise the alarm as soon as possible by calling the police."
(29th March 2012)
FOREIGN SPIES PENETRATE US MILITARY NETWORKS
(BBC News, dated 23rd March 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Foreign spies should be assumed to have penetrated the computer networks of the US military, American politicians have been told.
Security experts testifying to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee said the penetration was likely so complete that attempts to curb it should stop.
Instead, cyberdefence should be about protecting data not controlling access.
The experts said the US should look into ways to retaliate against nations that had access to its networks.
In an open session, experts from the US National Security Agency and government labs said America had to change the way it thought about protecting Department of Defense (DoD) computer networks.
"We've got the wrong mental model here," said Dr James Peery, head of the Information Systems Analysis Centre at the Sandia National Laboratories. "I think we have to go to a model where we assume that the adversary is in our networks."
'Delayed drowning'
That change would mean spending less time shoring up firewalls and gateways and more time ensuring data was safe, he said.
Dr Kaigham Gabriel, current head of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, likened the current cybersecurity efforts of the US DoD to treading water in the middle of the ocean.
All that did was slightly delay the day when the DoD drowned under the weight of maintaining its network defences, he said. The DoD oversees 15,000 networks that connect about seven million devices.
"It's not that we're doing wrong things, it's just the nature of playing defence in cyber," Dr Gabriel said.
The poor defences that the US military could muster were made weaker by its hiring system, said Dr Michael Wertheimer, director of research and development at the NSA.
Low pay, delays over promotion and wage freezes made it very hard for the US government to attract and keep talented computer security staff, he said.
The open session was followed by a closed debate about the capabilities the US was developing to hit back against those who had won access to sensitive networks.
(29th March 2012)
YOUR SECRETS FOR SALE AT 2P
(The Sunday Times, dated 18th March 2012 author Mazher Mahmoud)
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk [Note 1]
The personal and up to date data of millions of Britons is being offered for sale by corrupt call centre staff in India for as little as 2p per person, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Criminals who download the confidential information offered undercover reported a sample of credit card details and medical and financial records that could be used used by identity fraudsters and unscrupulous marketing firms.
The Sunday Times tracked down some of the hundreds of people featured in the sample data to confirm the veracity of the information.
One pair of data traders said they had access to 45 different sets of personal data covering 500,000 Britons.
The Information Commissioners Office, responsible for the laws governing personal data, said it would investigate the findings.
Richard Bacon, a Conservative member of the Commons public accounts committee, is to write to David Cameron urging a review into the data security at call centres. Told of our findings he said;" This is shocking and it is not just a matter for the organisations involved but for the government. I am concerned this is a growing problem and the government should investgate."
The authorities in India say their efforts to tackle corruption are being stymied by the refusal of companies, anxious to avoid bad publicity, to report losses of data. Aware of this reluctance, criminals brazenly advertise their "services" on website forums.
Two "consultants" who met undercover reporters at a hotel in Gurgaon, a city near Delhi that has one of the greatest concentrations of call centres in the world, showed off an array of information stored on a laptop computer. The data inlcuded names, addresses and phone numbers of credit card holders along with the number, start and expiry dates and three digit secuity verification numbers. Such information would allow a criminalto defraud the cardholder of thousands of pouns within minutes.
Personal information relating to mortgages, loans, insurances, mobile phone contracts and Sky TV subscriptions was also available, providing marketing firms with a wealth of information to target individuals.
Much of the data had been logged within the previous three days and involved many of the biggest banks and financial companies, including HSBC and Natwest. Bank account details are commonly taken by the call centres when customers use services such as shopping websites. Santander, the Spanish bank that took over Abbey in 2010, announced last year it would no longer use Indian call centres. Also on offer were patients' medical admissions data, which would allow health insurance companies to target individuals.
The men who both work as IT consultants for several call centres, said they could filter information to meet specific requirements. To illustrate this, they provided names, addresses and contact details for half a dozen "High earners", those with incomes of more than £15,000 a month.
This weekend, another data trader based in Mumbai provided details of 500 IT support customers which allow hackers to access their computers.
About 330,000 people work in India's call centres in an industry worth £3.2 billion a year. British firms have outsourced many of their services, although some have withdrawn amid a publc backlash against the use of foreign workers.
Further information
If you are not a subscriber to the The Times or The Sunday Times ( physical or online copy) I would say it was well worth a visit to your local library to have a read of this particular edition. This subject of personal details being stolen is expanded further on pages 12 and 13.
(24th March 2012)
FORCE LAUNCHES FIRST MURDER INVESTIGATION WEBSITE
(Police Oracle, date 22nd March 2012 author Nic Brunetti)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Officers probing the brutal killing of a man three years ago believe they have launched the first standalone UK website dedicated to a police murder investigation.
Lincolnshire Police says www.alanwoodmurder.com is the first of its kind - because it is not part of a subsidiary website or the force's own site.
The claim has been supported by the NPIA - the agency says it is not aware of any similar ventures ever having been done.
Detectives hope the website will help communicate with potential witnesses abroad due to the high number of immigrant workers based in the area where 50-year-old Alan Wood (pictured) was tortured and mutilated.
The body of Mr Wood was discovered in his home in the small hamlet of Lound, near Bourne, Lincolnshire in October 2009.
The website has been provided in the three most common foreign languages spoken in the area, following a demographic survey. Costs were kept to a minimum on the project - only £100 was spent.
Det Supt Stuart Morrison, head of the murder investigation, said he was optimistic that the site would help communicate with a wider audience.
He added: "We have a lot of migrant workers coming and going, and an effective way to communicate is a website instead of going by Facebook channels.
"We set up a standalone site to make the route more direct. People can view the site in any country they choose in a language they understand."
Police believe there is a possibility that the main suspect is a foreign national although officers remain open minded. A sample of blood taken from the scene was not found on the UK National DNA Database.
The main suspect, found on CCTV, is dubbed "ATM-Man" on the website but he has never been identified. A £60,000 reward for information leading to a successful conviction has been provided by a supermarket chain.
Det Supt Morrison said Lincolnshire had managed to keep the costs of the site down by fully producing it in-house and using Google Translate.
The force was also given permission by the BBC to use translated content from its Crimewatch website, on which the case has been featured several times.
Det Supt Morrison said: "This is a very complex case with international aspects. I wouldn't have taken this approach for a smaller scale case but for this I thought it was appropriate to put a presence on the web."
He added that the force would examine the success of the site in several months time - with the possibility of sharing best practice with other SIOs.
(24th March 2012)
CHILD EXPLOITATION WARRANTS EXECUTED IN OXFORD
(Thames Valley Police, dated 22nd March 2012)
www.thamesvalley.police.uk
Thames Valley Police has today executed 14 warrants across Oxford as part of an operation targeting child exploitation offences.
Operation Bullfinch is an investigation into child exploitation on 24 girls aged between the ages of 11 and 16 years old in Oxford.
The joint investigation, being carried out by Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council's Children, Education and Families Department, is aimed at rescuing potential victims and securing convictions of suspects believed to be responsible for these crimes.
Twelve men, aged between 21 and 37 years old, have been arrested this morning and are currently in police custody. They have been arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences including causing the prostitution of females under the age of 18, administrating drugs for the purpose of rape, trafficking, grooming and rape.
Det Supt Rob Mason, spokesperson for the operation, said: "We believe we have uncovered an organised crime group who have been running a business of selling young girls for sex. We have also identified a number of customers who we have reason to believe have used this service.
"We believe the offending spans over a six-year period. The warrants executed today are the second phase of this investigation and the arrests have been made to protect the girls from further harm. Our number one priority is to protect the victims, both their identities and wellbeing.
Councillor Louise Chapman, Cabinet Member for Children Young People and Families from Oxfordshire County Council, said: "Thames Valley Police and the Oxfordshire County Council's children's social care team linked up swiftly when it became apparent that it would be dealing with an investigation that centred on child exploitation.
"This prompt action allowed children's social care workers to work in close partnership with Thames Valley Police, with officers from the county council being seconded to the police, working from police premises.
"The county council has assisted in what has been a complex investigation leading to today's events. Its focus has been, and will continue to be, on the care for alleged victims.
"Thames Valley Police has demonstrated in conducting this investigation that it is not prepared to tolerate child exploitation in Oxfordshire. The county council feels sure it is speaking for the whole community in expressing total support for the police in this regard."
Oxford Commander, Supt Chris Sharp, said: "I understand today's events will have an impact on residents.
"My neighbourhood policing teams will be carrying out reassurance patrols in the area issuing information about the operation with contact details if people need further information, or would like to report any activity in relation to this investigation.
"There are individuals and groups who may seek to take advantage of the young and vulnerable and it is our job, working with our partners to prevent whatever form of abuse takes place and bring those responsible to justice."
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is the lead agency for tackling the sexual exploitation of children both online and offline.
Chief Executive Peter Davies said: "Tackling this devastating form of child abuse is challenging for police forces and other agencies so I'd like to congratulate Thames Valley Police on these arrests.
"In 2011, our report 'Out of Mind, Out of Sight' showed that child sexual exploitation affects children of many different backgrounds across the country.
"Staff from the centre will continue to work with Thames Valley Police to assist the officers involved in this investigation in any way possible, including offering support for ongoing engagement with victims and potential victims.
"It is also important to note the major contribution made to this investigation by our colleagues in the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC). Our aim is to work as a team so that practitioners across the country can achieve the best possible impact to protect children and pursue offenders."
Sheila Taylor, Director of the National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children & Young People (NWG) said: "Cases of child sexual exploitation are complex and difficult to investigate and bring those who perpetuate the crimes to justice. We congratulate Thames Valley Police for their dedication to this issue and the operation they have developed and their zero tolerance approach to this crime.
"As always our concerns lie with the young people who have been victims and are very pleased to see a complete multi-agency team approach to assisting the recovery of the young people.
"The experience of our members in the network is that both victims and offenders come from a wide range of cultural and social backgrounds."
Further Information
For more information on the National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children & Young People please visit www.nationalworkinggroup.org.uk
If you are worried about somebody who you think may be a victim of child exploitation you can call ChildLine on 0800 11 11 or visit their website www.childline.org.uk [Note 1]
If you have any information about this type of crime, you can contact your local Police on the non-emergency number 101.
If you don't want to speak to police and don't want to leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
To report online abuse go to Child Exploitation and Online Protection website : http://ceop.police.uk
(24th March 2011)
HACKERS HIT 112 INDIAN GOVERNMENT SITES IN THREE MONTHS
(The Register, dated 16th March 2012 author Phil Muncaster)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Hacking
There was embarrassing news for the Indian government this week as one of its ministers was forced to admit that over 100 of its web sites had been hacked in just three months at the beginning of the year, including that of a state-owned telecoms company.
Minister for communications and IT, Sachin Pilot, revealed in a written reply in parliament that a total of 112 sites had been compromised from December 2011 to February 2012, Indian news service IANS reported.
Many of the sites hacked appeared to be those of government agencies in various regions of the sprawling country including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala, the report continued.
Also singled out was state-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which was hacked and defaced in December allegedly by hackers belonging to the 'H4tr!ck' group.
BSNL in particular came under attack from Pakistani hackers several times last year, most notably from a group calling themselves the Pakistan Cyber Army, and many of the hacks of government sites mentioned by Pilot could be blamed on mischief makers from India's fierce rival across the border.
According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, there were 834 defacements of .in web sites in India during January this year, with the figure rising to 1,425 for all sites.
The authorities certainly don't seem to be getting any better at deflecting such attacks given that around the same number of government sites - 117 - were attacked in the entire first half of 2011, according to an official release.
This would seem to indicate that basic security measures are still not been taken at the back end to bolster defences against common attack methods including cross-site scripting and SQL injection.
It's not just the public sector that has been found wanting though, with Microsoft India's online store still offline after being targeted by alleged Chinese hackers.
Despite reassuring customers that their data was safe, Microsoft was later forced to admit that actually the hackers may well have nabbed credit card details from what is thought to have been an unencrypted database
(24th March 2012)
HUGE INCREASE IN CHILD ABUSE IMAGERY REPORTS
(Police Oracle, dated 20th March 2012 author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Category : Child abuse
The number of reports of sex abuse imagery involving young victims on the internet has rocketed in the past 12 months - and the tally is expected to grow in future.
Peter Davies, Head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, said volumes had "expanded massively" in the past year - and confirmed that the Centre had been restructuring in a move to counter the increasing threat.
He revealed that CEOP had been reconfigured, with some senior management posts removed in order to recruit extra members of staff at the sharp end. Mr Davies also said the restructuring would put the Centre in a strong position to become part of the National Crime Agency in the months ahead.
He told PoliceOracle.com: "The number of reports (of abuse images) that we have had coming in has risen dramatically over the course of the past 12 months.
"Sadly we believe these numbers will continue to rise - there are now more and more people around the world who are using the internet and, unfortunately, a small proportion of them will be interested in child sex abuse."
Mr Davies pointed out that this time last year CEOP was receiving around 800 reports every month but the number had now grown to around 1,400.
He added: "We are going to see further growth in volumes and I think there is going to be a 39 or 40 per cent increase next year. We need to be ready for that."
But he was confident that the restructuring of CEOP would place it in a stronger position to help counter the threat to children - and target those responsible.
"We are seeking to recruit between 10 and 20 personnel for a number of new posts," he added. "Having taken a cold, hard look at what we do, we feel that we are able to increase the number of people working at the centre.
"The number of senior managers has been reduced and more people placed on the front line. Everything must be focused on our core mission of protecting children."
(24th March 2012)
GIRLS WARNED : YOU'LL BE USED AND ABUSED IF YOU JOIN GANGS
(London Evening Standard, dated 20th March 2012 author Anna Davis)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
Former gang members are touring London schools to warn teenage girls of the harsh realities of life in a gang.
Three women have launched a hard-hitting campaign to warn pupils about sexual exploitation and crime, drawing on their personal experiences.
They are visiting 30 schools with their play BOOTY, which tells the story of a girl who is murdered because she gets in with the wrong crowd.
Lynne Featherstone, minister for equalities, said: "People would be shocked if they could see the level of violence and abuse against girls in gangs. Our first priority is to protect girls who see themselves as worthless objects to be used in unacceptable ways."
Camilla Ferdinand, 17, from Camden, is telling her story as part of the project, organised by crime prevention programme OC Impact which since 2008, has been working with the Met to reach more than 7,000 young people at risk of getting involved in crime.
She said she drifted towards gang life when she was put into care and people on the street became her family: "My boyfriend was so nice to me when we were alone but when others were there he was horrible - it was like I was no one. Sometimes he'd hit me in front of his friends. He didn't respect me at all and only cared what the other boys thought.
"I also realised that it is not only the boys that disrespect girls. Girls disrespect themselves and each other - they crave attention from boys so much they'll do anything - hold drugs, guns, have sex - anything for some respect from boys. But boys don't respect you for that, they just use you."
Charlotte Neal, 49, from Chelsea, told how she ran brothels across England for 20 years before going into rehab and turning her back on drugs and crime. She said: "I can never forgive myself for some of the things I've done to girls in order to please men. As girls we have got to look after ourselves better and put a stop to all this abuse."
Peter Czajkowski, drama teacher at Park View school in Haringey, said: "My year 10 students watched the play and they were enthralled by it. It spoke to them just on the right level. We live in an area of Tottenham where these issues are around. The play acts as a safeguard for them to be able to recognise and talk about these issues."
My ambition saved me
Malaika "Lykez" Hendrickson, from Finsbury Park, joined a gang as a teenager but managed to leave because she wanted to start a career in music. She is now a rapper known as Lady Lykez.
The 21-year-old said: "When I was in school I just wanted to have fun. I wasn't interested in learning. Outside school I got involved with the wrong people and ended up being in a gang.
"There was always pressure to be bad, it was almost like bad was good and everyone wanted to prove how bad they were, especially to the boys."
She said girls were often asked to carry weapons or drugs in the belief that they were less likely to be stopped by the police. She added: "I didn't go to prison but I was heading that way and the only thing that saved me was my ambition. I wanted to be a famous rapper. The people around me involved in negative activities didn't have anything else to do.
"With crime it's really difficult to get out. I have really close friends who have been in and out of prison, they are still in the cycle. A lot of girls are attracted to that life because it looks so glamorous with all the money and the bling. But I tell them you can have money and have a lovely life without getting into crime.
"My advice to girls is to find what you want to do when you are older -find an ambition. But most of all get your education."
(20th March 2012)
CAMPAIGNERS CALL FOR NEW HOMICIDE LAW FOR INCITING SUICIDE
(The Guardian, dated 19th March 2012 author Amelia Hill)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Growing concerns about the failure of police to properly investigate cases of women who have killed themselves after violence or abuse have led to a campaign for a new homicide law of "suicide aggravated by harassment or violence".
The campaign is to be launched next month by Southall Black Sisters, who say the law would also cover those who jump from high buildings after being jeered by onlookers or who kill themselves after being encouraged over the internet.
An estimated 10 women kill themselves every week after repeated abuse, Home Office statistics show. Attempted or successful suicide is more than three times higher among Asian women in the UK , especially among those aged between 15 and 24 years old, according to research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in1992.
But prosecutions are rare: there is no law in Britain against encouraging suicide without physical help. Only coroner's courts can compel investigations into suicides.
"At best, convoluted efforts are being made to hold perpetrators of violent or abusive conduct to account when a suicide results," said Pragna Patel, a founding member of Southall Black Sisters, which has a history of forcing through new laws to protect women.
"At worst, such deaths are not properly investigated at all. In our experience, in the face of violence or abuse, many women feel that they have no option but to self-harm or kill themselves. This state of affairs is especially disturbing in the context of a complete absence of any … effective criminal prosecutions of perpetrators of abuse who are demonstrably culpable in causing a woman or vulnerable person to commit suicide."
Patel launched the campaign after taking on the case of 23-year-old Nosheen Azam, who was found engulfed in flames in her garden in Sheffield in 2005.
Azam had come to the UK from Pakistan seven months earlier to live with her British husband, Amjid Hussein. Almost immediately, she began complaining to her family that she was being abused by some of her husband's family, said Azam's father Mohammed. On the day she was found in flames, she had told her parents that she was frightened for her life, her father said. Nobody knows whether someone tried to murder Azam, whether she was goaded into taking her own life, or whether she made her own decision: the young woman now lies in a hospital bed, brain-dead with over 60% burns. She is, said her father, "a living corpse".
"There has been no concerted effort to find out what drove Nosheen to attempt to take her own life," said Patel. "If she had died, there would at least have been an inquest. Because there is no law of 'suicide aggravated by domestic violence', however, there is no motivation for the police to investigate whether it is a case of provable encouragement to suicide, despite that being nearly the same thing as murder."
A new homicide law could have wider applications in cases like that of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her disabled daughter after repeated abuse by youths near their home in Hinckley, Leicestershire.
It could be used in cases like that of Shaun Dykes, the 17-year-old boy who jumped off a shopping centre in Derby in 2008 after being goaded by onlookers. Film footage appeared on YouTube.
Patel criticised the legal options available when a woman kills herself after enduring domestic violence. It is up to campaigners to ask coroner's courts to investigate why the suicide occurred. This, she said, is inadequate and "has enormous cost implications for campaigning groups like ours".
"There has to be some means of ensuring that those responsible for causing someone to take their life, are held criminally liable. The current state of affairs in untenable and cannot therefore be justified," she said. Patel wants the law to encompass mental damage. "If domestic violence or abuse results in psychological harm … there is no basis upon which to bring a criminal prosecution under the present law on manslaughter."
More information
Their overview : "Southall Black Sisters is a not-for-profit organisation set up in 1979 to meet the needs of black (Asian and African-Caribbean) and minority ethnic women. For more than three decades we have been at the forefront of challenging domestic and gender violence locally and nationally."
www.southallblacksisters.org.uk [Note 1]
(20th March 2012)
WOMAN'S WEBSITE DATE WAS VICIOUS RAPIST
(London Evening Standard, dated 19th March 2012 author Paul Cheston)
www.thisislondon.co.uk
Police have warned internet dating users after a legal secretary was left "unrecognisable" by a rapist she met on a website.
Peter Ramsey, 26, beat the woman to the ground and raped her when she refused him a goodnight kiss at her front door.
Ramsey punched the 27-year-old victim repeatedly, knocking out a front tooth and leaving her with 21 injuries. Her face wounds were among the most shocking detectives investigating the case had ever seen.
The sex attacker was caught after using the victim's Oyster card to board a nightbus within minutes of the attack in Clapham.
Ramsey and the woman had spent four days chatting on plentyoffish.com which claims on its home page to be "responsible for more dates and more relationships than any other dating site".
They arranged to meet for drinks in Brixton at 7pm.
She said: "He seemed like a nice guy. The date was going very well. I thought we had a lot in common."
In the early hours of August last year they went for something to eat before getting in a cab to her flat near Clapham Common. She believed he was going to walk her to her front door but when he leant in for a kiss and she pulled back, he "switched".
"I thought I was going to die," she told Inner London crown court. Ramsey also stole the woman's bag.
A passer-by came to her aid and the victim's mother, who had heard the screams, rushed out to find her disfigured and traumatised daughter.
The following day Ramsey left two voicemails on the victim's mobile telling her he was sorry and had now sobered up.
Ramsey was arrested a week after the attack when he was linked by DNA evidence and CCTV footage from the bus. He was found guilty of rape, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and theft. Judge Patricia Lees adjourned sentence until next month.
Outside court Dc Richard Huggins said: "I would urge people using dating websites to thoroughly vet the people they meet and before they spend time alone. I have been in the police for 14 years and these were some of the most shocking facial injuries I have ever seen."
Further information
Suzy Lamplugh Trust : www.suzylamplugh.org
Rape Crisis [Note 1] : www.rapecrisis.org.uk
Stalking Helpline : www.stalkinghelpline.org
Network for surviving stalking [Note 1]: www.nss.org.uk
(20th March 2012)
FORCES UNITE FOR CYBERCRIME PROBE
(Police Oracle, dated 16th March 2012 author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Category : Phishing
Officers have made several arrests in connection with an online attack which saw all three new regional hubs assist the Met's Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) for the first time.
Officers from the East Midlands, York and Humber, and North West regional hubs launched earlier this year to work alongside the PCeU, came together. Assistance was also provided by colleagues from the Met's Fraud Unit as well as City of London's Specialist Crime Department.
According to reports from the Met, the arrests were made after a co-ordinated series of phishing attacks, in which a victim lost £1 million of her life savings.
The woman, a UK citizen living abroad after relocating to care for a sick relative, saw her savings disappear after her bank account details were illegally obtained.
The money was then siphoned off via internet transfers to several other accounts.
The arrests which involved 12 men and two women, were made in locations across London as well as addresses in the West Midlands. All are currently in custody on suspicion of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to launder money.
Det Insp Stewart Garrick of the PCeU, told reporters: "Our activity is a direct response to a sophisticated million pound phishing attack, combined with brazen money laundering, which involves a large number of suspects.
"The victim in this case has suffered significant stress after her life savings, which she intended to use to purchase a property on her return to England, were stolen."
(20th March 2012)
CYBER CRIME TEAM TO TACKLE ORGANISED TAX FRAUD
(Central Office of Information NDS, dated 13th March 2012 author HMRC)
Category : Fraud
A new cyber crime team to tackle tax fraud by organised criminals more proactively was launched today by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The newly-created specialist cyber crime team will protect the exchequer from attempted fraud by cyber criminals who are using increasingly sophisticated ways to target HMRC's repayment systems. The team is designed to protect both HMRC and taxpayers from organised criminals and will build on HMRC's existing cyber counter-fraud capability and existing investigation and intelligence work and is a key element of HMRC's Cyber Crime and Security Strategy.
Recruitment of high calibre technical experts, analysts and investigators will protect HMRC and its customers from fraud using technology funded by the National Cyber Security Programme.
The new cyber team will provide HMRC with a better awareness of the nature of the threat by using specialist forensic tools to exploit intelligence. Giving expert advice on keeping HMRC services secure, they will provide technical expertise to our criminal investigators and present real-time intelligence to our operational risk and security teams.
David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said:
"As more and more of HMRC's systems move online, cyber criminals will look to exploit any opportunity to attack the repayment system. HMRC is getting ahead of the curve - taking forward what it is already doing in a better way. In the last year alone, customers reported over 200k bogus emails purporting to come from HMRC and, as a result, HMRC shut down close to 1,000 bogus websites."
The new team comes as a result of the Government's £917m spending review investment to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and fraud from 2011/12, which aims to raise an additional £7bn each year by 2014/15, and funding from the national Cyber Security Programme.
As well as the creation of the specialist cyber crime team, HMRC will be deploying more technology to stop criminal behaviour in real time.
Francis Maude, Minister for Cyber Security, said:
"The Cyber Security Strategy set out the Government's commitment to build a more trusted and resilient digital environment and protect the public from online fraud as we move more services online.
"This new unit will play a vital role in tackling online organised tax fraud and we have committed National Cyber Security Programme funding to it to ensure we are better prepared to deal with cyber threats and are better able to protect the public and businesses online."
The new teams will build on HMRC's successful counter-fraud activity, which includes:
- The creation of simple but effective dedicated reporting channels to report the attempted hijack or misuse of passwords or credentials
- Shutting down bogus websites, claiming to belong to HMRC
- Working with other government departments, law enforcement agencies and commercial organizations to reduce and tackle the threat from cyber crime across the public and private sector
- Working closely with high-risk customer groups, such as tax agents, and the publication of security guidance pages on our website
- Criminal investigation of organised crime groups using cyber crime techniques.
(20th March 2012)
CHINESE STEAL JET SECRETS FROM BAE (Extract)
(The Sunday Times, dated 11th March 2012 author David Leppard)
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk [Note 1]
Chinese spies hacked into computers belonging to BAE Systems, Britains biggest defence company, to steal details about the design, performance and electronic systems of the West's latest fighter jet. senior security figures have disclosed.
The Chinese have exploited vulnerabilities in BAR's computer defences to steal vast amounts of data on the £200 billion F35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), a multinational project to create a plane that will give the West air supremacy for years to come, according to the sources. The attack has prompted fears that the jets radar capabilities could have been compromised.
Details of the attack on BAE have been a closely guarded secret within Britains intelligence community since it was first uncovered nearly three year ago. But they were disclosed by a senior BAE executive during a private dinner in London for cyber security experts late last year.
One of those present said : "The BAE man said that for 18 months Chinese cyber attacks had taken place against BAE and had managed to get hold of plans of one of its latest fighters. He seemed genuinely concerned that the attack had gone on undetected for so long and that it posed a threat to the aircrafts defences".
Professor Anthony Glees director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, who was also present at the dinner, said : "It seems the Chinese were getting plans which allow them to undermine the defence capacity of the country. It's deeply unsettling that GCHQ (the Governments eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham) didn't spot this for so long because they are the people who are meant to be leading the fight against cyber crime".
BAE said : " We don't comment on allegations of cyber attacks against the company. BAE System's own cyber security capability can detect, prevent and rectify such attacks".
Comment
The article above provides a bit of a distorted picture about the GCHQ responsibility. It is meant to look after National Security. Companies that are Government suppliers (such as BAE) have to prove to their government customer that they have adequate security measures in place.
Even though BAE's HQ is within the UK it operates all over the Globe (its a multinational). If its network was hacked, that infiltration could have occurred from anywhere within its computer network. Even the company's central computer system could be split between sites and they could be located on different continents.
With that in mind, why would BAE purchase a computer security company about the same time the hacking started ?
Here is an hypothesis. For every security manager in existence there is probably a couple of hundred hackers all bursting to make a name for themselves. Some are freelancers and others are state sponsored, on both sides of the idiological divide. If a company such as BAE did discover that some of its secrets had been hacked (say 10% of a new radar system), would it shut its doors (firewall reinforcement).
Or, would it leave the door open for the hackers to "feed" on the remaining 90% of "secrets" which had now been made up of absolute rubbish ! Then to add credence to this false material you send a "drunken" executive to a security managers party where he "spills the beans" on the company's failure. I think I know where I would put my money !
The following articles provide background to BAE's current security measure ethos.
HOW DO YOU TELL WHEN YOU'RE UNDER CYBER ATTACK ?
(BAE Subsidiary - DETICA, dated 5th September 2011 author Henry Harrison)
www.baesystemsdetica.com/news/blogs/cyber-security-blog/ [Note 1]
The easy answer to the question is that you don't need to - you can simply assume that you are, all the time. Even your home network is constantly being bombarded with attempts to break in, but the good news is that the vast majority of these attempts are foiled because the vulnerability that was being targeted has been patched, or because security measures such as firewalls stop them.
What's more interesting is to ask how you tell when you've been successfully attacked. I've talked in a previous posting about the term "cyber attack" and why I don't particularly like it - because in many cases it's very difficult to tell whether you've been attacked. That's because the attacker's complete objective is to avoid being detected - and in many cases they're very good at it.
By and large, the best answer is that you should suspect you might have been successfully attacked if things start behaving strangely. In some cases, you might spot that by good luck - it's surprising how many cases have been detected because someone complained about their PC going slowly.
But rather than trusting to luck, we think you're better advised to put measures in place to look for - and investigate - strange behaviour. Of course, that's not an easy thing to do - only if they make some fairly serious mistakes will an attacker reveal themselves to the user of the affected PC. But increasingly effective technology solutions are now coming onto the market, and we believe they're rapidly becoming indispensable for anyone who really cares about security.
WHY DOESN'T ANYONE WANT TO SHOUT ABOUT CYBER ATTACKS ?
(BAE Subsidiary - DETICA, dated 18th July 2011 author : Administrator )
http://www.baesystemsdetica.com/news/blogs/cyber-security-blog/ [Note 1]
I was wondering recently (while reading the seemingly endless stream of press reports about data breaches) why more companies aren't reporting being victims of cyber attacks.
Sure, it can be a fairly painful and embarrassing confession to make in the short term, but if more people were made aware of how defences can be breached and the potential impact of data loss, the incentive to do something about it would increase.
Not only that, but the markets and media would become more accustomed to such reports and stop announcing them like the outbreak of World War III. In the long term, everyone would benefit from the increased knowledge and the impact would potentially be lessened.
Then I remembered the volunteer's dilemma - one of several scenarios described by a branch of mathematics called game theory.
In the volunteer's dilemma, every person faces the decision of either making a small sacrifice from which all may benefit or simply waiting for the others to volunteer. If no one volunteers, then everyone loses. If any one person elects to volunteer, then the rest may benefit by not having had to do so themselves.
However, according to the theory, the more organisations involved in the situation, the smaller the likelihood that any of them will volunteer. That's because they all want to reap the benefits from everyone else's selfless acts. It's a paradox.
From our estimates of the cost of cyber crime in the UK (cost to business of approximately £21 billion per annum) and what we see in our cyber security work, we suspect that many organisations are under cyber attack. Targets of particular interest are those rich in valuable intellectual property and sensitive data. The volunteer's dilemma suggests that they're all waiting for someone else to fall on their proverbial sword.
Dilemmas, by their very nature, can be hard to get out of unless other options are presented. For instance, what would happen if companies were forced by legislation to report a breach? What if they could do it anonymously? What if companies came together to discuss breaches in an environment safe from reporting?
A small number of companies have recently decided to go public. There's a slim chance that they've seen the greater good and are just being altruistic, I guess. But perhaps they've found a different way of tackling the issue, which is strong enough to break the dilemma they're in. If that's the case, then maybe there's more we should all be doing - companies and governments alike - to create more options.
Further Information
BAE purchase DETICA in 2008.
What DETICA say they do : "We develop, integrate and manage information intelligence solutions to help our clients deliver effective and secure services to citizens and customers. We also develop solutions to strengthen national security and resilience".
What DETICA says in its literature : " the crime and security threats we face today are growing in sophistication and show an increasing tendency to come from internationally, or even globally, networked groups."
(16th March 2012)
IMPACT OPERATION SEES MORE THAN 200 ARRESTS
(Police Oracle, dated 14th March 2012 author Nic Brunetti)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Officers have arrested more than 200 wanted criminals as part of a high-impact policing operation which saw 192 of them arrested in just one day.
Operation Relentless, which took place on March 7, targeted criminals across Avon and Somerset and has seen 72 people already charged with serious crimes including burglary, robbery, assault and drugs offences.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which put substantial resources into the operation including 600 officers, says it managed to cope by redeploying officers from headquarters who would otherwise be involved in office duties.
Normal response patrols were in place to deal with 999 calls as normal, it said.
Between 200 and 300 PCSOs and special constables played their part in Op Relentless which saw 68 search warrants executed and only four people released without charge so far.
The force said it was too early to say whether the operation had an impact on crime rates although a spokesman said: "We are taking people off the streets who commit crime day in day out so hopefully we will see the results in the coming months."
He added: "Frontline staff in the policing districts were supported by their colleagues in headquarters who would otherwise be involved in training, criminal investigation, financial investigation or other office-based activity.
"Tackling wanted and prolific criminals can take time and a day such as this involves background work and intelligence paving the way for the operation. This is not only about taking on the criminals head-on but high-profile public reassurance policing."
The force said this year's operation had been the most successful since its launch in 2005. It also plans to pursue those convicted as part of the operation under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Since 2006 it says more than £12 million has been taken away from convicted criminals under confiscation orders.
Relentless targeted criminals across the Constabulary's six areas including Bristol, Bath, Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Further Information
Operation Relentless was launched in 2005
There have been 35 actions since its creation which resulted in more than 2100 arrested suspects.
During the most recent action :
- 30 people arrested for offences ranging from possession with intent to supply drugs, theft, money laundering, burglary and cultivation of class B drugs.
- Officers uncovered two cannabis factories and seized a combined total of 137 cannabis plants.
- Officers also found drugs believed to be heroin, amphetamine sulphate, crack cocaine and methadone.
(16th March 2012)
FIVE YEARS OF LONDON MURDER VICTIMS
(Guardian, dated 5th October 2012 author Simon Rogers)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Note : The figures by borough shown below was created by "uaware" based on a spreadsheet of murder victims within the original Guardian article. The full article, which includes the names of the murder victims can be accessed via this link [Note 1] : www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/05/murder-london-list?INTCMP=SRCH
The Metropolitan Police is pretty active with its Freedom of Information releases - releasing hundreds of datasets each year which shine a light on crime in London. And this dataset is one of the most compelling of all: a list of every murder case since 2006.
There are 837 murders detailed here, with date, age of the victim and the London borough in which they died. The UK has around 600 murders a year, and the capital annually accounts for 100 to 150 of those.
The data itself is messy - it comes as a PDF, which is watermarked and locked, to make copying as difficult as possible. But, thanks to John Houston, we can help you access it (and to the awesome @foimonkey for bringing it to our attention).
It shows what many crime experts fear: murders victims in London tend to be young: 433 were under 30 with nearly 200 of those under the age of 21.
Age of Murder Victims
Age 1 to 10 : 41 (4.9%)
Age 11 to 15 : 26 (3.1%)
Age 16 to 20 : 126 (14.9%)
Age 21 to 30 : 240 (28.5%)
Age 31 to 40 : 151 (17.9%)
Age 41 to 55 : 150 (17.8%)
Age 55 to 65 : 53 (6.3%)
Over 65 : 56 (6.6%)
Most of these cases end up with someone in court and a conviction. For a minority - 124 - there is still no resolution (these are the figures bracketed below). That might sound like a lot but sanction detection rates (an investigation resulting in a conviction or some other penalty) are nationally at 83% for murder, so the Met is just above that.
Murders by London Borough
Barking & Dagenham : 16 (4)
Barnet : 21 (3)
Bexley : 14 (0)
Brent : 28 (4)
Bromley : 16 (3)
Camden : 22 (2)
Croydon : 29 (9)
Ealing : 27 (7)
Enfield : 25 (6)
Greenwich 27 (6)
Hackney : 37 (5)
Hammersmith & Fulham : 11 (6)
Haringey : 30 (6)
Harrow : 8 (4)
Havering : 13 (1)
Hillingdon : 21 (0)
Hounslow : 13 (2)
Islington : 30 (1)
Kensington & Chelsea : 2 (0)
Kingston : 4 (0)
Lambeth : 64 (15)
Lewisham : 32 (4)
Merton : 13 (0)
Newham : 46 (10)
Redbridge : 13 (1)
Richmond : 1 (0)
Southwark : 40 (9)
Sutton : 14 (0)
Tower Hamlets : 27 (5)
Waltham Forest : 28 (4)
Wandsworth : 22 (4)
Westminster : 20 (3)
(16th March 2012)
THOUSANDS BOMBARDED IN CALLER SPOOFING RIDDLE
(The Register, dated 12th March 2012 author Brid-Aine Parnell)
Full article [Note 1] : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/12/caller_id_spoofing_uk/
Thousands of Brits were tormented by nuisance calls after West Midlands businesses were caught up in a caller ID spoofing blitz.
Firms including We Solve IT and solicitors Bridgehouse Partners appeared to bombard residents at all hours of the day and night thanks to a foreign outfit that used the companies' numbers to mask the real source of the calls.
"Apparently our phone number has been hacked or spoofed, and our number is calling people at a rate of 1000 per hour," We Solve IT managing director Steve Davies said in a statement on his firm's website. "It is not coming from us or our phone system, but likely coming from a number abroad."
"We have also filed a report with the Action Fraud Team, a branch of the police. Please do not think we are being complacent in asking you to contact your service providers to report the problem; the reason we ask you to do this is because none of these calls are going through our system at any point and therefore it is very difficult for us to trace them," the statement explained.
However they are coming through to you via either BT, Virgin etc. If enough people get onto these big providers they will be able to trace the calls and hopefully put a stop to it."
Finding the antisocial source
A spokesperson for Ofcom told The Register that it had worked with telecom providers to fix the issue and said it was now resolved.
A BT spokesperson told The Register that its customers had called into its Nuisance Call Bureau to report the issue.
"We identified the calls were from an international source with an incorrect calling line identification and were being carried over various networks. Working with other network providers we have now stopped these calls affecting ours and other providers' customers."
(16th March 2012)
CARD FRAUD TELEPHONE SCAM
(Courtesy of : Metropolitan Police - Neighbourhood Link, dated 12th March 2012)
www.met.police.uk
In last weeks news (07.03.2012) it was stated that card fraud has fallen to its lowest level in 11 years. This is positive news. However, we want to highlight the need to be ever vigilant to new and existing card fraud scams such as the one detailed below.
How does this scam work?
You receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be from your bank. He or she will say their systems have spotted a fraudulent payment on your card or that your card is due to expire and needs replacing.
You may be asked to ring back using the telephone number on the back of your card - which further convinces you that the call is genuine. However, the caller keeps the line open at their end so, when you make the call, you are unknowingly connected straight back to the fraudster.
Then, by seeming to offer assistance, the fraudster tries to gain your trust. In most cases you are asked to 'cancel' your existing card or 'activate' or 'authorise' a replacement card by keying your PIN into the handset of your phone.
The fraudster then poses as a bank representative who agrees to collect your card from your home, sometimes offering you a replacement card, which is a fake.
In some cases a genuine courier company is hired to pick up the card from your home address. The victim will have been asked to place the card into an envelope ready for collection. Once they have your card and PIN the fraudster uses them to spend your money.
A variation of the scam involves the fraudster ringing a prospective victim and claiming to be from the police - again with the aim of going to the victim's home to collect the card and PIN.
What can I do to avoid being a victim of this scam?
- Neither your bank nor the police would ever ring you and state that they are coming to your home to pick up your card, so never hand it over to anyone who comes to collect it.
- Your bank will NEVER ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into the telephone handset.
- NEVER share your PIN with anyone - the only times you should use your PIN is at a cash machine or when you use a chip and PIN machine in a shop / restaurant.
I think I might have been a victim of this scam - what should I do?
If the criminals are nearby ring the Police immediately on 999, otherwise report the crime to your local Police via 101.
If you think you have been the victim of a fraud or scam of this nature you should also call your bank or card company immediately.
(16th March 2012)
GANG MADE MILLIONS - STEALING HOMES FROM OAP'S
(Sky News, dated 2nd March 2012)
http://news.sky.com/home [Note 1]
Category : Fraud
A solicitor, a bank manager and a land registry official helped a criminal gang make millions of pounds by effectively stealing people's homes.
The trio were recruited by drug traffickers to fool developers into buying the properties at knock-down prices.
In an extraordinary conspiracy the gang identified homes that were neglected or abandoned, their owners dead, or in care.
Then they erected an official-looking board in the garden, with the name of a bogus security firm. On it was a mobile phone number, inviting calls from anyone with an interest in the house. If no-one called, they boarded it up, changed the locks and went ahead and sold the property. They made at least £3.8m, but it may have been much more.
The three professionals and gang members are being sentenced after being convicted of fraud and money-laundering offences.
Surjeet Chana, a 64-year-old grandmother, worked in customer services at the Land Registry headquarters. She supplied title deeds and owners' signatures so they could be forged.
Police found £38,000 hidden in the loft of her home in South London.
Solicitor Charles Spiropoulos, 48, did the conveyancing and collected money from the illegal house sales.
Bank manager Indipaul Sra, 42, let the gang move their huge profits in and out of accounts without reporting it to money-laundering investigators.
At times conspirators removed £100,000 cash in holdalls from his branch of Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) in Purley, South London.
Det Ch Insp Jonathan Benton, of Scotland Yard's Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: "They were targeting often old and vulnerable people and literally stealing their homes, as well as flooding London streets with dangerous drugs.
"And they corrupted three officials, whose roles were crucial in making the fraud work."
The gang sold at least seven homes - the cheapest around £200,000 - usually in quick sales to unsuspecting developers who later discovered they were not the real owners.
Its leaders were cocaine traffickers Billy Sales, 32, and James Arthur, 34, who are already serving long sentences for their drugs offences.
They began to launder their drugs money through their barbers shop in Whyteleafe, Surrey, but when profits soared they began the property scam.
The gang were originally investigated for drugs by Scotland Yard's elite Special Projects Team, but evidence of the house fraud soon emerged.
Sales was overheard boasting to one associate: "I am caning the life out of this. No house is safe with me about."
The trio are expected to be sentenced next week.
JAILED : HOUSE FRAUD GRANNY COLLAPSES IN COURT
(Sky News, dated 7th March 2012)
http://news.sky.com/home [Note 1]
A grandmother has collapsed in court after she was jailed for helping a criminal gang make millions of pounds by effectively stealing people's homes.
Surjeet Chana, 64, was among a trio of crooked officials - which also included a solicitor and a bank manager - recruited by the gang to fool developers into buying the properties at knock-down prices.
Chana, a clerk, worked in customer services at the Land Registry headquarters and supplied title deeds and owners' signatures so they could be forged.
Police found £38,000 hidden in the loft of her home in south London and she was sentenced to three years and nine months behind bars.
The trio have been convicted of fraud and money-laundering offences at Southwark Crown Court.
Chana collapsed in the dock as she was sentenced. The judge told her she had committed a serious breach of trust as a Land Registry clerk.
Chana's solicitor Henry Oghoetuoma said: "Mrs Chana is deeply disappointed by the verdict of the jury in this matter and continues to vigorously protest her innocence."
Solicitor Charles Spiropoulos, 48, carried out the conveyancing and collected money from the illegal house sales. He was jailed for four years.
His solicitor Cyrus Mansouri said: "Mr Spiropoulos is innocent and the only evidence against him was circumstantial.
"He was simply asked to do conveyancing on four of the properties and after checking the passports of the sellers that's all he did. He has no idea there was anything illegal and we are appealing his conviction."
A 42-year-old Barclays bank manager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, let the gang move its huge profits in and out of accounts without reporting it to money-laundering investigators as he should have done.
He was also sentenced to four years in prison.
In an extraordinary conspiracy, the gang identified homes that were neglected or abandoned, their owners dead or in care.
Then they put up an official-looking board in the garden, with the name of a bogus security firm and a mobile phone number, inviting calls from the house's owners.
If no one called they boarded it up, changed the locks and went ahead and sold the property. They made at least £3.8m, but it may have been much more.
At times conspirators removed £100,000 cash in holdalls from his branch of Barclays in Purley, south London.
Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Benton, of Scotland Yard's Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: "They were targeting often old and vulnerable people and literally stealing their homes, as well as flooding London streets with dangerous drugs.
"And they corrupted three officials, whose roles were crucial in making the fraud work."
The gang, which was jailed for a total of 24 years and six months, sold at least seven homes, usually in quick sales to unsuspecting developers who later discovered they were not the real owners.
Anne McKendrick's Croydon home was targeted by the gang after she moved out because she had been traumatised by a burglary.
Told that it was later sold for £140,000, she said: "I've lost my past, much of my identity and reason for existing."
Freda Gallacher inherited a Wimbledon house and found it had been sold for £190,000, leaving her "very confused and in total shock".
The gang leaders were cocaine traffickers James Arthur, 34, and another man who cannot be named for legal reasons. They are already serving long sentences for their drugs offences.
They began to launder their drugs money through their barbers shop in Whyteleafe, Surrey, but when profits soared they began the property scam.
The gang was originally investigated for drugs by Scotland Yard's elite Special Projects Team, but evidence of the house fraud soon emerged.
The gang leader was overheard boasting to one associate: "I am caning the life out of this. No house is safe with me about."
(9th March 2012)
CARD FRAUD FALLS TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL FOR 11 YEARS
(BBC News, dated 7th March 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Category : Fraud
The amount of money lost due to fraud on credit and debit cards fell last year by 7% to £341m - its lowest level for 11 years.
The drop from 2010 was mainly due to a 41% fall in fraudsters impersonating people to obtain or use credit cards.
There was also a 24% fall in the amount of fraud from cards being faked.
The UK Cards Association said it was the third year in a row that card fraud had fallen, with a drop of 44% since losses peaked in 2008.
It brings card fraud to its lowest level since 2000 when £317m was lost through fraud.
The association credited the improvement to the increased use of anti-fraud measures.
Among them were online card verification software, such as Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode, and the increased use of chip-and-pin technology abroad.
Melanie Johnson, chair of the UK Cards Association, said: "This is... clear proof that our endeavours to fight fraud are packing a punch."
"Customers have also played their part in driving down losses by taking heed of advice about looking after their personal and financial details," she added.
Losses falling
Card fraud rose during the past decade to reach its peak, in 2008, of £610m.
Although the adoption of chip-and-pin technology, largely replacing signatures, had helped to rein in fraud in the UK, there was a revival in the fraudulent use of cards abroad.
However, this has now dropped as well, with fraud abroad falling by a further 15% last year to £80m.
That was its lowest level in 12 years, and nearly two-thirds down from the peak of foreign card fraud in 2008, when it stood at £230m.
Overall, the most common losses last year were due to cards being improperly used to order items over the phone, by post or over the internet - so-called "card not present" fraud.
This accounted for £221m - nearly two-thirds of all card fraud losses.
Meanwhile counterfeit card fraud, once the second-largest category of loss, has slumped in the past five years, down by three-quarters since 2007.
The biggest areas of card fraud loss in 2011 were:
Cards not present: £221m
Lost or stolen cards: £50m
Counterfeit cards: £36m
Card ID theft: £23m
Cards stolen the post: £11m
DCI Paul Barnard, who leads the police cheque and plastic crime unit, said with more sophisticated anti-fraud technology now in use, criminals had returned to simpler forms of form.
"Many scams involve customers being conned into handing over their cards and Pins, or their telephone banking security details by someone calling, pretending to be their bank or police," he pointed out.
"Be wary of any unsolicited phone calls or emails - never hand over your card and Pin or bank security details in full as neither your bank or the police will ever ask you for these."
Meanwhile, fraud losses against online banking accounts fell by 24% last year to £35m, while fraud losses involving telephone banking rose by 32% to £17m.
(9th March 2012)
LULZSEC HACKERS ARRESTED IN INTERNATIONAL SWOOP
(BBC News, dated 6th March 2012)
Category : Hacking
Full article : www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17270822
The suspected leader of the hacking group Lulzsec has pleaded guilty to carrying out high profile attacks on several companies.
Hector Xavier Monsegur had been charged with conspiracy to engage in computer hacking according to unsealed court papers filed in Manhattan.
Reuters reports that the charges were filed via "a criminal information".
The news agency says that suggests that the suspect - nicknamed Sabu - had co-operated with the government.
US law enforcement officers have said a total of five people were either under arrest or being sought.
Irish police added that they have arrested one man in connection with Lulzsec's activities and are holding him at a south Dublin police station.
The Press Association reported that police officers in Britain have also been involved in the crackdown.
Lulzsec, which is linked to the online activist group Anonymous, had claimed responsibility for attacks against eBay and Sony Pictures among others.
Last month Anonymous published a recording of a private telephone conversation between FBI agents and London detectives talking about Lulzsec suspects.
'Internal rift'
According to the court papers Mr Monsegur formed Lulzsec last May. It said he acted as a "rooter", identifying vulnerabilities in victim's computer systems.
Alongside other recruited hackers he is alleged to have attacked the US Senate, the cyber security firm Unveillance and the American media group Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey's department of computing noted that Lulzsec had been quiet since the middle of 2011 following an attack on Paypal.
"Judging by the level of activity this morning, where hackers have been pasting personal information about the person reported as having turned witness to implicate other hackers, it would appear that there is a considerable rift inside these groups," he said.
"The hackers are certainly acting as if they feel they have been betrayed by one of their own."
Trend Micro's director of security research, Rik Ferguson, added that while this might mark the end of Lulzsec, it would be premature to say the same about Anonymous.
"Anonymous is a very different organisation to LulzSec and other more closely linked groups - anyone can and does act in the name of Anonymous and their activities do not require individual hacker publicity or disclosure of personally identifiable details," he said.
"The very fact that Sabu became the 'celebrity' he was, illustrates the real difference between LulzSec and Anonymous.
"I think the hackers we really need to worry about are those that trusted no-one and sought no glory in the first place."
Hackers claiming to be part of Lulzsec said they had carried out or have been linked to the following attacks:
May 7: US X Factor contestant database
May 10: Fox.com user passwords
May 15: Database listing locations of UK cash machines
May 23: Sonymusic Japan website
May 30: US broadcaster PBS. Staff logon information
June 2: Sonypictures.com user information
June 3: Infragard website (FBI affiliated organisation)
June 3: Nintendo.com
June 10: Pron.com pornographic website
June 13: Senate.gov - website of US Senate
June 13: Bethesda software website. User information
June 14: EVE Online, League of Legends, The Escapist and others
June 16:'Technical disruption' to the website of the CIA
June 20: The website of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) taken offline by denial of service attack
(9th March 2012)
WHATS NEW IN COMPUTER SECURITY - FEBRUARY 2012
All links under this heading are [Note 1].
RESEARCHERS CRACK ONLINE ENCRYPTION SYSTEM
(Computer World, dated 15th February 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7858859/930454165/552237/0/
An online encryption method widely used to protect banking, email, e-commerce and other sensitive Internet transactions is not as secure as assumed, according to a report issued by a team of U.S and European cryptanalysts.
The researchers reviewed millions of public keys used by websites to encrypt online transactions and found a small but significant number to be vulnerable to compromise.
In most cases, the problem had to do with the manner in which the keys were generated, according to the researchers. The numbers associated with the keys were not always as random as needed, the research showed.
Therefore, the team concluded, attackers could use public keys to guess the corresponding private keys that are used to decrypt data -- a scenario that was previously believed to be impossible.
"This is an extremely serious cryptographic vulnerability caused by the use of insufficiently good random numbers when generating private keys" for HTTPS, SSL and TSL servers, said Peter Eckersley, senior technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF contributed data for the research.
CITADEL BANKING MALWARE IS EVOLVING AND SPREADING RAPIDLY
(Computer World, dated 9th February 2012 author Lucian Constantin)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7850696/930454165/551111/0/
A computer Trojan that targets online banking users is evolving and spreading rapidly because its creators have adopted an open-source development model, according to researchers from cyberthreat management firm Seculert.
Called Citadel, the new piece of malware is based on ZeuS, one of the oldest and most popular online banking Trojans. ZeuS was abandoned by its creator in late 2010 and its source code leaked online a few months later.
Since its public release, the ZeuS source code has served as base for the development other Trojans, including Ice IX and now Citadel.
"Seculert's Research Lab discovered the first indication of a Citadel botnet on December 17th, 2011," the security company said Wednesday in a blog post. "The level of adoption and development of Citadel is rapidly growing."
Seculert has identified over 20 botnets that use different versions of this Trojan. "Each version added new modules and features, some of which were submitted by the Citadel customers themselves," the company said.
EU TO STRENGTHEN ITS CYBERSECURITY WATCHDOG
(Computer World, dated 8th February 2012 author Jennifer Baker)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7848986/930454165/551001/0/
A push by European authorities to strengthen the European Union's cybersecurity watchdog has been given the green light.
ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, was set up in 2004 to ensure a "high and effective level of network information security" within the E.U. Its mandate is due to expire in September 2013, but a vote in the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee agreed to extend it until 2020.
The new proposal would also require ENISA to help set up a full-scale European Union Computer Emergency Response Team (EU CERT), to counter cyberattacks against E.U. institutions, bodies and agencies, as well as providing support to member states in the event of incidents, attacks or disruptions on networks.
EUROPE CARES ABOUT PRIVACY, SO YOU MUST TOO
(Computer World, dated 7th February 2012 author Scott Bradner)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7847760/930454165/550730/0/
In late January, the European Commission published a proposal "on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data."
The commission also published an introductory statement about the proposal and a staff analysis of the impact of the proposal. The proposal is extensive, more than 100 pages covering every facet of the gathering, processing, movement and protection of data about people. In concept, the proposal does not differ all that much from the existing European approach to data collected by businesses about people. The principles are the same: get permission from individuals before you collect information about them, tell them what the information will be used for, only collect what you need, only keep it for as long as you need to, protect the information properly and do not give the information to someone who will not protect it.
HUNDREDS OF DREAMHOST WEBSITES ABUSED BY SPAMMERS
(Computer World, dated 6th February 2012 author Lucian Constantin)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7845616/930454165/550599/0/
Rogue webspages that redirect users to work-at-home scams have been added to hundreds of websites hosted at DreamHost following a security breach suffered by the company in January, researchers from cloud security vendor Zscaler said.
DreamHost decided to reset the FTP and shell access passwords for all of its customers after discovering that hackers compromised one of its database servers on Jan. 20.
The company said at the time that no malicious activity had been immediately detected on its customers' accounts, but the situation might have changed in the meantime, according to Zsclaer.
Following the Dreamhost hack many websites hosted by the company have been hijacked to redirect users to a Russian scam page, said Zscaler senior security researcher Julien Sobrier in a blog post on Friday. "I've identified hundreds of websites hosted by DreamHost that contained a PHP page redirecting to a malicious website.
The landing website promoted a work-at-home scam in Russian. These kind of scams have been around for many years and they usually trick users into buying a so-called starter kit that is supposed to help them earn money on the Internet.
GERMAN GOVERNMENT ENDORSES CHROME AS MOST SECURE BROWSER
(Computer World, dated 3rd February 2012 author Gregg Keizer)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7843830/930454165/550435/0/
Germany's cyber security agency today recommended that Windows 7 users run Google's Chrome browser, citing the application's sandbox and auto-update features.
In a security best practices guideline, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, known by its German initials of BSI, said Chrome was the best browser.
"Your internet browser is the key component for the use of services on the Web and thus represents the main target for cyber-attacks," said BSI in its published advice. "By using Google Chrome in conjunction with the other measures outlined above, you can significantly reduce the risk of a successful IT attack."
BSI ticked off Chrome's anti-exploit sandbox technology, which isolates the browser from the operating system and the rest of the computer; its silent update mechanism and Chrome's habit of bundling Adobe Flash, as its reasons for the recommendation.
FACEBOOK MALWARE SCAM TAKES HOLD
(Computer World, dated 3rd February 2012 author Cameron Scott)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7843830/930454165/550432/0/
A "worrying number" of Facebook users are sharing a link to a malware-laden fake CNN news page reporting the U.S. has attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia, security firm Sophos said Friday.
If users who follow the link then click to play what purports to be video coverage of the attack, they are prompted to update their Adobe Flash player with a pop-up window that looks very much like the real thing. Those who accept the prompt unwittingly install malware on their computers.
Within three hours of the scam's appearance, more than 60,000 users had followed a link to the spoofed CNN page, according to Sophos Senior Security Advisor Chester Wisniewski. Facebook removed that link, but others are still being shared.
"The bad guys are rotating through scam pages trying to stay ahead of Facebook," Wisniewski said.
In a statement, Facebook said it was "in the process of cleaning up this spam now, and remediating any affected users."
VERISIGN ADMITS MULTIPLE HACKS IN 2010
(Computer World, dated 2nd February 2012 author Gregg Keizer)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7840343/930454165/550282/0/
VeriSign, the company responsible for guiding most of the world's Internet users to the correct websites and once the largest encryption certificate issuing authority, has acknowledged that it was successfully hacked several times in 2010.
The admission was disclosed last fall in a VeriSign filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but did not come to light until today when Reuters reported on its investigation of new SEC guidelines on such disclosures.
"In 2010, the Company faced several successful attacks against its corporate network in which access was gained to information on a small portion of our computers and servers," said VeriSign in the quarterly report it filed with the SEC in October 2011.
VeriSign confirmed that the attacker made off with data and claimed that it had put new defensive measures into place.
###Further Information
Verisign is the company that confirms the security of your credit and banking card transactions when you purchase products or services online (ie. when you have to enter a portion of your online banking memorable name or password ).
HALF OF FORTUNE 500 FIRMS INFECTED WITH DNS CHANGER
(Computer World, dated 2nd February 2012 author Gregg Keizer)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7840343/930454165/550278/0/
Half of all Fortune 500 companies and major U.S. government agencies own computers infected with the "DNS Changer" malware that redirects users to fake websites and puts organizations at risk of information theft, a security company said today.
DNS Changer, which at its peak was installed on more than four million Windows PCs and Macs worldwide -- a quarter of them in the U.S. alone -- was the target of a major takedown organized by the U.S. Department of Justice last November.
The takedown and accompanying arrests of six Estonian men, dubbed "Operation Ghost Click," was the culmination of a two-year investigation, although some security researchers have been tracking the botnet since 2006. As part of the operation, the FBI seized control of more than 100 command-and-control (C&C) servers hosted at U.S. data centers.
Futher Information
What is DNS : Domain Name Server - when you enter the name of a website into your browser (IE, Monzilla etc) and click; your computer and servers on the internet translate "the entered name" into a direction code for the website you want. Then you get connected. BUT, if you can corrupt that direction code you can divert people to bogus websites. Diverting people to porn and fake Viagra websites can be upsetting, but being diverted to fake bank websites can cost you money or your identity. Get used to recognising your important websites name and URL after you have "clicked".
For example Virgin Money. You enter viginmoney.com, and click. What you get is "uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/?" appearing in the URL box. This is the correct URL for the wesbite operation. If you got "uk.virginmoney.com/virg1n/?", changing an "i" for a "1" would indicate that you have been directed to a fake website. Note though, some of the changes to URL could possibly be more discrete than this example.
KELIHOS BOTNET, ONCE CRIPPLED, NOW GAINING STRENGTH
(Computer World, dated 1st February 2012 author Jeremy KirK)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7838885/930454165/550185/0/
A botnet that was crippled by Microsoft and Kaspersky Lab last September is spamming once again and experts have no recourse to stop it.
The Kelihos botnet only infected 45,000 or so computers but managed to send out nearly 4 billion spam messages a day, promoting, among other things, pornography, illegal pharmaceuticals and stock scams.
But it was temporarily corralled last September after researchers used various technical means to get the 45,000 or so infected computers to communicate with a "sinkhole," or a computer they controlled.
But the computers that comprised Kelihos were still infected with its code. Researchers knew that it would only be a matter of time before its controller used the botnet's complex infrastructure of proxy servers and communication nodes to regain control.
(9th March 2012)
NATIONAL ROLL-OUT OF "CLARE'S LAW" DISCLOSURE SCHEME DELAYED
(The Guardian, dated 5th March 2012 author Alan Travis)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : domestic violence
The home secretary, Theresa May, has delayed the national roll-out of "Clare's Law", a scheme under which people would be able to ask the police if their partners have a history of domestic violence.
May told MPs on Monday that a consultation over a national disclosure scheme had raised fears it could be used for "fishing" or "spying". Concerns were also raised about the release of police intelligence material based on unproven allegations that could be used to stigmatise innocent people.
A 12 month pilot will instead run in four police force areas - Manchester, Gwent, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire - to test both a "right to ask" and a "right to know" scheme.
"The consultation raised important issues on the scope and proportionality of the information that should be disclosed to potential victims and the safeguards that are needed against malicious applications," May said in a Commons written statement.
"I believe that it is right that these issues are addressed and tested in a pilot to ensure that the disclosure scheme is compatible with all relevant law."
May said in October that she wanted to see a national disclosure scheme for potential victims of domestic violence but needed to decide whether it should be on a "right to ask" or a "right to know" basis. The first is triggered by a request from the public and the second by the police deciding to disclose the information to protect a potential victim, even if they had not asked.
The scheme does not require new legal powers and would involve the disclosure of convictions for domestic violence as well as police intelligence on the background of a particular individual, which may include reports of incidents that have not been proven.
"This pilot scheme is designed to prevent tragic incidents from happening, such as that of Clare Wood, by ensuring that there is a clear framework in place with recognised and consistent processes for disclosing information," said May.
Wood, a 36-year-old mother, was murdered by her former partner, George Appleton, in Manchester in 2009. She had met him on the internet. He had three previous convictions under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and was later found hanged. The police were criticised for individual and systemic failings in their handling of the case by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The proposed national disclosure scheme was strongly criticised as a waste of money by Refuge, the charity that helps victims of domestic violence, which says the government should start by improving the police response to calls for help.
"We are at an absolute loss as to why the government is introducing the new disclosure scheme," said its chief executive, Sandra Horley. "It simply isn't supported by any of us with the expertise to judge its chances of success."
The home secretary also announced on Monday that she was moving to close some loopholes in the sex offenders register after a high court case giving a right of appeal after 15 years to those who are placed on it for life.
May said she would amend the legislation to ensure that all 44,000 on the register who travel abroad for less than three days would have to notify the police, as would those who live in households with a child under 18. The rules are also to be tightened so that those who change their names can no longer seek to avoid being on the register.
(6th March 2012)
THE 850 SEX OFFENDERS WHO HAVE GONE ON THE RUN
(Daily Mail, dated 5th March 2012 author Jack Doyle)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
Nearly 850 registered sex offenders are on the run from the police, it emerged yesterday.
Nearly 700 of them have been missing for more than a year, and one has been at large for nearly a decade.
The total means the number of perverts who have vanished from the radar has more than doubled in just two years.
The figures raise serious concerns about the extent of police checks on criminals placed on the official Sex Offenders' Register, and efforts to find them once they have absconded. Victims' groups said the register was 'out of control' and warned that sex offenders were getting away with staying 'underground and undetected'.
Anyone given a jail sentence of 30 months or more for a sex crime, ranging from repeated indecent exposure to rape, is automatically placed on the register for life. There are now more than 37,000 names on it.
Those on the register are required to tell the police if they change their address and can be subject to regular checks.
But figures show that on September 1 last year a total of 843 had disappeared. Of those, some 690 had been untraceable for more than 12 months. On the same day in 2009 there were just 356 registered sex offenders at large, fewer than half the 2011 number.
The numbers at large for more than a year have also more than doubled. Two years ago the total stood at 260.
Now the figures released following a Freedom of Information request to the National Policing Improvement Agency show more than one in 50 of all those on the register are missing.
Separate figures reveal that 57 registered sex offenders were charged with a further offence last year.
An example of an offender who disappeared was serial rapist Peter Chapman, who was off the police radar for seven months after his monitoring level was downgraded by the authorities.
He went on to rape and murder 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall after contacting her on Facebook.
Chapman posed as a teenager on the internet to lure the trainee nurse to her death. He was jailed for life in 2010.
Lynn Costello, of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: 'The figures don't surprise me because nobody has really had a control of the sex offenders register since it was brought in.
'These people are offenders who want to move around and remain underground and undetected.
'But all the blame for this cannot be put at the doors of the police. How many paedophiles can be tracked down when the police are being asked to do so much paperwork?'
Despite the huge numbers of criminals at large, barely a handful of sex offenders are listed on police wanted websites.
The 'Most Wanted' page of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) website shows the details of just two missing child sex offenders.
Jason Waller, 35, has been missing for four years. He was sentenced to three years for assaulting three children, but disappeared in 2008. Stephen Clare, 40, has been off the radar for nine years. He was jailed for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl and taking indecent photographs in the 1990s.
He served 18 months and was released from jail in 1998, when he moved to Brighton. Police said decisions on whether to publicise individual offenders would depend on the circumstances in each case, and work was being done behind the scenes to hunt offenders down.
Cumbria Assistant Chief Constable Michelle Skeer, spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers on the management of sexual offenders, said monitoring was working and fewer serious offences were being committed by dangerous offenders. She said: 'The UK has some of the most effective techniques in the world to manage registered sex offenders.'
From next year sex offenders put on the register for life will be able to appeal to have their name removed, following a human rights ruling.
At the same time, ministers have pledged to impose closer checks and close loopholes in the law.
In future sex offenders will have to inform officers if they begin living with a child under the age of 18, and if they change their name by deed poll.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Home Secretary Theresa May has made clear her priority is protecting the public from predatory sex offenders and the Government is doing everything it can to tighten the law.
'We have consulted on strengthening notification requirements for registered sex offenders.
'We will be making an announcement on these measures shortly.'
(6th March 2012)
DAVID CAMERON TO BACK LAW REFORM TO RECOGNISE STALKING AS A CRIME
(The Guardian, dated 4th March 2012 author Amelia Hill)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Stalking
Stalking will be recognised as a crime for the first time in England and Wales under legislation expected to be announced by the prime minister this week.
At a private meeting last month, officials from the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service, attorney general's office, ministry of justice and the police were told that David Cameron planned to use this Thursday's International Women's Day to announce reform to legislation affecting stalking and domestic violence offences.
The prime minister is expected to use a reception at Downing Street to announce stalking is to become an imprisonable offence, carrying a sentence of up to six months and a £5,000 fine. More serious cases will incur sentences of up to five years and an unlimited fine.
"I'm confident that we will get a positive message on Thursday from the prime minister that there will be changes to the law on stalking," said Robert Buckland, the Conservative MP who helped launch an independent parliamentary inquiry into stalking law reform.
"The government is persuaded of the need for change," Buckland added. "They are listening and the signs are encouraging that, when the Freedom Bill is given its third reading on March 12th, there will be new and improved, strengthened and toughened legislation that criminalised stalking."
Cameron has invited the key advisers to the inquiry's campaign team to Thursday's reception, including chair Elfyn Llwyd and Tricia Bernal, whose daughter, Clare, was shot and killed in Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, London. Clare was murdered by her obsessed former boyfriend, Michael Pech, who had been previously charged with harassing his former girlfriend. Pech breached his bail conditions to murder Clare Bernal, before killing himself.
Also invited to Thursday's reception is Claire Waxman, who was awarded £3,500 damages last month after the high court criticised the criminal prosecution service for failing to protect her from an eight-year campaign of "serious and persistent" harassment by freelance television producer Elliot Fogel.
Llwyd said the government's intention to introduce new legislation appears to be "fairly solid,". "I'm quietly confident," he said. "The prime minister would not invite us all to Downing Street on Thursday just to slap us down."
There are an estimated 120,000 cases of stalking every year but just 4,365 people were convicted of harassment in 2009, and of those, just 565 were jailed.
The figure for those found guilty of stalking is even smaller. Last year, 786 people were found guilty of the more serious offence of putting a person in fear of violence. Of those, 170 were jailed.
The statistics have raised concerns that the Protection from Harassment Act is failing to shield women. "The evidence that we need a specific offence of stalking is overwhelming," said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union. "Victims are not being taken seriously by the police or CPS. Perpetrators rarely receive custodial sentences or are treated. This is a scandal that must end without delay."
A cross-party group of 120 parliamentarians believe, however, that legislation alone is not sufficient to protect victims.
Tracey Morgan, a member of the inquiry panel stalked by a former colleague for nearly 10 years, said that fundamental changes to training, risk assessment of victims and treatment, including the establishment of a victims' advocacy scheme to signpost and support victims of stalking through the criminal justice system, are also necessary.
"We have to improve awareness and culture around stalking as well as the law," she said. : "Stalking is where domestic violence was 30 years ago. It's seen as a joke; a celebrity problem. Victims are told they should be flattered by the attention. But stalking can lead to murder, rape and a range of other, horrific crimes. For too long, it has not been treated with the seriousness it deserves. I am optimistic now that this is going to change."
(6th March 2012)
POLICE WARN OF "SCOTLAND YARD" VIRUS THAT TELLS USERS THEY'VE ACCESSED CHILD PORN AND MUST PAY A FINE
(Mail online, dated 14th February 2012 author Damien Gayle)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
A new computer virus is spreading that pretends to be a threatening message from Scotland Yard to extort money from unsuspecting internet users.
The virus freezes victims' computers, then hits them with a warning accusing them of of accessing child pornography and sending emails with 'terrorist motives'.
It says users their IP address is now under investigation by the Metropolitan Police's e-crime unit (PCeU) and tells them they have to pay a fine to unlock their computer.
The alarming message reads: 'This IP address was used to visit websites containing child pornography, zoophilia and child abuse. 'Your computer also contains video files with Pornographic content, elements of violence and child pornography. 'Spam messages with terrorist motives were also sent from your computer.' It adds: 'To unlock the computer you are obliged to pay a fine of £100.'
The Met has issued a warning to computer users about the scam, which infects computers that have accessed certain websites.
These kinds of attacks are known as 'drive-by downloads' as users don't have to click or download any files for their computer to be infected.
Once a machine accesses a corrupted web page, the software simply downloads itself. Up to date anti-virus software should, however, keep computers safe.
'Ransomware' scams, as they are known, are common and cyber-criminals have used them for years to scare people into paying for services they don't need.
But this particular scam comes with added weight by telling people they're under an official police investigation.
In a statement, the Met said: 'This is a fraud and users are advised NOT to pay out any monies or hand out any bank details.
'Genuine law enforcement agencies would never contact members of the public via this method and demand funds in this way.
'We would advise anyone who has been deceived by such a message and handed over monie should report the matter to the card issuer immediately and report the offence to their local police by dialling "101" or the local non-emergency police number.'
(6th March 2012)
NIGERIA'S "419" EMAIL SCAMS UNCOVERED : THE TRUTH BEHIND THE YAHOO BOYS
(Metro, dated 2nd March 2012 author Ross McGuiness)
www.metro.co.uk [Note 1]
We have all come across them. Well, those of us who have ever had an email address have come across them.
They have filled our inboxes for two decades, promising us lottery wins, no-lose business deals and unrequited love.
They are '419 scams', named after the Nigerian Criminal Code number for the fraud - the country where it originated.
We have been asked to claim a large cash prize by sending off money to cover a registration fee or bail out someone trapped in a foreign country. Most of us delete them.
But a tiny number are duped and part with cash to their financial and emotional cost. And, for that reason, the emails continue to come.
Advance fee fraud has been going on for hundreds of years. It originates in the Spanish Prisoner scam of the 16th century, where the victim paid money to secure the release of a wealthy nobleman from jail with the promise of substantial rewards.
The modern 419 scam began in the 1980s, when Nigeria's economy waned. It was carried out by graduates who couldn't get a job and was used in letter or fax form to trick western businessmen into putting money into non-existent oil deals.
Once the power of the internet kicked in, the scam went electronic. And that's when the Yahoo Boys came in.
They made their name by bombarding Yahoo! email accounts. Now a university study, believed to be the first of its kind, has interviewed 40 of them.
'They are very brave and resilient,' said Dr Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola, a sociology lecturer who carried out the study via Obafemi Awolowo University in the Nigerian city of Ile-Ife.
'Most of the Yahoo Boys are aged 22 to 29 and are concentrated around cities with higher institutions of learning.' They also spend many hours gleaning information about potential target groups.
Dr Aransiola and his researchers spent six months gaining their trust and they agreed to be interviewed without revealing their identities.
They 'usually brag, do things loudly, drive flashy cars and change cars frequently', the report found.
It adds: 'They wear the latest clothes and jewellery. They spend lavishly, love material things and go to clubs.
'They are prominent at parties, picking up prostitutes at night. They speak coded languages and use coded words such as ''Mugun'' and ''Maga'', which means 'the fool' (ie their victim).
Some of the scams include making business proposals, online dating, bombing of mails and so on.' Dr Aransiola said: 'When they target individuals, they take their time to get as much detailed information about the person as possible.'
Hundreds of thousands of people are contacted, paying as little as £20, £30 or £60. But if enough fall into the trap it makes it worthwhile.
More than half of those interviewed had been engaged in cybercrime for five to seven years, and 95 per cent are undergraduate students.
They are products of their times. Unemployment is 24 per cent in Nigeria but among young people the figure is even higher.
They often go to extreme levels to achieve success.
If a Yahoo Boy is pretending to be a woman to lure a target into giving him more money, he might use his girlfriend to speak to the victim on the phone.
Many scammers use voodoo to give them good luck. The will make incisions on their bodies, sleep in cemeteries and cite incantations.
One 25-year-old Yahoo Boy told the university: 'I have used it but I have stopped because of the fear of repercussion. With the aid of voodoo the money comes faster.'
Widespread corruption among the police, security forces, bank officials, postal agents and couriers helps to ensure their plans run smoothly.
(6th March 2012)
HIRE CAR FRAUD COSTS INSURERS AND MOTORISTS MILLIONS
(BBC News, dated 4th March 2012 author Adrian Goldberg)
www.bbc.co.uk
Criminal gangs are making millions of pounds in a new car insurance scam, a BBC investigation has revealed. The con involves false claims for replacement cars given to motorists while their own car is being fixed.
Industry insiders say more needs to be done to stop the fraud, which is bumping up premiums and costing insurers an estimated £60m a year.
The Association of British Insurers said reducing and deterring such fraud was a "top priority".
Fraud investigators told the BBC's 5 live Investigates programme that criminal gangs were setting up bogus claims management and hire companies in order to cash in on the growing market in providing replacement cars.
The gangs, who view the crime as both lucrative and low-risk, use different methods to try to defraud the insurance companies.
In some cases they will charge insurers for a car they have not actually provided - known as a "phantom hire".
In other cases the gangs will "hire" the same car to several different people at the same time, claiming separately for each non-existent hire.
Fraudulent hire companies may also charge for providing a top-of-the-range model when in fact a basic vehicle has been supplied.
Bogus invoices
For example, in one case a hire car company said it had supplied a customer with a Maserati when in fact the driver had been given a VW Golf.
In another, an E-class Mercedes was claimed for when the actual vehicle supplied was a Ford Fiesta - which was £200 a day cheaper to hire. The car was hired out for 55 days, netting fraudsters £11,000 ($17,400).
Criminal barrister Judy Dawson told 5 live Investigates that the fraudsters involved believed they were in a win-win situation because there was little chance of being caught and prosecuted.
In some cases, Ms Dawson said, all that happened if a bogus claim was spotted was that the insurers would refuse to pay the invoice.
Transport select committee chairman Louise Ellman MP told the BBC: "This is shocking. It is one of the reasons why insurance premiums are going up.
"The new police insurance fraud enforcement department should address this issue as a matter of urgency."
Bedfordshire Police recently came across a major credit hire car scam when they were investigating so-called crash-for-cash crime - which is often linked to credit hire fraud.
The force investigated 60 staged road accidents and found the vast majority had a credit hire agreement attached to them, often involving "phantom" vehicles.
Detectives found that in three cases there were claims of nearly £40,000 for the hire of Jaguar cars which did not exist, but were supposedly loaned for six months.
Higher insurance premiums
Craig Dickson, head of credit hire at solicitors firm DAC Beachcroft, believes this type of fraud is on the increase because insurance companies are getting better at detecting other types of fraud - such as bogus personal injury claims.
An analysis of the fraud conducted by DAC Beachcroft estimated that it was costing insurers about £60m a year - which is 10% of the total credit hire market.
Mr Dickson said his firm had seen a 400% rise in the number of staged accidents not involving personal injury claims between April 2010 and May 2011.
"There is a gap in regulation in that organisations handling personal injury claims must be regulated by the Ministry of Justice," Mr Dickson explains.
"But if there's no personal injury, they don't.
"To some extent, anybody can set themselves up as a credit hire company because it doesn't involve personal injury."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the issue was a matter for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
In a statement, the OFT told the BBC: "Credit hire replacement vehicles for claimants is a focus of the OFT's ongoing market study on motor insurance premiums. The findings of the study are due in May 2012."
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says around £2bn in insurance fraud goes undetected each year, adding, on average, an extra £50 a year to the insurance bill paid by every UK policy holder.
An ABI spokesman said: "Fraudulent road traffic accidents are often accompanied by inflated and bogus claims for credit hire, as well as for storage, recovery and repair of vehicles.
"Reducing and deterring insurance fraud is a priority for the insurance industry. Later this year, we will launch the Insurance Fraud Register - the first single industry-wide database of all known insurance fraudsters."
(6th March 2012)
SOCIAL NETWORKS WORSE THAN PORN SITES FOR MALICIOUS LINKS
(British Computer Society website, dated 2nd March 2012)
www.bcs.org
According to the latest figures, there are more harmful links on social networking sites than on X-rated adult sites.
Harmful links are used by cybercriminals to divert internet users to contaminated websites.
In 2011, 21 per cent of all such links were discovered on social networking sites such as Facebook, compared to the 14 per cent found on porn sites, security firm Kaspersky reports.
The overall leader in the 'Most Harmful Links' rankings is the video site, including platforms such as YouTube, where 31 per cent of harmful links reside.
Search engines are also used as a major distribution channel, with 22 per cent spread through manipulated search engine results.
"Cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting the fact that people spend a great deal of time on social networking sites, such as Facebook," said Kaspersky.
Sophos recently reported that scammers are targeting Facebook with the promise of turning users' profile pages pink in order to profit from a survey and access accounts.
(6th March 2012)
POLICE PRIVATISATION ?
Sadly, this seems to be somebody's ill thought out MBA* project. Many of us working in private industry have come across this over the last couple of decades. Where office cleaning is "not core to the business" so it is outsourced. Human Resources (Personnel) and training is not core to the business and IT are all not core; so they are spun off and sold off. Company pensions admin is not core to the business so it is off-shored to India !
The company line when explained to the shareholders, it is more efficient and cost effective.
We have already been told that we are going to have a UK style FBI, the National Crime Agency. So will that finally become the crime investigation organisation ? Then Bobbies on the beat could become crime prevention officers with responsibilities downgraded and lower salaries. That work could then be spun-off "as not being core to the business"!!!
The Police management line when explained to the community, it is more efficient and cost effective.
Here are a couple of articles that hint that it is on it's way !
*MBA = Master in Business Administration (an accademic qualification for people who think they can do the job)
POLICE INVITE SECURITY FIRMS TO BID FOR ROLES
(BBC News, dated 3rd March 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Private security firms could investigate some crimes and patrol neighbourhoods under plans being drawn up for police in England and Wales.
The West Midlands and Surrey forces - two of England's largest - have invited bids for contracts from security companies, on behalf of all forces.
Other services provided privately could include supporting victims and managing high-risk individuals.
The Home Office stressed private firms would not be able to arrest suspects.
Critics have warned that privatising police services will mean that forces will be less accountable to the public.
BBC political correspondent Louise Stewart said the West Midlands and Surrey forces had been working together since early last year.
This is the first time the extent of their plans to involve the private sector in "middle and back office functions" have become clear.
They emerge at a time of 20% cuts to police budgets over four years, with Home Secretary Theresa May suggesting forces could protect "front-line policing" by delegating some work to the private sector.
Police station
Our correspondent says the two forces have invited bids from firms including G4S, the world's largest security firm, to deliver a number of services currently undertaken by the police.
They include responding to and investigating incidents, supporting victims and witnesses, managing high-risk individuals and patrolling neighbourhoods.
In a statement, the Home Office said of the plans: "Private companies will not be able to arrest suspects, and they will not be solely responsible for investigating crime."
The contract has a potential value of £1.5bn over seven years but could rise to a £3.5bn, depending on how many other forces signed up, our correspondent adds.
That would make it the largest contract to date for a private company to provide police services.
Last month Lincolnshire Police and G4S agreed a £200m contract.
Under that agreement, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, half the force's civilian staff will join the private company, which will also build and run a police station.
The Guardian reported it had seen a briefing note sent to companies on the West Midlands-Surrey plans, which said that all services that "can be legally delegated to the private sector" are potentially up for contract.
'Dangerous experiment'
A West Midlands police authority spokesman told the newspaper that combining with the business sector was aimed at transforming the way the force worked.
"The areas of service listed in this notice are deliberately broad to allow the force to explore the skills, expertise and solutions a partnership could bring," he said.
But Ben Priestley, Unison's national officer for police and justice, told the Guardian: "Bringing the private sector into policing is a dangerous experiment with local safety and taxpayers' money.
"We are urging police authorities not to fall into the trap of thinking the private sector is the answer to the coalition's cuts."
He added: "Privatisation means that the police will be less accountable to the public. And people will no longer be able to go to the Independent Police Complaints Commission if they have a problem."
PRIVATE SECURITY FIRM G4S TO RUN LINCOLNSHIRE POLICE STATION
(BBC News, dated 22nd February 2012)
A private security company has signed a deal to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire.
The agreement - between G4S and Lincolnshire Police - is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.
As part of the deal, two-thirds of staff employed by the force would be transferred to the private sector.
BBC Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said it was arguably the most radical solution to the budget cuts facing police forces.
It is thought the contract will save Lincolnshire at least £20m.
The Police Federation has raised concerns about the plan, saying police force staff have an "enshrined sense of public duty which private employees may not".
Under the plan, 540 civilian workers at Lincolnshire Police will move across to G4S, from April, in what is thought to be the biggest single transfer of police staff to a private company.
The police authority will pay G4S £200m over 10 years to deliver a range of services, including human resources, finance and IT.
Police authority chairman Barry Young said that, subject to planning permission, a new custody suite would be built at the police headquarters site in Nettleham, near Lincoln.
The security firm will also build a large police station in the county, containing a two-storey office block and a custody suite with 30 cells.
Ten other police forces in the country have expressed interest in becoming "strategic partners", which would see some of their services outsourced to the private security company.
'New innovations'
Mr Young said: "By taking over a range of support functions, G4S will contribute to the force's aim of being able to put 97% of its warranted officers in front-line roles by April.
"Crucially, the new strategic partnership will also deliver significant infrastructure investment that will offset the budget reductions called for by the government. I believe we are leading the way."
Kim Challis, from G4S, said: "Lincolnshire is leading the way in responding to the challenges of today's economic environment and this transformation project will mean many of the services provided by the police will now be delivered externally by specialists who can deliver greater savings and improve efficiency.
"We are particularly delighted to have the opportunity to implement many new innovations, such as our purpose-built Bridewell custody suites - the first of which will be completed within a year."
(6th March 2012)
SIM CARDS USED TO SEND THOUSANDS OF SPAM TEXTS BLOCKED
(BBC News, dated 2nd March 2012 author Dan Whitworth)
www.bbc.co.uk
Twenty thousand mobile phone sim cards used to send spam text messages have been blocked by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
It was given new powers six months ago to try to help tackle the growing problem.
But it admits it is just beginning to scratch the surface.
An estimated eight million spam messages are sent in the UK every day, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
Chris Garner, a 27-year-old self employed joiner from Barnoldswick, Lancashire, started to receive them after applying for a loan just before Christmas. "At first I just [texted] stop and forgot about it," he said. "But when you're getting eight or nine a day to begin with and then four or five a day two and half months later it gets annoying."
He says changing his number is not an option. "Times are hard and I'm looking for as much work as I can get," he said. "If someone rings my old number and don't get through they'll say, 'We'll ring someone else.' "So I might be having to lose out on work because of having to change my number because of someone sending me spam text messages."
'Don't respond'
Spam texts are big business and can help makes millions of pounds for those involved in sending them out.
David Clancy is the investigation's manager at the ICO. "Once they [spammers] have trapped your number they will then sell it into the [claims] industry," he said. "First users will pay £1, £1.50 for that phone number. "A month later it will be distributed to lots of organisations for 50p, 20p, 10p a time. "It makes a lot of money."
But he says the ICO's new powers are beginning to make a difference.
They're now able to execute search warrants when they think there may be evidence of spam texts being sent, compel mobile phone operators to hand over information and issue fines of up to £500,000.
He says the best advice is to not reply to any spam messages.
"I've done it myself as part of this investigation," he said.
"I've been contacted by numerous organisations offering me payment protection insurance claims, dent management claims and accident claims - don't respond."
While they admit it is impossible to filter out spam, mobile phone operators agree with that advice although they do have special text numbers that customers can forward any spam messages to.
They're then able to investigate the number which they came from.
Mark Brill is Chair of the DMA's mobile council, whose research points to the figure of eight million spam texts being sent out every day.
"That makes SMS spam a serious problem," he said.
"We would encourage the ICO to continue their enforcement efforts and would like to see the UK operators to provide better spam filtering software."
(6th March 2012)
MORE NEWS FROM MY SPAM INBOX- FEBRUARY 2012
Category : phishing
This month has seen a bumper crop with 25 malicious e mails hitting my inbox. Poor old Santander is the main target again for bank phishing. The "new kids on the block" for dodgy mail appears to be online gambling and complaints. My Internet Service Providers (ISP) spam filter continues to do a good job.
Instead of reporting on these malicious e-mails at the end of each month; details of their existence and content will be placed on a new webpage "SPAM AND PHISHING" (please see main menu). The aim is to report on these e-mails within days of them being received. Hopefully this will aid crime prevention.
The Spam report for February 2012 is on the new Webpage : SPAM AND PHISHING. The monthly reports will now cease.
As always, these e mails are bogus and are just phishing for personal information or to load malicious software. If you receive anything like them, delete it immediately and do not open any attachments. If you are suspicious about activity on your bank or utility accounts, contact your bank or service provider direct using a known telephone number, NOT contact details within the bogus e-mails.
(29th February 2012)
DATA AND SECURITY BREACHES, WHO ARE AT FAULT ?
Category : Personal security
We hear so many stories of a civil servant or police officer leaving "classified" papers on trains or buses. Then there are stories of Mr X of MI5 being mugged at Paddington Station and as a result has lost his laptop full of secrets. Then there are Cabinet Ministers walking from 10 Downing Street after attending a COBRA meeting with sensitive briefing memo's in hand that are photographed by the paparazzi. These stories get reported because "secrets" are meant to be kept just that, secret !
On a daily basis others make equally important civil data breaches that are not reported. They may not have an impact on national security, but they can have an affect on our lives.
For example, last Monday (27th February 2012 at 1pm ) I was sitting in a Starbucks on Euston Road when I was asked to mind someones seat. The lady in question had placed her laptop on the table alongside me whilst she went off to purchase a coffee. It was all powered up, her work was visible to all. She was working on a project for Santander Bank ( whose office is just across the road to the coffee shop ); oh and she worked for the consultancy company Accenture. I don't know what she was working on for her client Santander, I just hope that it wasn't banking security !
Its not just Accenture !
It is not just the consultancy company Accenture that has problems with the employee's leaving laptops lying around; I have heard of another culprit. The following is a briefing from the UK Security Manager of a multi-national IT / consultancy company. I have not named the company as I personally have not seen the mentioned incidents.
"We have always had a large number of laptop thefts from bars in London, and the ###### in particular has seen several thefts over the years (this bar is local to their UK HQ). Now we have had 3 incidents there in the past 2 weeks, 2 of them in one day, so it would appear that there are thieves targeting that particular bar.
- Keep it off the floor. No matter where you are in public - in a bar, a coffee shop, or a hotel registration desk - avoid putting your laptop on the floor. If you must put it down, place it between your feet.
- Protect passwords, remembering strong passwords or access numbers can be difficult, so if you must note them down never keep them in your Laptop bag, leaving either in a laptop carrying case or on your laptop is like leaving the keys in your car.
- Mind the bag. When you take your laptop in a public place, carrying it in a computer case will advertise what's inside. Consider using a padded briefcase, or a backpack instead.
- Get it out of the car. Don't leave your laptop in the car - not on the seat, not in the boot. Parked cars are a favourite target of laptop thieves, especially never place it in the boot once you park, someone could be watching.
- Don't leave it "for just a minute." In a bar or a restaurant, do not leave it in a pile with other colleagues' machines.
Not only will you have the problem of losing your work and having to get a new Laptop, loss of Confidential information contained on your Laptop could result in contractual or financial issues for the company."
The guidance is not rocket science, its just common sense.
The sad fact is that both of these organisations provide consultancy services to our major banks, major businesses, Police and UK Government departments. Has the time now come to stuff our money in our matresses ?
(29th February 2012)
OPERATION TO CRACK DOWN ON LICENSING ISSUES
(Courtesy of Metropolitan Police, dated 25th February 2012
www.met.police.uk
One of the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) biggest policing operations of the year so far was launched on Friday, 24 February to tackle unlicensed activity around the capital.
Operation Condor targets all 32 London boroughs as part of a massive crack-down on licensing issues affecting all our communities and so far has lead to 2838 premises visited, 289 licensing breaches being identified and 244 people being arrested.
The operation is a co-ordinated 48 hour operation across London to combat those who flout licensing rules including shops, pubs, clubs, unlicensed mini cabs and others.
Police are on the look out for drug taking and other illegal activity inside pubs and checking that alcohol is sold and consumed in line with licensing laws. In shops and supermarkets, they are taking action against people selling alcohol, cigarettes and knives to children and those who have not checked correctly checked the history of second hand goods for sale. Driving license fraud and taxi touts will also be targeted.
Commander Mak Chishty, leading the operation, said: "Licensing laws are there for good reason as they help protect us from danger. Breaking them is not acceptable. Operation Condor is about keeping our communities safe from harm. In our shops and supermarkets this means people do not sell knives, harmful substances or alcohol to young people; in our pubs and clubs it means that alcohol is sold and consumed in a responsible way, on our roads it means that vehicles, such as taxis are properly licensed and safe.
"This is why so many of my officers were out yesterday and are busy today stopping cars at transport hotspots to check for correct documentation, visiting newsagents, off-licenses, supermarkets and betting shops to ensure and test licensing laws are being followed correctly. We are also targeting pubs and clubs to make sure they are strictly applying their permits and to ensure any informal sales of goods or drugs on their premises are dealt with appropriately.
"Licensing impacts upon everyday community life; The results of unlicensed activity on our streets can find the form of underage drinkers acting unsociably close to where we live, unlicensed mini-cabs endangering passengers by making uninsured journeys and also shops who potentially encourage the circulation of stolen items by not correctly checking the history of second hand goods offered for sale.
"These are just some small examples of why it is vital our officers continue to work with our partners to enforce licensing laws in all walks of life and in doing so protect people who live, work or travel in London safe from harm."
"Transport for London, local authorities and trading standards are some of the partners involved in the combined effort to increase public safety."
During the course of the operation over 3000 officers from boroughs and specialist units will be working on Op Condor, using a range of tactics to bring unlicensed activity to account.
Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor for policing and crime, said: "Most criminal networks profit from illegal licensing, whether it's selling alcohol illegally or giving youngsters access to harmful weapons. Cracking down on this activity means we'll see a knock on effect of a drop in robberies, violence and anti social behaviour, which is good news for Londoners. I'd like to thank the 3,000 police officers enforcing this operation and I'd like to advise criminals across the capital to keep looking over their shoulders as we're watching. "?
So far in the operation twelve pubs/clubs have been closed during the course of the evening for varying offences.
140 cadets have been deployed on test purchase operations on off-licenses across various boroughs. Any breaches have been dealt with primarily by local Trading Standards.
A large amount of counterfeit goods have been seized in partnership with Local Authorities and HMR&C. These include; 750 bottles of alcohol in Tower Hamlets, 23 bottles of non duty paid vodka from Kingston; 41.1L of spirits, 100L vodka, 51L wine, 1/2kg tobacco in Ealing; 500 bottles of wine, 100 bottles of spirits, 8000 cigarettes resulting in £5000 unpaid revenue being identified in Islington.
(29th February 2012)
UNLICENSED CAB DRIVER JAILED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULTS
(Courtesy of Metropolitan Police, dated 24th February 2012)
www.met.police.uk
On the 24th February 2012 an unlicensed cab driver has been sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court following sexual assaults on two women in Kingston and Chelsea in 2010.
Amir Bhatti, 33, of Cranford Lane, Hounslow pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of theft in October 2011.
He was sentenced to four years' imprisonemnet for public protection.
Detective Constable Serena D'Adamo of Sapphire said:
"Bhatti used his job as an unlicensed cab driver to target vulnerable woman and get them into his car so he could carry out the assaults. This case should serve as a reminder to women to take sensible precautions when planning a night out and ensure they have a safe way of getting home.
"If anyone thinks they have been a victim of sexual assault I would urge them to report it to police; they can be assured that they will be treated sensitively by specially trained Sapphire officers."
An allegation of sexual assault was made to police on 11 November 2010 by an 18-year-old student who had been at a nightclub in Kingston in the early hours of that day.
She had become separated from her friends and left the venue, getting into the front passenger seat of a cab now known to be driven by Bhatti. During the journey she became aware that he was driving in the opposite direction to where she lived, and when the car stopped at traffic lights he touched her upper leg. She managed to get out of the car and run into a nearby hotel to get away from him.
A second incident was reported three days later on 14 November when a woman was assaulted after leaving the Chelsea area in a cab and the two offences were linked.
The victim, 31, left a nightclub on the Kings Road after becoming ill, she then recalled being in the rear of a parked car with a man on top of her, assaulting her. The victim claimed she needed to be sick and got out of the car before running to safety.
Both women also had money stolen from their bank accounts via a cashpoint machine on the nights they were assaulted.
Detectives from Sapphire identified Amir Bhatti as a suspect from a partial registration number of the car used in the offences. CCTV footage from the cashpoints used by the victims showed him standing with them when they made the withdrawls, and a record of him storing one of the victim's pin numbers in his mobile phone was retrieved.
Records from the phone were also able to pin point him as being at the locations relevant to the assaults at the time that they happened.
Bhatti was arrested on 29 November 2010 and subsequently charged. Due to the overwhelming evidence against him he entered a guilty plea prior to the start of the trial.
(29th February 2012)
4500 SERIAL OFFENDERS ARE LET OFF WITH CAUTION
(Daily Mail, dated 24th February 2012 author Jack Doyle)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
David Cameron is planning more electronic tags and longer curfews for serial offenders as it was revealed thousands are being let off with a slap on the wrist.
Some 4,500 criminals with 15 or more convictions were given a caution last year.
Tens of thousands more were handed fines, community sentences or suspended jail terms. Overall, some two-thirds of the worst serial offenders escaped jail, Ministry of Justice statistics show.
MPs said the figures betrayed the 'soft justice' system and called for more public control over sentences.
Today, it was reported the Prime Minister will toughen up non-custodial sentences.
Offenders will be sent to a 'virtual prison' , with a 16-hours-a-day curfew and judges and magistrates will be given the power to confiscate credit cards, passports and driving licences.
The plans will mean longers curfews and more electronic tags for offenders. No formal agreement has been reached, but ministers hope to publish the plan within six weeks.
Tory MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, said: 'From November we get to elect our police chiefs. We now need to ensure democratic accountability over the rest of the criminal justice system. 'So long as we leave it to the Secretary of State, we will never sort this problem out and get the criminal justice system we want and the public demands. Soft justice is a consequence of an unaccountable justice system.'
Sentencing figures published yesterday showed nearly 105,000 criminals with at least 15 previous offences came back before the courts in England and Wales.
More than one third were locked up. But 67,461 were given a non-custodial sentence.
Around a third of those, 20,553 were given community sentences and 16,149 were given a fine.
More than 11,000 were handed an absolute or conditional discharge - in effect no punishment at all.A further 8,160 were given suspended jail sentences.
In 2004 the custody rate for offenders after 15 or more crimes was 42 per cent, nearly 7 per cent higher.
Overall, three quarters of crimes are committed by adults and juveniles with existing records.
Last year re-offending accounted for some 638,153 out of more than 850,000 offences.
Government officials suggested average prison sentences were at a ten-year high, with burglars locked up for an average of 19 months.
Average sentences for robbery and drug offences were also up.
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has pledged to mount a 'rehabilitation revolution' to turn offenders away from crime.
He wants tougher community punishments and better reform programmes.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Overall re-offending is falling but the levels are still too high and we are determined to address the root causes of this behaviour.
'We are making our jails places of hard work, toughening community sentences and making offenders pay back victims and communities.'
(24th February 2012)
ENGLAND RIOTS LEAD TO 1500 CONVICTIONS SO FAR
(BBC News, dated 23rd February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
More than 1,500 people have been convicted of crimes relating to the riots in English cities last summer.
Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show offenders were three times more likely to be jailed by magistrates than other criminals.
The average length of all sentences was longer than for other crimes at just over 14 months.
Justice Minister Crispin Blunt said the "swift and firm" justice handed down by the legal system helped stop the riots.
Figures also show 41% of defendants, where their background was stated, were white and 39% from a black background.
The fresh statistics follow figures from last autumn showing that those who joined in were poorer and younger, with a lower educational record than the average in England.
According to the new figures, as of midday on 1st February, 2,710 people had appeared before courts across England charged with offences relating to the disturbances between 6th and 9th August.
Almost 1,900 defendants have appeared in London courts, followed by 301 in the West Midlands, 240 in Greater Manchester, 92 in Merseyside, 64 in Nottingham and 117 in other areas.
'Violent disorder'
Almost half of all the defendants had been charged with burglary and a fifth with violent disorder, a crime which is similar to the more serious offence of rioting. Some 16% had been charged with theft.
Some 1,519 have been convicted so far - more than half of all those who have appeared. Almost all of those have been sentenced - and more than 60% were immediately jailed. The average sentence of 14.2 months is almost four times longer than sentences for similar offences in 2010.
The figures show that offenders who have been dealt with by magistrates have been four times more likely to go to jail than those who were dealt with in the previous year.
The figures also show:
- 89% of all defendants are male, comparable with typical crime rates
- 27% were between 10 and 17 years old
- 26% were between 18 and 20 years old
- Almost 40% of defendants in Nottingham and Merseyside were juveniles
Updated figures for ethnicity show that 41% of defendants, where their background was stated, were white, 39% from a black background and 12% were mixed. Some 6% were Asian and 2% were defined as Chinese or other.
Previous figures from the government have shown that approximately 13% of those involved in the disturbances were defined as gang members and three-quarters of all those who had appeared in court had a previous conviction or caution.
More than 2,500 shops and business were attacked by looters and vandals, along with a further 230 homes.
Mr Blunt paid tribute to the legal system saying: "The courts, judges and the probation and prison services have worked hard to make sure that those who attacked their own communities during the public disorder last August have faced justice quickly.
"They played a key part in stopping the riots from spreading further by delivering swift and firm justice, and these statistics make clear that the disgraceful behaviour innocent communities endured last summer is wholly intolerable."
(23rd February 2012)
COLOMBIANS FLY-IN TO RANSACK HOMES
(London Evening Standard, dated 14th February 2012 author Justin Davenport)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
South American gangs are behind a surge in burglaries in suburban homes in London.
Police in the Kingston area say they are under pressure from gangs flying in from countries such as Colombia and are drafting in officers from other areas to investigate the crimes.
Three Colombian gangsters have been jailed for burglary so far and face deportation at the end of their sentences but police says others fly in to replace them. Inspector Jaiye Warwick-Saunders from Kingston Police described them as a "particularly nasty crime network".
He said a number of arrests had been made in London and the home counties, and several suspects were in custody. Seven Mexicans and Colombians were arrested in connection with break-ins last year.
The gangs have fuelled a 30 per cent rise in burglaries in south-west London and North Surrey. Ninety-four homes were burgled in December - the highest figure for three years. Altogether 413 homes were raided between June and November - an increase of nearly 100 break-ins compared with the same period last year.
Police say three or four gang members at a time target homes in quiet residential streets in the A3 corridor. In December Det Insp Brian Fitzpatrick said: "It seems as fast as we arrest them, they get replaced."
(23rd February 2012)
UK BORDER AGENCY TO BE SPLIT
(BBC News, dated 20th February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Home Secretary Theresa May has said the UK Border Agency will be split in two following revelations that hundreds of thousands of people were let into the country without appropriate checks.
She told MPs the UK Border Force would become a separate law-enforcement body with its own distinctive "ethos".
Mrs May said officials had abandoned rules and gone further than ministers had recommended in relaxing checks.
Wiltshire Chief Constable Brian Moore will lead the new border force.
His predecessor, Brodie Clark, was suspended and then resigned, saying his position was untenable, after claims he had relaxed checks beyond what had been authorised by ministers.
The UK Border Agency was set up in 2008 following Labour Home Secretary John Reid's 2006 declaration that the Home Office's immigration directorate was "not fit for purpose".
It is responsible for securing the UK border at air, rail and sea ports and migration controls, such as the issuing of visas.
Its work was previously carried out by the Border and Immigration Agency, HM Revenue and Customs at the border and the Foreign Office.
Under the new arrangements, immigration policy work will be separated from operational duties.
The UK Border Force, the section of the UKBA that manages entry to the UK will become a separate entity. In addition, from next year the new National Crime Agency will be charged with improving intelligence capability at borders and investigating serious and organised border crime.
'New culture'
Mrs May made a statement to MPs on oan investigation * into the agency carried out by John Vine, the independent chief inspector of the UKBA.
She said officials had exceeded their remit on several occasions, under the current government and its Labour predecessor.
Among the findings:
Security checks had been suspended regularly and applied inconsistently since at least 2007
Checks against the Home Office Warnings Index were not carried out on about 500,000 European Economic Area nationals travelling to the UK on Eurostar services from France
An operation was carried out at Heathrow Airport in which students from supposedly low-risk countries were allowed to enter the UK even when they did not have the necessary entry clearance
Secure ID checks were suspended 482 times between June 2010 and November 2011, including 463 times at Heathrow
Between January and June 2011, prior to the introduction of a pilot which relaxed border checks in specific situations, "the biometric chip reading facility had been deactivated on 14,812 occasions at a number of ports"
Mrs May said: "The Vine report reveals a Border Force that suspended important checks without permission; that spent millions on new technologies but chose not to use them; that was led by managers who did not communicate with their staff; and that sent reports to ministers that were inaccurate, unbalanced and excluded key information.
"The Vine report makes a series of recommendations about how to improve the operation at the border, and I accept them all."
Mrs May added: "I do not believe the answer to the very significant problems exposed in the Vine Report is just a series of management changes.
"The Border Force needs a whole new management culture. There is no getting away from the fact that UKBA, of which the Border Force is part, has been a troubled organisation since it was founded in 2008.
"From foreign national prisoners to the asylum backlog to the removal of illegal immigrants, it has reacted to a series of problems instead of positively managing its responsibilities."
On the splitting up of UKBA, Mrs May said that "the extent of the transformational change required - in the agency's caseworking functions and in the Border Force - is too great for one organisation".
The Border Force would "become a separate operational command, with its own ethos of law enforcement, led by its own director general, and accountable directly to ministers", she added.
For Labour, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told Mrs May: "It is time for you to stop hiding and to take responsibility for things that have happened on your watch, for the unclear instructions from your office, for the policy decision to downgrade border controls, for the failure to monitor and check what was going on, and the for the failure to take responsibility now.
"This mess got worse and escalated on your watch, every month that went by. Unless you accept responsibility for it, you will fail to sort it out and you will also fail to reassure us that you can cope with future fiascos, and that you as home secretary can keep our borders secure."
The UK Border Agency will be split up at the beginning of next month.
Further information
* (http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk). The report consist of 86 pages !
(23rd February 2012)
WEBSITE LETS LONDON STREET VIOLENCE REPORT CRIMES ONLINE
(BBC News, dated 21st February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
A website set up by a charity for crime victims is to allow the first online reporting to police of street robberies and assaults in London.
Witness Confident says its site, Streetviolence.org, will allow victims and witnesses to record incidents that residents can view on a Google map.
It also hopes the site will counter "misplaced fears" about crime.
The Met Police said it did not "endorse" the reporting of street crime online as it could delay an inquiry.
Witness Confident says the Met helped it develop the "scope, functions and regulatory clearance" of Streetviolence.org.
However, in a statement, the Met Police confirmed that while it had "expressed interest in some of its early proposed functions" it reached a formal decision this month that it "could not support the launch of the site in its current format".
It added it would "continue to monitor the development" of the site and was "open to exploring any initiatives to help reduce crime and catch criminals".
'Initial hassle'
Information on crimes reported through Streetviolence.org will be sent directly to the neighbourhood policing team to investigate.
People who do not wish to formally report a crime can post information on the site anonymously. Witness Confident says it would get in touch on behalf of police "if and when [they] do want to get a message to you - say a witness has come forward or they think you have been one of a series of victims".
Witness Confident says its website "cuts the initial hassle and frustration that puts many victims off reporting the crime to begin with".
"As a way of telling the police you can help, the site is a welcome alternative to hanging behind at the scene, standing around at a police station or waiting in line at a call centre," said the charity's director Guy Dehn.
"This matters as there's little chance the police can make our streets safer if witnesses don't come forward," he added.
Mr Dehn told the BBC News website: "One of the things that has been lost in recent years is engagement with police... If you want to help police, this allows you to contact them 24/7 at the convenience of your computer."
Appeal boards
Witness Confident cites official crime statistics for England and Wales in 2010-2011 that suggest more than half of street robberies and assaults are not reported to police. It also points out that the Met Police stopped using appeal boards for crimes other than murders or road traffic accidents in 2009.
It added that its site goes further than the Home Office crime-mapping website www.police.uk which does not distinguish stranger attacks from domestic or acquaintance violence and "can make people assume the risk to them of violent crime is worse than it is".
The Met Police website has a facility allowing "non-emergency crimes" such as thefts from a motor vehicle and criminal damage to be reported online. Complaints about hate crimes can also be made.
In a statement, the Met Police said: "We do not endorse the reporting of street crime through the MPS website or any other third party website.
"This is predominantly due to concerns over victim safety and the importance of deploying officers in person as quickly as possible to this scenes of serious street crime."
It added: "Street crime is taken very seriously by the MPS, and in order to reduce street crime and catch offenders, the MPS urges victims to contact police in the quickest way possible by calling 999 or speaking to an officer on patrol nearby."
Street Violence website [Note 1] : www.StreetViolence.org
Comment
I can understand the concept of wanting to know where a crime actually occurred and not a rough idea quoted within Police data and maps. With this type of information people can chose to avoid a location. In addition, crimes against an individual are personal and I don't think that an incident should be reduced to just a piece of Home Office / Police data.
On the other hand. Reporting a crime via this organisation just slows the process down, even if just by minutes.
Regardless of what newspapers etc say. There are efficient reporting mechanisms in place that directly involve direct Police contact - website reporting, telephone reporting and attendance at a Police station.
(23rd February 2012)
METROPOLITAN POLICE LOSE TRACK OF 123 SEX OFFENDERS
(BBC News, dated 18th February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
The whereabouts of 123 registered sex offenders are unknown to the Metropolitan Police (Met).
Some of them have been missing for as many as 14 years. The Met believes 48 have been living outside the UK.
Police said they lost track of offenders after they failed to notify the police of their change of address.
The number is only just up from the 121 reported missing last May but sex abuse victims' groups said every offender "going off the radar is a concern".
Immediate risk
Donald Findlater, from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a UK-wide charity dedicated to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused, said: "It's important that if within this 123 there are any sex offenders who pose a likely immediate risk to children, that information needs to be put across to the public".
He added: "Many of them fail to keep police informed because they just don't want to be monitored, not because they're dangerous.
"The biggest risk to children across the country isn't posed by registered sex offenders, it's posed by people not on it at all."
He said police and other agencies are responsible for monitoring more than 4,000 convicted sex offenders in the capital.
A spokesman for the Met said: "We take this matter extremely seriously and officers are proactively following lines of inquiry in order to trace these offenders to ensure that they are dealt with robustly for having breached the terms of their conditions."
Lucy Faithfull Foundation website [Note 1] : http://lucyfaithfull.org/
(19th February 2012)
SERIAL LONDON SEX OFFENDER MOHAMMED KENDEH DEPORTED
(BBC News, dated 16th February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
A serial sex offender who attacked 11 women in five years has been deported to his native Sierra Leone, the Home Office has said.
Mohammed Kendeh, 25, of Peckham, south London, admitted indecently assaulting 11 women between 2002 and 2007.
In 2007 a judge said he could not be deported due to human rights laws, but calls for deportation resurfaced after he was jailed for robbery in 2009.
One victim, Gabrielle Browne, said he should have been deported earlier.
The sex attacker was sent to Freetown on Sunday, the Home Office said.
'Appalling crimes'
Kendeh was released from prison in 2009 on licence and went on to rob a woman in Beckenham in July that year.
He was jailed for five and a half years at Croydon Crown Court after admitting the robbery and the judge recommended him for deportation.
But Kendeh, who had come to the UK at the age of six, claimed his right to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enshrined in UK law under the Human Rights Act.
A senior immigration judge in 2007 ruled that he could not be deported as he had almost no family left in his native country.
Gabrielle Browne, 46, a mother-of-two, was training for the London Marathon in Burgess Park, south London, when she was attacked by a then teenage Kendeh in 2003.
The IT worker, who has waived her right to anonymity, said: "Kendeh committed serious offences and abused the rights and freedoms of women in south London.
"I'm very pleased he has been deported. This should have happened in 2007 when he was, in my view, wrongly allowed to remain in the UK."
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "Kendeh committed appalling crimes but made every attempt through the courts to thwart his removal and further prolong the suffering of his victims.
"I am pleased he has now been successfully returned to his home country.
"For too long Article 8 has been used to place the family rights of foreign criminals and immigration offenders above the rights of the British public."
(19th February 2012)
PAEDOPHILES NETTED BY PC ANALYSIS SOFTWARE
(Police Oracle, dated 14th February 2012 author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
The introduction of new software designed to interrogate computers for evidence of child sex abuse has massively speeded up the PC analysis process.
Detectives from the Nottinghamshire Police Sexual Exploitation Investigation Unit began using the Triage Investigator system last year - and it has delivered impressive results.
Its use has seen the conviction of three offenders and the cautioning of another.
Developed in the United States, the software is stored on a memory stick and quickly scans computers for any evidence of indecent images of children.
It also searches for chat logs, email addresses and messages plus web browser searches and desktop files, allowing officers to considerably speed up an investigation.
The software means it can take minutes or hours to examine a computer - a job that could take up to 18 months or more using more traditional methods.
DC Andrew Taylor, from SEIU, said: "The system is faster than anything we've used and means sex offenders are being arrested swiftly and cases are going through court more quickly.
"It allows us to identify victims, enabling us to protect anyone who has been abused."
Among recent successes, a 52-year-old man was arrested after the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) informed Nottinghamshire Police he had been accessing indecent images of children online.
DC Taylor used the Triage Investigator system to scrutinise the man's PC and the software identified over 100,000 indecent images and video clips of children within six hours.
He pleaded guilty to possessing the indecent images and received a three year community order and was added to the Sex Offenders' Register for five years.
A 45-year-old Nottingham man was also arrested by police in June following another tip off from CEOP. The high-tech system found nearly 800 indecent images of children on his computer, some of which were of Level Four in seriousness.
He pleaded guilty and was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years and given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for five years.
(19th February 2012)
METAL THEFT HURTING COMMUNITY HERITAGE
(Police Oracle, dated 9th February 2012 author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
The numbers of metal thefts from historic sites have soared into the thousands compared with a handful just a few years ago, latest figures show.
Speaking at an ACPO-backed Metal Theft seminar in Northamptonshire, Association Lead for Wildlife and Rural Crime CC Richard Crompton said churches had taken the brunt of the thefts amid the soaring price of lead.
The Lincolnshire Chief emphasised that there had been just six claims registered against ecclesiastical insurance in 2004 for lead thefts - compared to 2,500 last year.
He added: "In the past five years we have seen 8,000 claims against ecclesiastical insurance alone. There has been a quantum lead in this type of acquisitive crime.
"Historic buildings have been targeted, and we have also seen highly emotive cases of people damaging war memorials in a move to steal the metal."
CC Crompton told PoliceOracle.com that thefts from heritage sites provided their own distinct challenge to officers in the wider metal theft problem.
Unlike the theft of cable - which often had a Level II crime dimension with its resale and transportation across the world to countries such as Turkey and China - he stressed that the targeting of historic buildings was often carried out by localised offenders.
But the Chief Constable emphasised: "Heritage crime is not victimless and it is rightly something that is being taken very seriously by the Police Service.
"Historic buildings and other sites are irreplaceable and these thefts are not only damaging the fabric of communities, they are denying something from future generations."
CC Crompton, however, said he was heartened to see so many delegates from the policing family and the corporate world squaring up to the problem at the conference in Kettering.
While he accepted that better regulation of the scrap metal industry would also make a difference combined with enforcement, he stressed it would not be a panacea.
CC Crompton concluded: "My personal view is that better regulation will ultimately make it more difficult for criminals to sell the metal that they have stolen.
"But while it is an important part of an overall strategy, it is not a silver bullet."
(19th February 2012)
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY GETS NEW METAL THEFT POWERS
(Police Oracle, dated 8th February 2012 author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
The Environment Agency will soon have greater powers to complement the police and partner organisations in dealing with the burgeoning metal theft epidemic.
Delegates at an ACPO seminar were told that the Agency would be able to block the issuing of its own licences to dealers and carriers - if they had previous theft related history.
Bob Mead, Environment and Business Manager, said that these types of offences would now be taken into consideration in a move that would clamp down on rogue elements.
Mr Mead told the seminar in Kettering, Northamptonshire: "Up until now we have only been able to consider licences on the basis of environmental issues.
"But as of April we are going to be able to take metal theft offences into consideration. It will take longer with the carriers because it will require legislation."
The move is likely to be welcomed by Chief police officers battling the growing metal theft problem - and its continuing impact on the country's infrastructure.
As previously reported on PoliceOracle.com, Home Secretary Theresa May has proposed that there should be tighter regulation of the scrap metal industry.
She has confirmed that a ban on cash payments for scrap metal and greater penalties for offenders would be created as an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill being considered in Parliament.
The Environmental Agency is responsible for overseeing the environmental impacts of the scrap metal industry. As of last year, it had 827 metal recycling organisations on its radar as well as more than 1,700 scrapyards.
Mr Mead confirmed that action had been taken against scores of scrapyards operating outside of an environmental licence in 2010 - however he admitted other businesses were springing up as fast as offenders were being taken out of circulation.
But he said Environment Agency staff had played a full role in last year's Day of Action against metal theft, visiting 22 sites where stolen metal had been found. "I think this shows that the intelligence-led approach is working" Mr Mead concluded.
(19th February 2012)
NEW REGIONAL POLICE E-CRIME HUBS TO TACKLE THREAT OF CYBERCRIME
(ACPO*, dated 8th February 2012)
www.acpo.police.uk/
The UK police capability to tackle the growing threat of cyber crime was strengthened today with the announcement of three regional policing e-crime hubs
The new hubs, in Yorkshire and the Humber, the Northwest and in East Midlands, will be launched at the ACPO e-crime conference in Sheffield today. Cyber crime has been identified in the National Security Risk Assessment as a 'tier one' threat alongside international terrorism, an international military crisis, and a major accident or natural hazard requiring a national response.
To meet the threat, the government has granted £30m over four years to improve national capability to investigate and combat cyber crime.
The three new units will work alongside the Metropolitan Police Centre e-crime Unit (PCeU) which was established in October 2008 as part of the National e-Crime Programme.
ACPO lead on e-crime Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams said:
"The Government has acknowledged a need to collaborate and provide a structured response to the cyber security of the UK and these three additional policing units are going to play a critical role in our ability to combat the threat.
"It is anticipated the hubs will make a significant contribution to the national harm reduction target of £504m. In the first six months of the new funding period alone we have already been able to show a reduction of £140m with our existing capability.
"While a training period is required before the hubs are fully functional they will undoubtedly provide an enhanced ability to investigate this fast growing area of crime and provide an improved internet investigation capability."
James Brokenshire Minister for Crime and Security said:
"Cyber crime is a threat locally and nationally, and every police force in the country has to deal with its impact on people and businesses in their area.
"As well as leading the fight in their regions, these units mark a significant step forward in developing a national response to cyber crime, which will be driven by the new National Crime Agency.
"The government has committed £650million in the fight against e-crime."
Regional e-crime co-ordinator, East Midlands Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman said:
"There is no doubt that the proliferation of the internet has brought significant benefits to all across society, but unfortunately that also includes those who have criminal intent. We know that increasingly criminal networks are seeking to exploit cyber space for profit and we have a duty as police leaders to respond to protect individuals and communities."
* Association of Chief Police Officers
(19th February 2012)
URGENT REVIEW DEMANDS AFTER DRIVING LICENCE SECURITY FLAWS
(BBC News, dated 13th February 2012 author Guy Lynn)
www.bbc.co.uk
"Disturbing" flaws in security in the issuing of UK driving licences to foreign nationals have been exposed by a BBC investigation.
Secret filming has uncovered how foreign drivers who would not normally be allowed to drive in the UK have obtained licences via agents in London who illegally exploit an arrangement the UK has with Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong government and the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) told the BBC they were investigating.
The DVLA said work was already under way to tighten the law on standards required for drivers who exchange foreign licences.
Labour MP Louise Ellman, who chairs the Commons Transport Select Committee, is calling for an urgent review.
"This is deeply disturbing. It means there are people driving on our roads who have not passed a UK driving test that is recognised by the UK authorities," said Ms Ellman.
"That means people's lives may be at risk and it is an extremely disturbing situation - it shouldn't be allowed to happen."
Nationals from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia, the USA, Israel and China are among those the UK government does not permit to swap their foreign licences automatically into a full UK licence without a test.
Motorists from all countries are allowed to drive in the UK for a year before being required to take a driving test if they do not qualify for an immediate swap of their foreign licence.
'Very worried'
An investigation for BBC London's Inside Out programme revealed agents in the capital are arranging to swap foreign licences into UK ones via a Hong Kong licence, which the UK does accept automatically, to bypass the rules.
The BBC tracked down the original applications and found fraudulent details used as proof of address in Hong Kong and fake addresses scrawled on envelopes.
Hong Kong based lawyer Raymond Tse, a specialist in transport issues, said: "My reaction is that the Hong Kong transport department has been used or manipulated.
"If the driving licence in Hong Kong, which is not an identity, can be converted to such an important identity document in the UK then that makes me very worried."
An Indian researcher for the BBC, who was not able to drive here, handed over his passport and Indian driving licence to one of the agents in Edgware, North London.
Within several weeks, he had received a full UK licence from the DVLA that had originated from a fraudulent Hong Kong licence.
'Dubious purposes'
Since 2010, nearly 13,000 Hong Kong licences have been swapped for UK ones under a special exchange arrangement.
This represents the second highest number of UK driving licence swaps from any country in the world.
The DVLA said it was not clear how many driving licences had been affected as it did not keep records of where the drivers of Hong Kong licences, swapped into British ones, originally came from.
The UK driving licence has taken on more importance as an identity document and in addition to driving, can be used to take a domestic flight, open a bank account, prove age or gain credit.
"It's very alarming, I'm stunned," said Prof Richard Aldrich, who has previously advised the UK government on international security.
"It's extraordinary that people can obtain a real driving licence via these unorthodox means. It's very troubling.
"It's almost certain some of these documents are being used for dubious purposes.
"We're talking people trafficking, drug trafficking and at the top of the list is terrorism.
"We recall the people who perpetrated 9/11 also had dubious driving licences."
A Hong Kong government spokesperson told the BBC: "We will conduct an investigation into alleged abuse cases.
"Depending on circumstances, these cases may also be referred to the police for consideration of appropriate enforcement action."
Asked whether the DVLA was doing enough to check licences, its director of corporate affairs Hugh Evans said: "We exchange some 30,000 licences in the UK each year and in all we've got some 44 million driver records and have some eight million licences issued annually.
"The DVLA does check licences, we work closely with the police."
The BBC will be handing over its evidence exposing the illegal trade in UK driving licences to the authorities in the UK and Hong Kong
(13th February 2012)
"ITS PROBABLY NOTHING, BUT...." COUNTER-TERRORISM CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN LONDON
(Courtesy of : Metropolitan Police, dated 12th February 2012)
www.met.police.uk
One phone call to police could save lives - that's the message of a new counter-terrorism publicity campaign launched by the Metropolitan Police Service today (Monday, 13 February).
Everyone who works, lives and visits London has a role to play in helping to counter the terrorist threat which remains real and serious.
Police fully understand that people may be reluctant to tell them about suspicious activity or behaviour - but they stress that all calls to the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline are taken by specially trained officers and information is thoroughly analysed and researched before, and if, any action is taken. No piece of information is considered too small or insignificant.
The four-week campaign: "It's probably nothing, but …" consists of local newspaper adverts and one 40-second radio ad across London. Leaflets will also be distributed to 1.4 million households in the Capital.
DAC Stuart Osborne, Senior National Co-ordinator Counter Terrorism, said: "The terrorist threat to London, and the UK generally, remains real and serious, so it is vital that everyone continues to be vigilant and aware. "We at the Metropolitan Police Service have a key role in countering this threat, whether it is from Al-Qaeda inspired groups or individuals, or Irish Dissident Republican Groups - but we can only do this with the support of all our communities. "Terrorists live amongst us. We want you to tell us about anyone or anything you see which is out of place in your normal day to day lives.
"We know you may have concerns about speaking to the police - possibly because your friends or family may find out. But you may well have information which could save lives.
"We would rather take lots of calls which are made in good faith, but have innocent explanations. - rather than not getting any at all. Not making that call could mean we miss out on a vital piece of information.
"Our priority is to keep the public safe - but we can only do that with your help. Please trust your instincts. Call the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321."
(13th February 2012)
GANGS BEHIND A QUARTER OF VIOLENT CRIME
(Daily Mail, dated 9th February 2012 author Rebecca Camber)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
Scotland Yard declared war on gangs yesterday as it emerged they are responsible for half of London's shootings and one in seven rapes.
Police said 4,800 gangsters were to blame for almost a quarter of the capital's serious violence, a sixth of all robberies, 16 per cent of the drug trade and 20 per cent of stabbings.
The figures came as the Met unveiled a £60million taskforce to crack down on the problem.
New Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is expanding the existing Trident squad, increasing its remit from probing shootings in the black community to all gangs.
The force is also doubling the number of officers dedicated to gang crime from 450 to 1,000.
Police are aware of 435 'crews' operating in London, but only 250 are criminally active.
Of those, 62 are categorised as posing a risk of 'high harm' and are estimated to be behind two thirds of gang-related offences.
According to the crime figures, 480 rapes or 14 per cent of the 3,431 sex attacks in London every year are carried out by known gang members.
They also account for 22 per cent of serious violence, 20 per cent of stabbings and 247 out of the 547 shootings during 2011.
More than 6,200 personal robberies and 40 per cent of all commercial premises and 'cash in transit' thefts can also be traced back to the 4,800 criminals.
And they have been blamed for 26 per cent of aggravated burglary and 12 per cent of residential burglaries, which is equivalent to 7,650 break-ins a year.
Some of the criminals responsible are as young as 14, with a third of those shot aged under 19.
Statistics show that 84 per cent of gang members are under 24 and two-thirds of those are black males. Detectives believe the number of girls joining gangs is rising, although they only represent 5 per cent of offenders.
Between 2008 and 2010, the victims of London shootings hailed from 53 different countries.
Yesterday, as officers arrested 213 suspects in a series of raids, the Met announced it would be working with the UK Border Agency to deport any foreign gang members.
The Commissioner pledged to use 'all tactics, if legal and ethical', to tackle the problem.
His new squad will draw officers from other specialist units, including the Flying Squad and homicide.
Mr Hogan-Howe said: 'This is a step change in how we tackle gang crime in London. It will allow us to identify and relentlessly pursue the most harmful gangs and gang members.
'We want to prevent young people getting involved in gang offending so we and other agencies are offering ways out to support young people.
'However, those who refuse our offer of help will be pursued and brought to justice.'
(13th February 2012)
SOLD FOR £19 : YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS
(Daily Mail, dated 8th February 2012 author Ruth Lythe)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
Account numbers and passwords of thousands of British bank customers are on sale on Russian websites for as little as £19, Money Mail can reveal.
This trade in our personal details is allowing criminals to snap up vital debit and credit card information and online banking passwords from rogue websites.
The details have been stolen using devices attached to cash machines, or from online scams that dupe bank customers into giving up their card numbers and Pin numbers.
Websites such as these contribute to the £308million worth of card fraud in the UK each year.
During the course of our investigation, Money Mail was offered a bundle of details from any UK bank card we wished. The details may have been enough to allow criminals to shop online and buy goods in stores and countries which don't use chip-and-pin technology.
Victims of the scams are usually refunded by their bank - but this cost is passed back to customers in the shape of higher fees and charges for other services.
Richard Hurley, a spokesman for UK anti-fraud organisation Cifas, says: 'It's an open secret that banks hand on to their customers the millions of pounds they lose this way.
According to the law, UK banks must compensate fraud victims. But they must also answer to their shareholders.
'The banks will claw back as much cash as they can by increasing charges for things like bank accounts or overdrafts.'
On average, every set of stolen card details costs banks £120, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Criminals can steal your personal details in several ways. Among the most common are by infecting your computer with a virus - a program which will read its files and register when you type in a password.
Your card's Pin number and details may also be copied by a device called a 'skimmer' which can be attached to cash machines.
Details are then sold, often in bulk, on hundreds of so-called 'carding' websites, often based in Eastern Europe or China.
Anyone can register for one of these sites - all you need is an email address - to get access to a global network of criminals selling details from victims over the world.
The sites change frequently, to evade the police. Money Mail visited a number selling British card details from banks including HSBC.
One seller on a Russian website offered British credit cards, with full details of the person's identity, for just £19 each. For £190, they also claimed to be able to offer access to a UK bank account with a credit limit of £8,000.
Another seller on a separate Russian website boasted of having five staff working in the UK. Within one minute of us contacting him, he offered to sell the details on the magnetic strips of credit cards from any UK bank.
These details can be attached to blank plastic cards and used in shops in countries which don't use chip and pin, such as the U.S.
Other criminals use the 'deep internet'. This is an anonymous network which is even tougher for the police to trace and requires you to download special programs.
Here, Money Mail found one website, selling bundles of British and German Visa cards and MasterCards complete with their security codes, with credit limits of £2,000 each, for £25 per card.
The criminals trade under nicknames so they can't be traced and write their posts in broken Russian and English slang.
At no point did Money Mail receive any personal details or bank cards.
All our findings have been reported to City of London Police and the National Fraud Information Bureau.
(13th February 2012)
WHATS NEW IN COMPUTER SECURITY - JANUARY 2012
All links under this heading are [Note 1]
INDUSTRY GROUP MAKES FRESH PUSH TO FIGHT PHISHING
(Computer World, dated 30th January 2012 author Jeremy Kirk)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7835543/930454165/549785/0/
Companies such as Facebook, Google and PayPal are pushing for widespread use of a new technical specification, DMARC, that could make it harder for phishers to reach their victims.
A common problem with email is that it is very easy to spoof the "from" address, making it difficult for an average user to know if an email is really from the domain it purports to be from.
New technologies already allow domain owners to vouch for mail sent in their name, but don't specify what to do with messages that fail the test. DMARC * builds on those systems, allowing domain owners to ask receiving mail servers to discard mail that fails authentication tests. That will make it less likely that scam messages impersonating sites such as PayPal will appear in your inbox.
There is a huge financial incentive for criminals to compromise user accounts on social internet and e-commerce sites in order to steal passwords and bank account or credit card details, according to the DMARC group. To do that, spammers and phishers often exploit trust in well-known brands by sending email purporting to be from such sites.
* DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)
DMARC Website : www.dmarc.org
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SAYS ITS WEBSITE VICTIM OF ATTACK
(Computer World, dated 26th January 2012 author Jeremy Kirk)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7830616/930454165/549482/0/
The European Parliament's website fell under a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDOS) on Thursday in what the organization classified as retaliation for the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing site and an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement.
The Parliament issued a statement saying it had acted to reduce the impact of the attacks, but the site was still down as of mid-afternoon Thursday.
Anonymous, a loose-knit group of hackers and digital activists, has undertaken a series of DDOS attacks against government websites and other organizations following last week's international take-down of Megaupload, whose operators are wanted by U.S. authorities for alleged copyright infringement related offenses.
Anonymous, which has sought to corral support from Internet users, created Web-based tools that allow non-technical people to participate in DDOS attacks, which bombard websites with an excessive amount of traffic, causing them to be unreachable.
EU'S PROPOSED DATA PROTECTION RULES COULD HINDER INTERNET
(Computer World, dated 25th January 2012 author Grant Gross)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7828966/930454165/549255/0/
Data protection and online privacy rules proposed for the European Union could hinder the development of new Web-based business models and bog down companies with regulations, some U.S. critics said Wednesday.
The proposal, released Wednesday, "goes precisely in the wrong direction," said Thomas Lenard, president of the Technology Policy Institute, a free-market think tank. "If adopted, it will stifle the development of the
Internet, which depends critically on the use of individual data to develop, improve, and fund services and content."
The rules, proposed by E.U. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, include the so-called "right to be forgotten," allowing Internet users to have data about them deleted if there are no legitimate reasons for retaining it. The proposal would require companies with more than 250 employees to appoint data protection officers, and it would require companies to report data breaches within 24 hours.
US GOVERNMENT SECURITY AND TSA* SITES HACKED
(Computer World, dated 24th January 2012 author Darlene Storm)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7827377/930454165/549106/0/
All aboard the crazy cyber-attacked train? The TSA claimed that hackers launched a cyberattack that manipulated a railway company's computers. The two IP addresses belonging to intruders on December 1 and a third IP address location on Dec. 3 may indicate the cyberattack on railway computers was launched from overseas, according to
NextGov. Peter Boogaard, a DHS spokesman, said a "Pacific Northwest transportation entity reported a potential cyber incident that could affect train service." DHS and the FBI stayed in communication with the railway which sent alerts to the "transportation community of the anomalous activity as it was occurring."
"OnGuardOnline.gov, a partnership of fourteen federal agencies managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)" ... "the bad guys constantly develop new ways to attack your computer, so your security software must be up-to-date to protect against the latest threats." ... etc etc you got rooted and rm'd. umad? don't like it when your site is wiped of the internet do you?
* Transportation Security Agency
See also : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7827377/930454165/549108/0/
ONLINE COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE USA
(Computer World, dated 11th January 2012 author Patrick Thibodeau)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7808380/930454165/546751/0/
With the odds perhaps still against them, two lawmakers who are fighting the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills took their case to the world's largest consumer electronics gathering.
"This is going to turn websites into Web cops," said Wyden, of the two bills. SOPA is being pushed in the House of Representatives; PIPA is similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.
Instead of "three guys in a garage" launching a Web-based business "you're going to be three people with an upstairs full of lawyers telling you whether or not you are going to be able to operate a Web site."
The Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES, is a leading opponent of SOPA. The fight over this particular bill is part of a long-running battle in Washington between content producers and large parts of the IT industry over how Congress should go about protecting copyright.
See also : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7818682/930454165/548210/0/
and : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7818682/930454165/548215/0/
Finally : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7825603/930454165/548718/0/
US COMMISION PROBING IF INDIA INTERCEPTED ITS EMAILS
(Computer World, dated 9th Janaury 2012 autor John Ribeiro)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7805897/930454165/546419/0/
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) has asked for an investigation after hackers posted online a memo purportedly from India's military, which claimed that the country had intercepted emails of USCC officials with the help of Nokia, Research In Motion, and Apple.
"We are aware of these reports and have contacted relevant authorities to investigate the matter," said USCC spokesman Jonathan Weston on Monday. "We are unable to make further comments at this time," he added.
The memo, allegedly from the Directorate General of Military Intelligence, Foreign Division, in New Delhi, said that as India did not have access to the USCC local area network, which was a prime target in connection with arch-rival People's Republic of China, India had signed an agreement with mobile manufacturers in return for giving these companies access to the Indian market.
ISREAL STEPS UP FIGHT AGAINST CREDIT-CARD HACKERS
(Computer World, dated 9th Janaury 2012 author Jeremy Kirk)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7805897/930454165/546418/0/
A top Israeli official said Saturday that cyber attacks are similar to terrorism and merit the same response, just a few days after tens of thousands of credit card numbers were released by a hacker going by the name "oxOmar."
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who spoke at an event in the city of Beersheba, said "no agency or hacker will be immune from a response," according to the English-language Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Israel's Banking Supervision Department said last Tuesday that the information released last week involved around 15,000 active cards and came from three credit-card companies: Cal (Cartisey Ashrai Le'Israel) -- Israel Credit Cards; Isracard and Leumi Card.
See also : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7825603/930454165/548721/0/
LAPD DROPS GOOGLE APPS PLAN
(Computer World, dated 9th Janaury 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7802746/930454165/546206/0/
After more than two years of work, the city of Los Angeles last month abandoned plans to migrate its police operations to Google's hosted email and office applications because it says the service can't meet FBI security requirements.
The city council last month voted to amend a 2009 contract calling for Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) to undertake a wholesale replacement of the city's GroupWise email system with Google's email and collaboration services.
The amended pact cuts the Los Angeles Police Department and its nearly 13,000 employees out of the project; other agencies will continue the migration to Google Apps for Government.
SYMANTEC (NORTONS) CONFIRMS SOURCES CODE LEAK IN TWO SECURITY PRODUCTS
(Computer World, dated 6th January 2012 author Jaikumar Vijayan)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7799944/930454165/546092/0/
Symantec late Thursday confirmed that source code used in two of its older enterprise security products was publicly exposed by hackers this week.
In a statement, the company said that the compromised code is between four and five years old and does not affect Symantec's consumer-oriented Norton products as had been previously speculated.
"Our own network was not breached, but rather that of a third party entity," the company said in the statement.
"We are still gathering information on the details and are not in a position to provide specifics on the third party involved. Presently, we have no indication that the code disclosure impacts the functionality or security of Symantec's solutions," the statement said.
Symantec spokesman Cris Paden identified the two affected products as Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 and Symantec Antivirus 10.2. Both products are targeted at enterprise customers and are more than five years old,
Paden said.
See also : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7799944/930454165/546094/0/
and : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7816841/930454165/547983/0/
BRUTE FORCE TOOLS CRACK WIFI SECURITY IN HOURS
(Computer World, dated 5th January 2012 author Darlene Storm)
Full article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7798170/930454165/545914/0/
If you set WPA/WPA2 security protocol on your home or small business wireless router, and you think your Wi-Fi is secure, there two recently released brute force tools that attackers may use to bypass your encryption and burst your security bubble. The irony is that the vulnerability which can be exploited was intended to be a security strength, a usability issue to help the technically clueless setup encryption on their wireless networks. Wi-Fi
Protected Setup (WPS) is enabled by default on most major brands of wireless routers including Belkin, Buffalo, D-Link, Cisco's Linksys and Netgear, leaving millions of wireless routers around the world vulnerable to brute force attacks which can crack the Wi-Fi router's security in two to ten hours.
HACKING GROUP RELEASES MORE STRATFOR SUBSCRIBER DATA
(Computer World, dated 30th December 2011 author Jeremy Kirk)
Full article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7796494/930454165/545710/0/
Hackers released another batch of data on Thursday pilfered from Stratfor Global Intelligence, a widely used research and analysis company whose website was attacked last weekend.
The data purports to be the names and credit-card numbers of people who have purchased research from Stratfor plus hundreds of thousands of user names and e-mail addresses used to register with the website.
The data comprises 75,000 names, credit card numbers and MD5 hashes, or cryptographic representations, of passwords for people who have paid Stratfor for research. The group also said the data contains 860,000 user names, e-mail addresses and MD5 hashes for passwords for anyone who has registered on Stratfor's website.
EXPECT MORE CYBER-ESPIONAGE, SOPHISTICATED MALWARE IN 2012, SAY EXPERTS
(Computer World, dated 26th December 2011 author Lucian Constantin)
Full Article : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7792488/930454165/545692/0/
The security industry expects the number of cyber-espionage attacks to increase in 2012 and the malware used for this purpose to become increasingly sophisticated.
In the past two years there has been a surge in the number of malware-based attacks that resulted in sensitive data being stolen from government agencies, defense contractors, Fortune 500 companies, human rights organizations and other institutions.
Countries like the U.S., U.K., Germany, China and India have established specialized teams and centers to defend government assets against cyberattacks and to even retaliate, if necessary. However, determining who is behind
Internet-based hostile operations with certainty is impossible most of the time and that's just one of the problems.
(12th February 2012)
HOW DID LITHUANIAN MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING COUPLE SNEAK INTO BRITAIN TWICE
(Daily Mail, dated 1st February 2012 authors Nick Fagge, Katherine Faulkner and Andy Dolan)
www.dailymail.co.uk [Note 1]
Full Article [Note 1] :
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094310/Birmingham-double-murder-Lithuanian-man-accused-killing-Avtar-Carole-Kolar-dead.html
A Lithuanian charged with battering a retired couple to death in their home was a violent criminal who had already been kicked out of the UK. Rimvydas Liorancas, 37, who was awaiting trial for murdering Carole and Avtar Kolar with a lump hammer, was found hanged in his prison cell on Saturday.
He had twice made his way into the UK illegally, on the second occasion without a passport. Today it can be revealed that the convicted armed robber:
- Roamed Europe committing crimes for at least ten years;
- First entered the UK while on the run from a prison sentence;
- Strolled into the country even after a warrant had been issued across Europe for his arrest;
- Lived in Britain for almost a year before he was found and sent back to Lithuania;
- Somehow slipped back into Britain last year despite having no passport and a string of convictions.
- The British authorities had no idea Liorancas was even in the country until they arrested him two weeks ago.
The jobbing builder targeted Mr and Mrs Kolar, 62 and 58, after he was employed to do some work on the patio at their home in the Handsworth Wood area of Birmingham. The couple, who were married for 40 years, were found on January 11 by their son Jason, 37, a police officer.
Liorancas was arrested five days later and charged with murder. He was found dead in his cell at top security Woodhill jail, Milton Keynes, on Saturday before he could offer an explanation for what happened.
The father of two came from the village of Vadzgirys, around 150 miles from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. His ex-wife, Ingrida, said the muscular robber had never had a job and had been involved in crime since he left school.
'He came from a good family, but he did nothing,' she said. 'He was a thief, a burglar, a robber. He would steal anything - wood, petrol, property from people's homes.
'He drank a lot of alcohol. Almost everyone in the countryside drinks a lot. There's nothing else to do. 'We were married for 11 years but he was not home very much. He used to go out drinking all the time with his friends and they would plot their next crime.'He would come out of jail, be free for a few months, and then be sent back again.' She has brought up their son and daughter, now 12 and 17, alone. 'I'm ashamed of him and so are the children,' she said. Ingrida divorced Liorancas in 1999, during his first stint in prison for burglary. By 2003, he was back on the prowl and convicted for an armed robbery in the Czech Republic. He returned to his home country in 2005 to serve the rest of his lengthy sentence.
Four years later, he was granted parole - and immediately went on the run. When the authorities finally found him, he had been living in Britain undetected for almost a year. He had somehow made his way into this country despite being on a 'watch' list. Liorancas was extradited back to Lithuania in 2009. Once home, he was sentenced to a further one year and eight months for absconding and breaking the terms of his release. By 2011, he was in trouble again, this time for leaving the scene of an accident and drunk driving while disqualified. But, incredibly, he was soon back in the UK.
With no right to benefits, he eked out a meagre existence in the run-down Soho Hill area of Birmingham. Housemates said he was violent, heavy drinking, and would steal anything lying around. Tenants in the seedy Birmingham bedsit where he had been living said Liorancas was 'a madman' who kept a collection of hammers in his room.Though he said he was a builder, they suspected him of being a burglar 'or something worse'.
Among the sea of floral tributes outside the Kolars' semi-detached home yesterday was a photo of their youngest grandchild. Sonni was born to their son, Avtar, and his wife Victoria, both 32, a week before they were killed.
The text read: 'Nanny and Grandad. I love and miss you both. Love always and for ever, your newborn grandson xxxx.'
QUESTION
The UK Border control system (eBorders) electronically monitors visitors entering the UK. This is carried out by passport monitoring, passenger manifests monitoring from most points of origin, facial recognition and other methods. Output from these surveilance techniques are then compared by computer with watch lists of wanted or banned individuals. Even comparative minor offences such as consistent non-payment of parking fines is picked up. So what on earth happenend in this case ? Is this an example of who came into the country when a "rogue" Home Office official decided to reduce the efficiency of the system to reduce airport queue's. Or is it a case of other countries and central European crime agencies (Intepol) just not doing their job ?
(3rd February 2012)
LATEST OPERATION CUBO NETS MORE UNINSURED DRIVERS
(Courtesy of : Metropolitan Police, dated 3rd February 2012)
www.met.police.uk
Category : Vehicle Crime
Over 150 arrests were made and 563 cars seized during the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) latest operation to target criminals driving around the capital.
The fifth 'Operation Cubo' brought in the highest number of arrests and vehicles seizures so far.
The 30 hour operation began on Wednesday, 1 February 2012 at 2200hrs and ran through until 0600hrs this morning, Friday 3 February. Officers numbering 1500 from across London's 32 boroughs supported by Traffic, Territorial Support Group, Safer Transport Command and other teams worked together to use automatic number plate technology (ANPR) to identify vehicles driven by suspected criminals and uninsured drivers.
Since the start of Operation Cubo the total number of cars seized has now soared to 2384 with total arrests riding high at 387. The number of cars seized is on top of dozens seized by officers every week. Arrests varied from people wanted on warrant for various offences to possession with intent to supply drugs. Quantities of cannabis and class A drugs were also found inside some vehicles.
Commander Adrian Hanstock, of the Safer Transport Command, said: "If you are a criminal or someone who drives uninsured or unroadworthy vehicles you're highly likely to be caught through these police operations.
(3rd February 2012)
WILDLIFE CHARITY TO FUND ANIMAL TRAFFICKING UNIT
(The Guardian, dated 30th January 2012 source Press Association)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Animal cruelty
A specialist police unit that fights wildlife crime is joining forces with an animal charity.
The Metropolitan police's wildlife crime unit is teaming up with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), which warned animal trafficking is a "major source of revenue" for criminals.
It is the first time a charity has directly funded a Met police unit and it is hoped it will lead to more staff being recruited and trained in how to tackle wildlife crime.
WSPA's UK head of external affairs, Simon Pope, said: "Without the specialist skills and knowledge of the WCU, wildlife crime in London could flourish.
"This is not some niche, illicit trade carried out by petty part-time villains. It is a major source of revenue for a global network of hardened criminals, gangs and drug lords, all growing rich from the trafficking of wildlife and none about to have a crisis of conscience and stop what they are doing."
Sgt Ian Knox, head of the WCU, added: "I am delighted that the World Society for the Protection of Animals has decided to contribute a significant amount of money to the wildlife crime unit.
"The extra funding will pay for more staff so we can be more proactive in targeting criminals who seek to exploit animals for financial gain.
"We will also be able to provide additional support and training to wildlife crime officers across London which will ensure that the Met has the capability to tackle crimes against animals in the future," he added.
(3rd February 2012)
TECHNOLOGY TACKLES THEFT
(Police Oracle, dated 2nd February author Cliff Caswell)
www.policeoracle.com [Note 1]
Category : Crime prevention
In the not-too-distant past, using the internet was something you could only do by logging on to a computer that took up most of your spare room - and stealing a PC was a complicated effort undertaken by only the most determined of criminals.
Fast-forward a few years, however, and the story is very different. Smart phones, tablets, netbooks and other expensive internet-enabled devices have brought an entirely new dimension to communications on the move. Millions engage each other through the portals of social media in every situation from work meetings to nights out, making them are a far-easier target for common-or-garden thieves.
The theft problem is particularly prevalent in busy towns and cities where there are thriving business communities. With mobile communications turning cafes into surrogate offices, opportunists are out surfing tables looking for tempting targets. It is an endeavour at which they are all-too- often successful.
But the crime spree has not gone unnoticed by the police who have been deploying their own technology to fight back against offenders and make their enterprise less attractive. And officers in Met Safer Neighbourhood Teams have managed to use the deployment of their state-of-the-art equipment to forge closer relationships with their communities into the bargain.
Enter Hermes - a netbook-based system mated to a supermarket-style scanner. The device clocks barcodes and uploads them onto the Immobilise property database with its key function to record the unique IMEI numbers on phones. Unlike the old paper-based approach, this equipment allows items to be uploaded in minutes and the system does not store any information once it has been dispatched, meaning there are no data protection issues.
With thefts hitting the business community in Holborn, Hermes has been the catalyst for a new relationship between commerce and the police. InMidtown, a Business Improvement District representing 500 companies and organisations, bought the equipment for officers in their area's Safer Neighbourhood Team, where it has proved an excellent tool for engaging the community.
"We have a perfect fit with InMidtown in the sense that we all want the Holborn business area to be a safer place to live and work," said PC Simon Gray, an officer with the team. "Obviously we have always recorded and marked property but we did it in a very slow and longhand way.
"Hermes, on the other hand, is a very tactile piece of kit that you can use with a minimal amount of training - we believe it saves about five minutes of contact time per person and we are re-investing that in improving the contact experience."
Crucially, the kit has enabled the teams to venture out into cafes and into businesses to take the crime prevention message to the community - as well as encouraging them to record their property on the Immobilise database as a precautionary measure.
"People are curious about Hermes and want to know more when we show it to them, and this helps us although it does take customer service skills to sell it to people and get them to record ," PC Gray told PoliceOracle.com "But we also have the benefit of being visible when we turn up - and the sight of an officer or PCSO can often act as a deterrent and stop offenders coming into an area."
The effect of the equipment is all the more potent, however, when it is used alongside its Apollo twin - another scanning device purchased by InMidtown that can read the IMEI numbers of phones and determine whether the device is stolen.
PC Gray believes that the Apollo kit will ultimately prove all the more successful once a critical mass of information has been recorded via Hermes. "Frontloading data will very useful, because you then have the opportunity to deploy Apollo in a more effective way," the officer stressed.
"It could, for example, be used at clubs with a condition of entry that people have their phones checked - or perhaps used on static stop-and-search. Effectively you are deploying something akin to ANPR for barcodes."
Anecdotally, the initial use of Hermes appears to have had something of a deterrent effect. During November and December - traditionally a time when theft becomes prevalent in the run up to Christmas - figures did not increase as much as the 35 or more thefts a month expected during the period.
For InMidtown, the partnership approach has brought its own benefits - increasing awareness of how vulnerable business staff can be to mobile device theft is a key winner, as is improving the sharing of information with the police. The organisation has also ramped up its own campaign, encouraging instant messaging between members to warn when a theft has taken place.
Tess Mavrogortado, CEO of the Business Improvement District, praised the Safer Neighbourhood Team for their work. "We have always had a good relationship with the Met and we are pleased to have bought the equipment for our officers," she said.
"This unique partnership ensures that this thriving centre of commercial businesses and culture remains a district that people want to both work in and visit."
While PC Gray admitted it is "very much early days" for Hermes and Apollo, he believes that the potential is there to make a difference in discouraging thieves.
The initial results - and improved engagement with the public - are certainly encouraging. The intelligent use and deployment of mobile technology, it seems, is having an effect against those who seek to steal technology from others.
For more information about Hermes and Apollo see : www.radio-tactics.com
(3rd February 2012)
ANTISEMITIC CRIMES SEES RECORDING INCREASE
(The Guardian, dated 2nd February 2012 author Helen Carter)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Racism, Prejudice
More antisemitic incidents were recorded in Manchester than in London last year, despite the capital having a Jewish community almost seven times larger, according to figures released on Thursday.
There were 586 antisemitic crimes - including street attacks, threats, vandalism and desecration of Jewish property - across the whole of Britain last year.
This was the fourth highest figure since records began 28 years ago, according to the Community Security Trust, which records antisemitic incidents.
Manchester was the scene of 244 crimes, while in London there were 201. This was despite London having a Jewish population of 149,800 while the figure for Manchester is 21,700. One incident recorded by the CST involved "extreme violence" as a Jewish family were filling up their car with petrol in Manchester.
"As one of the family members crossed the forecourt in order to make payment, a car containing two white women reversed sharply into her, knocking her to the ground," the report said.
"The occupants then got out of their car, shouted 'dirty Jew' and spat at the injured woman lying on the ground, before getting back into the car and driving away."In other incidents in Manchester and Salford, three children were verbally abused and had a lit firework thrown at them; eggs were thrown at men outside a synagogue after Saturday prayers; and a man in Salford had his skullcap torn off his head and was punched in the face.
The report said the rise "continues the pattern" of more incidents occurring in "Greater Manchester than should be the case, given the relative sizes of the Jewish communities in Manchester and in London". But it said this was mainly the result of improved reporting of incidents by Manchester's Jewish community to CST and to Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Overall, the number of incidents nationally fell by more than a third from 2009, when the ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces was accompanied by a record 929 incidents.
Incidents in the UK in 2011 included 92 assaults, 63 incidents of vandalism, 394 incidents of abuse and 29 direct threats.
Mark Gardner of CST said: "Antisemitism is not the most important feature in British Jewish life, but it remains a serious problem in some parts of society and retains the potential to worsen significantly in reaction to external events."
Last year, a taxi driver called Taha Osman was spared jail after hurling racist abuse outside King David School in Manchester. The 36-year-old screamed "all Jewish children must die" in front of horrified onlookers. He was given a 12-month community order.
The northern city has large Jewish communities in Broughton Park, North Manchester, Bury and Trafford.
Crimes in Greater Manchester included 46 assaults, 21 incidents of damage or desecration, 15 threats and 162 incidents of abusive behaviour.
Ch Supt Jon Rush, divisional commander for Bury, said: "What we must acknowledge is that the number of antisemitic attacks is far too high." "People in our Jewish community should be able to safely and freely go about their business without fear of being attacked.
"Any incident motivated by religious or racial hatred is abhorrent and can cause people a great deal of upset.
"We do not want people to suffer in silence and think they should not speak out when they are subject to any form of abuse - we want them to tell us so that we can bring the offenders to justice."
He said the figures were partly explained by increased levels of reporting in Greater Manchester.
"We have run a number of successful initiatives in our communities that are designed to encourage anyone who is a victim of an antisemitic incident to report it to either ourselves or the CST, with whom we are working with very hard to tackle this sort of crime," he added.
Ch Supt Rush said for several years, Greater Manchester police and the CST had worked together over the Jewish high holy days to deter antisemitism and criminal activity by providing accessible policing and reassurance. He said his force had received positive feedback from the Jewish community.The operations included police patrols in Bury and Salford before and after services at synagogues. Mobile police stations were also situated nearby so people could report incidents.
(3rd February 2012)
ANONYMOUS GAIN ACCESS TO FBI AND SCOTLAND YARD HACKING CALL
(BBC News, dated 3rd February 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Category : Hacking
Hacking network Anonymous has released a recording of a conference call between the FBI and UK police in which they discuss efforts against hacking.
The call, said to have taken place last month, covers the tracking of Anonymous and similar groups, dates of planned arrests and evidence details.
Anonymous also published an email, apparently from the FBI, showing the email addresses of call participants. The FBI confirmed the intercept and said it was hunting those responsible.
"The information was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained. A criminal investigation is under way to identify and hold accountable those responsible," it said in a statement.
London's Metropolitan Police's central e-crime unit said the matter was being investigated but that no operational risks had been identified.
A comment on one of the Twitter accounts linked to Anonymous, AnonymousIRC, said: "The FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now."
BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner says the recording will be highly embarrassing for the cyber crime detectives.
At one point an FBI agent thanks the British police for their help with investigations, to which the British man replies: "We're here to help. We've cocked things up in the past, we know that."
Greek attack
According to the alleged email, the 17-minute phone call took place on 17 January. It was unclear how Anonymous had managed to obtain the recording.
The email was sent to law enforcement officials in the US, UK, Sweden, Ireland and other countries, inviting them to "discuss the on-going investigations related to Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, and other associated splinter groups".
In the call, British and American voices, said to be those of police and FBI agents, discuss the names of some of the people they were tracking and plans for legal action.
Usernames are included but some of the real names of people being investigated appear to have been bleeped out.
Among those discussed are several British men accused of being behind cyber attacks in the US and UK, including Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary who were arrested last year.
The police also refer to a 15-year-old who says he was behind an attack on online gaming site Steam, where the identities and credit card details of thousands of users were accessed.
Anonymous is a loose collective of hackers, anarchists and pranksters which has targeted the websites of a range of governments, companies, law enforcement agencies and individuals in recent years.
Also on Friday, hackers operating under the Anonymous name took over the website of Greece's justice ministry, prompting officials to take the site down.
The hackers said the action was a protest against Greece's signing of a global copyright treaty and the government's handling of the economic crisis.
The website was replaced with a video of a figure wearing the symbolic white mask of Anonymous supporters, saying: "Democracy was given birth in your country but you have killed it."
What is Anonymous?
Anonymous describes itself as an "internet gathering". The term is used to describe a collective of people who come together online, commonly to stage a protest.
The groups vary in size and make-up depending on the cause. Members often identify themselves in web videos by wearing the Guy Fawkes masks popularised by the book and film V for Vendetta.
Its protests often take the form of disrupting websites and services.
Its use of the term Anonymous comes from a series of websites frequented by members, such as the anarchic image board 4Chan.
These allow users to post without having to register or provide a name. As a result, their comments are tagged "Anonymous".
In the past, groups have staged high-profile protests against plans by the Australian government to filter the internet and the Church of Scientology.
Many Anonymous protests tackle issues of free speech and preserving the openness of the net.
(3rd February 2012)
MORE NEWS FROM MY SPAM INBOX- JANUARY
Category : phishing
My Internet Service Providers (ISP) spam filter continues to do a good job. the following have also been caught by my spam filter :
UK Lottery Organisation - Subject : Congratulations you are a winner today at Malaysia. Content (slightly long this one ! ):
FROM: UK LOTTERY ORGANIZATION,
OUR REF: UKLO/BT/621830
SPONSORSHIP NUMBER: 444968. GAMING APPROVAL NUMBER: 2233898163.
We happily announce to you the results of UK LOTTERY ORGANIZATION'S FREE TICKET ONLINE DRAWS of January, 2012 held in MALAYSIA. We wish to congratulate you on the success of your email address which came out in the first winnings category and won you the total sum of US$4,600,000 in our free ticket, online and email address computer balloting.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number UKLP-66-73-203-13 with serial number 5039398064482100 drew this lucky numbers 2-23-29-32-39-40-42 which subsequently won the Lottery and qualified you as an international Winner. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$4,600,000 (Four Million, Six Hundred Thousand USA dollars) through any of our available payment methods.
Your email address was Reference Numbered to: 56475600545188 and your winnings and payment Batch Number is 074/05/ZY369. For your US$4,600,000 payment process to begin, you will be expected to REPLY with the below listed winnings and personal claims information:
* Your complete official names
* Full address & country name
* Telephone & mobile numbers
* AGE, GENDER, OCCUPATION AND JOB TITLE.
* Free ticket and Lucky numbers
* Reference, Serial and Batch numbers
* Date and venue of draw
After you have replied with the above winnings and personal claims information, our APPOINTED CLAIMS AGENT Mr. Calvin Lee Gibson will get back to you with further details on how you will be paid your won prize of US$4,600,000.00 and you will proceed with him from there on to the end. Congratulations on your winnings
DHL Tracking Service - Subject : DHL Cancellation of the package delivery. Content : "Dear customer.Your package has been sent to your address. Please find a post label attached which contains a track number of your package." The attachment was a compressed file which probably had malicious content.
Santander appears to be popular again with the phishers this month :
- Santander Online Banking. Subject : Log in unsuccessful. Content : Click on bogus link
- Santander Bank. Subject : Irregular Card Activity. Content : Click on bogus link
- Santander Alert. Subject : Important information on your Santander Account. Content : Click on bogus link
- Santander Online Alert. Subject Santander important security message. Content : Click on bogus link
- Santander Bank UK. Subject : Personal Internet Banking Notice . Content : Click on malicious attachment.
These e mails are bogus and are just phishing for personal information or to load malicious software. If you receive anything like them, delete it immediately and do not open any attachments. If you are suspicious about activity on your bank or utility accounts, contact your bank direct or service provider using a known telephone number, NOT contact details within the bogus e-mails.
(3rd February 2012)
ISREAL TOPS CYBER-READINESS POLL BUT CHINA LAGS BEHIND
(BBC News, dated 30th January 2012 author Dave Lee)
www.bbc.co.uk
Category : Computing security, hacking
Israel, Finland and Sweden are seen as leading the way in "cyber-readiness", according to a major new security report.
The McAfee-backed cyberdefence survey deemed China, Brazil and Mexico as being among the least able to defend themselves against emerging attacks.The rank is based on leading experts' perception of a nation's defences.
The report concluded that greater sharing of information globally is necessary to keep ahead of threats. It also suggests giving more power to law enforcement to fight cross-border crime.
The UK, with a grading of four out of five, ranks favourably in the survey - along with the USA, Germany, Spain and France.
'Subjective view'
The rankings are based on the perceived quality of a country's cyber-readiness - the ability to cope with a range of threats and attacks.
"The subjectiveness of the report is its biggest strength," explained Raj Samani, McAfee's chief technology officer.
"What it does is give the perception of cyber-readiness by those individuals who kind of understand and work in cyber security on a day-in, day-out basis."
A good score depends on having basic measures like adequate firewalls and antivirus protection, and more complex matters including well-informed governance and education.
Sweden, Finland and Israel all impressed the report's experts - despite the fact that the latter receives reportedly over 1,000 cyber attacks every minute.
Isaac Ben-Israel, senior security advisor to Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is quoted in the report as saying: "The hacktivist group Anonymous carries out lots of attacks but they don't cause much damage. The real threat is from states and major crime organisations."
He added that the country has set up a cyber-taskforce responsible for assessing threats to key infrastructure such power production and water supplies.
'Enhancing co-operation'
At the other end of the security scale, Mexico ranked as least prepared to cope with the cyber threat - a situation which is blamed on the country's authorities needing to overwhelmingly focus on the country's gang and drugs problems.
China is regarded by some Western observers as an aggressor in cyberspace. But one expert Peiran Wang said the country was itself vulnerable because it lacked a joined up strategy.
"The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of State Security and even the military are involved and they don't communicate well," said Peiran Wang, a visiting scholar at Brussels' Free University.
In the UK, the report praised a £650m investment programme in cyber security. However, the Home Office's plans were criticised by information security expert Peter Sommer. "A great deal depends on co-operation from the private sector, which controls about 80% of the critical national infrastructure.
"Over half of the new funding will go to the 'secret vote', the intelligence agencies, where value for money will be difficult to investigate. I would have preferred more emphasis on public education - helping potential victims help themselves."
Cybercrime fighters
Among the report's conclusions is the recommendation that greater efforts be made to improve cross-border law enforcement.
"Cybercriminals route their connection through multiple different countries," said Mr Samani.
"If criminals are particularly clever, they go through countries where they know there isn't any co-operation." "The bad guys share information - we need to do the same as well."
Dr Joss Wright from the Oxford Internet Institute welcomed the report's findings. However, he had serious doubts over the feasibility of its suggestions. "They're recommendations that people have been saying for maybe 10 years," he told the BBC."I would love to see good information sharing - but when you're talking about national security, there's a culture of not sharing. "They're not suddenly going to change 70, 100, 1000 years of military thinking."
The scores and Graphically how they were displayed
- The scoring was done based on castle symbols from 1 to 5 castles.
- 23 countries were categorised.
- No country was in the top or bottom spot.
4.5 castles : Finland, Isreal and Sweden
4 castles : Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, UK and USA
3.5 castles : Australia, Austria, Canada and Japan
3 castles : China, Italy, Poland and Russia
2.5 castles : Brazil, India and Romania
2 castles : Mexico
Further Information
The sobering thought on this report is that India is only in the 2.5 security category. This is not very good news if you couple it with the amount of sensitive information that country deals with on behalf of UK companies dealing with UK residents personal information. This is both direct and indirect contact. Direct is when banking adviser speaks directly to a customer (Bank Call Centre); and indirectly when an Indian national works on a UK citizens personal data (bank accounts, DVLA and State Pensions for example).
(3rd February 2012)
O2 ADMITS IT GIVES USERS' NUMBERS TO SITES OFFERING AGE-RESTRICTED CONTENT
(The Guardian, dated 25th January 2012 author Charles Arthur)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Data security
Mobile operator O2 has admitted that it regularly hands over subscribers' phone numbers to sites that offer age-restricted material and premium-rate billing, whether the users realise it or not.
The admission followed the revelation late on Tuesday that the company had since 10 January inadvertently been providing user phone numbers to any sites that its millions of users browse from their phones using the 3G network. That would mean site owners could find the details in their server logs, and potentially use them for marketing or SMS campaigns without the user's consent.
O2 is the UK's second-biggest mobile network with about 27.2m subscribers, and another 2.8m using its network through Tesco Mobile, plus an unknown number on the GiffGaff SIM-only network. With smartphone penetration at around 50% that could mean that up to 15m people have been affected by the data leakage.
The Information Commissioner's Office said it is considering whether to investigate further; a spokesman said it was not immediately obvious whether there had been a privacy breach. [See footnote]. A mobile phone number on its own is not classed as "personally identifying information" (PII), because it does not identify an individual on its own; but the spokesman said the office would consider whether other personal data was being processed at the same time.
An ICO spokesperson said: "Keeping people's personal information secure is a fundamental principle that sits at the heart of the Data Protection Act and the privacy and electronic communications regulations. When people visit a website via their mobile phone they would not expect their number to be made available to that website. We will now speak to O2 to remind them of their data breach notification obligations, and to better understand what has happened, before we decide how to proceed."
O2 admitted in a blogpost that the widespread leaking of phone numbers had been going on since a maintenance update on 10 January, and was only fixed after a London-based programmer on the network pointed it out. The security hole was fixed by 2pm on Wednesday, the company said.
The privacy breach could open phone users up to reverse-charge SMS spams which could cost them huge amounts in bills when their number is used for scams.
But O2 has also revealed that it regularly reveals users' phone numbers to a number of sites offering age-restricted material and premium content billing - an admission that has puzzled observers.
"It looks like I don't get to make the decision about whether to share my phone number with those sites," said Graham Cluley, security consultant with the online security firm Sophos. "I don't see why. If I'm on a site and they need to know my phone number before I can proceed, why can't I decide whether I let them see my number? If I don't agree, they can stop me proceeding."
O2 did not respond to requests for clarification on its policy. The Guardian could not find any clauses in its web and WAP policy or its general terms and conditions that suggest it shares subscribers' mobile numbers.
A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said it was not immediately obvious whether there had been a privacy breach. [See footnote] A mobile phone number on its own is not classed as "personally identifying information" (PII), because it does not identify an individual on its own; but the office would consider whether other personal data was being processed at the same time.
Cluley warned: "there will be a lot of sites out there which will now realise that their logs for the past two weeks contain all sorts of juicy details. Some unscrupulous marketing people might scour them for mobile phone numbers that they can use for campaigns." He said that he has a phone himself on a different network which he only uses for surfing - and that he has received text spam on it despite not entering the phone number anywhere. "That's got me wondering whether this process is somehow behind it," he said.
A number of O2 users who contacted the Guardian confirmed earlier on Wednesday that their phone number was being transmitted and offered links to screenshots of the data.
The phone number is handed over as part of the "header" data sent by the phone to the web site, which usually contains information such as which browser the phone has so that the site can serve an appropriately formatted page, because mobile phones have smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers.
Headers often contain other information about the device contacting the site - and in O2's case it has also included the phone number.
However users of BlackBerry phones said that their numbers were not handed over - possibly because RIM, which makes the BlackBerry, uses its own encryption and forwarding system to connect to websites.
The discovery was made by Lewis Peckover, a London-based programmer who says he discovered the flaw on Tuesday lunchtime while working on a method of identifying whether users were accessing a site via their mobile.
The number forwarding only appears to happen on O2 and its associated virtual networks such as GiffGaff. Users of other networks confirmed to the Guardian that the number forwarding does not happen on Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile or 3's network. Peckover has created a web page specifically to let people check if their number is forwarded.
• This article was amended on 26 January 2012. The original reported a spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office as saying there was no immediate breach of the Data Protection Act in the 02 case. This has been clarified in the text. For the avoidance of confusion, the ICO adds that only after investigating in more detail can it decide whether there has been a breach.
(3rd February 2012)
FACEBOOK TIMELINE : HALF OF USERS WORRIED ABOUT FORCED ROLLOUT
(Metro, dated 30th January 2012, Author Matthew Champion)
www.metro.co.uk [Note 1]
Category : Privacy
More than half of Facebook users are worried about the imminent compulsory introduction of the site's Timeline feature, while only one in ten want it to be introduced at all.
Previously the social-networking website's Timeline profile layout was voluntary but Facebook's 800million users will now be forced to adopt the new design over the coming weeks.
Under the Timeline scheme updates, messages, comments and photographs are grouped chronologically to present a comprehensive account of a user's Facebook history.
Many users have complained that this could make unwanted and forgotten updates reappear.
And now a new survey from online security firm Sophos has shown that just eight per cent of 4,000 Facebook users polled want the Timeline feature to be made mandatory.
A further eight per cent said they would probably get used to the change, while 51 per cent said they were worried about its introduction.
Thirty-two per cent meanwhile said they no longer knew why they used Facebook at all.
Amid user discontent, Facebook has attempted to soothe privacy concerns, insisting that no existing privacy settings will be modified and that people will still be able to control exactly who sees what.
'Timeline does not change any of your existing privacy settings,' a spokeswoman said.
'It will show you all of your posts and activity - from today back to when you first started using Facebook.
'Only you can see your activity log. You can use it to easily review and choose who sees what you've shared on your Timeline.'
While it is not known exactly when Timeline will be rolled out across Facebook, users will have at least seven days to modify their profiles before it goes live.
(3rd February 2012)
TRANSPORT FOR LONDON LAUNCHES LIVE TRAFFIC WEBSITE
(BBC News, dated 29th Janaury 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
Category : Travel
Drivers in London can find out where traffic hotspots are as a live traffic guide has been launched.
Aiming to reduce congestion in the city, an enhanced guide to live traffic updates has been added to Transport for London's (TfL) website.
The traffic tool shows 170 "jam cams" as well as information on incidents and roadworks which may affect journeys.
The authority has also launched a Twitter feed which will provide up-to-date traffic information.
Garrett Emmerson, chief operating officer for surface transport at TfL, said: "Technology now allows us to put a wealth of information at motorists' fingertips.
"Those who know their route well can now pre-empt any congested areas by checking online before they set out on their journey, or - when safe - take advantage of our @TfLTrafficNews Twitter feed for advance warning of any congestion ahead."
London Traffic [Note 1] : www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/road/
(3rd February 2012)
SENIOR JUDGE ATTACKS UK BORDER SYSTEM AFTER LITHUANIAN SEX OFFENDER WAS ABLE TO ENTER UK
(The Telegraph, dated 18th January 2012 author Tom Whitehead)
www.telegraph.co.uk [Note 1]
A senior judge has railed at the UK border system asking "do we let anyone in?" after a dangerous Lithuanian sex offender was able to enter the country and then rape a woman.
Lady Justice Hallett demanded to know if serious criminals were allowed to just "walk in to the country" after hearing the case of Victor Akulic.
Akulic raped a 40-year-old woman in 2010, just months after arriving, and then forced her to watch a recording of the horrific attack.
It emerged at his trial that he had committed a string of serious offences in Lithuania, including the rape of a seven-year-old girl, before arriving in the UK.
However his previous offences did not show up when he entered Britain because of the poor information exchange between some EU countries.
Immigration officials here are reliant on individuals owning up to previous offences themselves or their home nation passing on details to the police.
But despite her concerns, Lady Justice Hallett reduced Akulic's life sentence to an indeterminate sentence for public protection.
Hearing the appeal, the judge asked Akulic's barrister, Catherine Purnell, how he was allowed to enter the UK with such a serious conviction to his name.
She said: "He comes into this country with a conviction for raping a child. Do we let in just anyone, even if they have such a serious conviction?"
When Ms Purnell said Akulic is a Lithuanian national and Lithuania is now part of the European Union, Lady Justice Hallett retorted: "I appreciate that, but do we have to take in anybody, even if they have a conviction for raping a child."
Ms Purnell replied: "I'm afraid I don't know about that; it may be that if the authorities had known about that then something may have been done earlier.
"I do know it was very difficult for the prosecuting authorities to find out details of the offence."
Akulic was jailed for life, with a minimum of eight and a half years, at Maidstone Crown Court in February last year, after being convicted of rape, assault and intimidation of a woman.
Akulic, 44, of Alexander Road, Sheerness, raped a woman in August 2010 and subjected her to three vicious assaults - including one in which he knocked her to the ground and stamped on her head - before trying to intimidate her following his arrest.
The court heard he amassed a number of previous convictions in his native country before he came to the UK in early 2010.
In 1992, in Lithuania, he was convicted of assault causing grievous bodily harm, for which he received a seven-year jail term, and in 1997 he was handed a five-year jail term for another offence - which was unrecorded.
He was jailed for eight years in March 2001 for raping a seven-year-old girl and was released in February 2009.
Ms Purnell accepted Akulic was a "dangerous offender", but the Appeal Court replaced his life sentence with less draconian imprisonment for public protection and reduced his minimum term to seven years, after which it will be a Parole Board decision as to whether he can be released.
However, Ms Purnell said Akulic is in the process of applying for a transfer to a prison in Lithuania, and told the court: "Hopefully he will not be a burden on the taxpayer too much longer."
(20th January 2012)
ZAPPOS SECURITY BREACH : AN AMAZON SUBSIDIARY
(Computer World. dated 16th January 2012 Lucian Constantin)
Category Data Security
Full article [Note 1] : http://cwonline.computerworld.com/t/7815395/930454165/547793/0/
Non-US customers kept in dark as Zappos cleans up after data breach.
Online shoe and apparel shop Zappos.com is advising over 24 million customers to change their passwords following a data breach, but its website is currently inaccessible to people outside the U.S.
Zappos employees received an email from CEO Tony Hsieh on Sunday, alerting them about a security breach that involved the online shop's customer database.
"We were recently the victim of a cyber attack by a criminal who gained access to parts of our internal network and systems through one of our servers in Kentucky. We are cooperating with law enforcement to undergo an exhaustive investigation," Hsieh said in the email.
Even though he assured everyone that no credit card details had been compromised, Hsieh revealed that the attacker had accessed customer records including names; email, billing and shipping addresses; phone numbers, and the last four digits of their credit card numbers.
The hacker also gained access to password hashes for the accounts registered on the website, prompting the company to reset everyone's access codes. Zappos is currently in the process of emailing its 24 million customers in order to notify them about the security breach and advise them to change their passwords.
The company also took the decision to shut off its phones, because the expected phone traffic generated by customers calling in would almost certainly exceed what its system can handle. Customer support is currently being provided through email and Twitter.
"Please create a new password by visiting Zappos.com and clicking on the 'Create a New Password' link in the upper right corner of the web site and follow the steps from there," the company said in its email to customers.
However, at the moment, non-US residents cannot access most of Zappos' website, leaving them unable to follow these instructions. "We are currently undergoing some system maintenance that has limited our international customers in accessing our website," the company said via Twitter.
Zappos advised its customers to change their login details on any other websites where they used the same password, to prevent hackers trying to access those accounts using the data they obtained during this breach.
It's not clear whether affected customers will be offered identity theft protection services or not. Zappos, which is a subsidiary of Amazon, did not immediately return a request for comment regarding this possibility.
(20th January 2012)
MOBILE PHONE SAFETY
(Met Police Neighbourhood link, dated 17th January 2012)
Distributed by neighbourhoodlink
Category : Crime Prevention
According to the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit mobile phones are stolen in around half of all street crime. They also say that in approximately a third of all cases it is the only item of property stolen.
But here are a few basic steps you can take to reduce the risk of having your mobile phone, MPS player or any other item of valuable property stolen from you:
Try to be aware of what's happening around you. Keep your mobile phone and other valuables out of sight.
Walking and texting at the same time can be dangerous, especially when crossing the road. You will be less aware of what is happening around you.
When you get off a bus or leave a tube or train station, don't use your phone immediately, leave it a while.
Don't make it easy for criminals. Think before you use your phone in public or on public transport - especially at bus stops, the tube or train stations.
Keep a record of your phone's IMEI number - just type *#06# (star, hash, 06, hash) into your phone and it will display a fifteen digit number. You can use this number to register your phone at www.immobilise.com [Note 1].You stand a very good chance of getting your phone back when stolen, particularly if the matter is reported to the police quickly. Don't wait until you get home. Get someone to ring the police on 101, or speak directly to a police officer. Always call 999 in an emergency.
Many of the latest mobile phones have apps that can help you find your phone. Make sure you download these and have them on your phone as they are free. If your phone is stolen, tell the police about your app.
If you do have your phone stolen, remember don't fight back; it's much safer to give them what they want than get hurt or injured.
The theft of a mobile phone and selling it onto someone else is a serious crime. So is the false reporting of a mobile phone being stolen so that you can claim on the insurance.
Never buy or accept a mobile phone that you believe may be stolen. This could get you arrested and result in a criminal record.
If you have any information about a crime but feel unable to speak to the police, you can call the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.
For more information about mobile phone theft in particular, visit the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit page on :
www.met.police.uk/mobilephone/
To receive Met Police updates go to : www.neighbourhoodlink.met.police.uk/registration/
(20th January 2012)
KNIFEPOINT ROBBERIES RISE BY 10%, CRIME FIGURES SHOW
(BBC News, dated 19th January 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
The number of knifepoint robberies rose by 10% in the year to September, but police figures show overall crime in England and Wales fell by 4%.
The recorded crime statistics cover the August riots but researchers say their impact was "small".
Separate figures from the British Crime Survey - measuring people's experiences of crime - suggest crime went up by 4%.
It also found an 11% rise in personal crime - the biggest in a decade, says Labour.
This increase in personal crime, which includes violence against the person, robbery, bag snatches and pickpocketing, was the largest since 2001-02 when the British Crime Survey became continuous, the Home Office confirmed.
Researchers say the rise is statistically significant.
'Confusing picture'
The number of crimes recorded by police fell by 4% to 4.1 million. This was fuelled by a drop in the number of all crime offence groups except robbery and other thefts.
Police recorded 15,313 robbery offences involving a knife compared with 13,971 in the 12 months to Sep 2010 - a 10% increase.
Overall offences for robbery rose by 4% and that was driven by large increases in London and the West Midlands.
The proportion of offences involving a knife went up one percentage point, from 6% to 7%, but there were slightly fewer knife killings, 200 compared with 202.
Chief Constable Jon Murphy, from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said: "While incidents in violence against the person overall fell, a continued cause for concern was the increase in pickpocketing, robbery, and robbery with knives.
"This has been driven by a rise in robberies of personal property and police forces will want to focus actions on tackling these offences and offering crime prevention advice."
Researchers say the impact on the figures of the August riots was "small".
Ten forces experienced more extensive disorder and together recorded a total of 5,112 disorder-related offences from 6 to 11 August - that amounts to 1.5% of the total number of crimes recorded by police that month (344,937).
Crime in England and Wales is measured in two ways - the number of offences reported to and recorded by the police, and a rolling questionnaire of wider experiences, called the British Crime Survey (BCS).
The BCS, based on more than 45,000 interviews with people in England and Wales, found all categories of crime went up in the 12 months to September 2011, except for vandalism and bicycle theft.
Researchers say the 4% increase amounts to "no statistically significant change".
The survey showed a significant rise in the number of people who say police and councils are doing a good job dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour - up to 57% of all those questioned, from just over half a year ago.
Policing minister Nick Herbert said the crime figures showed a "mixed picture" and could not be used to show there was a "long-term change in either direction".
"There is a danger that divergence between the two sets of figures presents a confusing picture to the public," he said.
"That is why we are publishing online crime maps to help people hold their local forces to account and ensure that crime in their areas is driven down, and are transferring publication of crime statistics to the independent Office for National Statistics from April," he said.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper says this is no time to make cuts to police numbers.
"We're seeing 16,000 police officers being cut... I think this is a very worrying time to be taking these decisions and also, to have no proper strategy for cutting crime - nothing from the home secretary about what she's doing on knife crime, on street robbery."
Latest crime figures: England & Wales
Robbery up 4%
Other theft offences up 4%
Robbery involving knives up 10%
Sexual offences down 1%
Domestic burglary down 4%
Violence against the person down 8%
Drug offences down 1%
Criminal damage down 11%
Vehicle crime down 8%
Fraud and forgery down 5%
*Percentage change in numbers of recorded crimes in the year to September 2011 compared with the previous year
Source of numerical information [Note 1]:
(20th January 2012)
POLICE 101 NON-EMERGENCY NUMBER NOW IN FULL OPERATION
(BBC News, dated 11th January 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
The new non-emergency 101 police phone number is now in operation across England and Wales after a phased introduction in different areas.
Policing Minister Nick Herbert has described the move as one of the most significant changes in the way people contact the police since the 999 number was introduced more than 70 years ago.
The number is intended for calls that do not require an emergency response.
It has already received 2.5 million calls since being phased in.
Only one in four calls to 999 needs an emergency response and the new number is expected to ease pressure on 999 call handlers, enabling police to respond to genuine emergencies more effectively.
The 999 number was first introduced in 1937 and is the world's oldest emergency call service.
Commander Ian Dyson, of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said: "Having just two phone numbers - 101 for reporting a crime that has happened, to get advice or to raise local policing issues - or 999 if it's an emergency, makes calling the police a lot easier and makes our services more accessible. "The 999 number should only be used in an emergency, that is when a crime is happening, when someone suspected of a crime is nearby, or where someone is injured, being threatened or in danger. "For all other matters the public should call us on 101."
Callers to the 101 line are automatically connected with their local county police force, which will redirect calls to the other emergency forces as necessary.
Calls to 101 cost 15p from both mobile phones and landlines, regardless of how long the call is or when it is made.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland introduced a single non-emergency number in 2005 :
0845 600 8000.
The Scottish government has no plans to introduce a similar non-emergency phone number, a spokesman said.
WHEN 101 ?
An emergency call should be made to 999 when:
- A person is in immediate danger of injury or their life is at risk
- There is suspicion that a crime is in progress
- A building is on fire
- Another serious incident needs immediate emergency service attendance
A non-emergency call should be made to the new 101 number:
- To report the theft of a vehicle
- To report damage to property
- To report a minor traffic accident
- To give the police information about crime
- To speak to the police about a general inquiry
(12th January 2012)
LONDON 2012: BETFAIR AND IOC TO MONITOR GAMES BETTING
(BBC News, dated 12th January 2012 author Bill Wilson)
www.bbc.co.uk
Online betting exchange Betfair has agreed a deal to share information with the International Olympic Committee during the London 2012 Games.
They will exchange data about irregular or suspicious betting patterns. It means the IOC will be able to request the identities of account holders who bet suspiciously, as well as other betting transaction details.
Sports Minister Hugh Robertson warned this month about the threat illegal gambling rings could pose to the games. Mr Robertson said the threat of betting corruption was worse than doping problems."You cannot underestimate the threat this poses, because the moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that is when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing turns to pieces," he told the Sunday Times.
The IOC is also working with the Gambling Commission and the police to tackle illegal betting syndicates during the Games.
'Interests aligned'
Betfair, which signed a similar memorandum of understanding with the IOC in Beijing four years ago, said London 2012 would be its biggest Games to date, with it offering markets on every single gold medal event.
The world's biggest betting exchange will use technology and its team of integrity experts to ensure that any suspicious betting activity is investigated and information passed to the IOC.
Specialised software developed by the firm also helps identify potentially suspicious transactions.
"The interests of sports governing bodies, like the IOC, and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner," said Martin Cruddace, Betfair's chief legal and regulatory affairs officer.
Race payments
Meanwhile, the firm has agreed to pay some customers after previously voiding all bets on the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown in December.
Odds of 28-1 were quoted to punters on Voler La Vedette during the Christmas Hurdle, despite it being a hot favourite, with pre-race odds of 13-8.
More than £1.6m was placed at the in-race odds. The horse won the race easily, triggering heavy payouts for Betfair.
The company cancelled all in-race bets, but has since "looked in detail at all the circumstances surrounding the technology failure and the anomaly it created".
It has now decided that certain categories of voided bets will be compensated.
The firm said: "The categories of bets that will be compensated are: in-play winning positions in both the 'win' and the 'to be placed' markets which were achieved before the technology failure; and in-play winning positions in the 'to be placed' market achieved at any time through to the completion of the race.
"Bets matched in the 'win' market after the technology failure will remain void."
(12th January 2012)
BARBARIC BADGER BAITING GANG JAILED
(Guardian, dated 10th January 2012 author Martin Wainwright)
www.guardian.co.uk [Note 1]
Four men who formed the core of a "barbaric" gang of badger baiters have each been jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay £850 in costs and compensation for killing three animals and a litter of unborn cubs.
Two others were given suspended 12-week sentences and a teenager who laughed with them as the badgers were torn apart by dogs was served with a year's supervision order requiring 10 sessions with the RSPCA.
District judge Kristina Harrison, sitting at Scarborough, commended a wildlife photographer who came across the scene and covertly took pictures of the men, five of whom had guns. She called him "brave and courageous" before telling the gang their cruelty had caused public revulsion.
"The people of Yorkshire will not tolerate badger baiting in their midst. It is barbaric and abhorrent and anyone convicted of this kind of offence will receive a custodial sentence," she said. "This is a clear signal to anybody who seeks to commit this kind of behaviour."
Alan Alexander (32), Richard Simpson (37), and Paul Tindall (31), all from York, and William Anderson (26), from Pickering, North Yorkshire, were jailed for 16 weeks after denying the wilful killing of a badger, hunting a mammal with dogs, digging for badgers and interfering with a sett. They were found guilty by Scarborough magistrates in December. Alexander and Simpson were also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Christopher Holmes, 28, and Malcolm Warner, 28, both from York, were given 12-week jail sentences suspended for 12 months and £350 in costs after pleading guilty to willfully killing a badger, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett. The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied the same offences but was found guilty at the previous hearing.
The court heard the cruelty took place near a public footpath at Howsham, close to the river Derwent in North Yorkshire, where a pregnant badger was trapped in her sett by terriers and then dug out.
Police and RSPCA inspectors found the remains of three unborn cubs and intestines from their mother scattered around the field.
Sobia Ahmed, prosecuting, said the gang were seen "having a laugh and a joke and enjoying what was going on" as a male badger was torn apart by two large dogs while the terriers snapped at its helpless body. She said witnesses described the dogs as "having a tug of war with the badger" before the men shot the male, threw its carcass into undergrowth and buried the female in her ruined sett.
Relatives of the gang sat in tears in court as the four were taken away in handcuffs by security guards.
After the hearing RSPCA inspector Geoff Edmond said: "I was there on the day and was responsible for removing the pregnant badger, which had been buried in a hole after being ripped to bits by dogs.
"That's horrific, barbaric, and these badgers had been tortured by these dogs on that day. This is the highest level of animal cruelty. We are dealing with people who have organised to go into the North Yorkshire countryside, dig out and cruelly bait badgers. It is the worst case I've ever dealt with of badger baiting in almost 20 years as an inspector."
Sergeant Paul Stephenson, of North Yorkshire police, said: "The judge has given her verdict here and it represents what the public think in relation to the horrific and barbaric acts that took place."
Both men promised further action against organised baiting gangs and appealed for local people and visitors to the North Yorkshire countryside to look out for anything suspicious.
Robert Fuller, who was with a friend looking for otters to photograph when he heard the high-pitched "chittering" squeal of a terrified badger, said after the hearing: "A group of men were watching as two enormous dogs, covered in blood, violently shook a badger suspended between them like a rag doll. This gang were so brazen about what they were doing, it was almost as though they didn't care. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon and this was happening next to a public footpath.
"I understand that the countryside, woodlands and moorlands are shaped by field sports, but what turns my stomach about badger baiting is that they were doing it for the sheer thrill. The men I watched were laughing."
The four men are expected to be released on licence after eight weeks.
(12th January 2012)
VOUCHER SCAM WARNING
Staffordshire Police, dated 13th September 2011)
www.staffordshire.police.uk
Don't be a victim of a voucher scam.
The Stoke-on-Trent woman received a call from a company called 'Reclaims right London' who had knowledge of her banking details.
They also knew that she was in the process of claiming payment protection insurance charges from the bank and stated she was owed approximately £4,000.
They told her this money would be delivered to her by courier but instructed her to buy a Ukash voucher worth £188 to pay for the delivery.
She was then asked to read out the voucher code over the phone. No courier arrived and the woman was left out of pocket.
PC Dianne Drew, from Staffordshire Police, said: "We would ask the public - particularly those who are elderly or vulnerable - to be on their guard and ensure they do not part with any money, or personal details, in this manner.
No legitimate company will ask you to pay a fee to receive money.
"If someone phones you and seems to have knowledge of your personal details or circumstances, do not confirm any information with them or provide them with any missing details.
Be very cautious, ask for their name and a contact number, so you can verify their details.
If in any doubt contact the police.
"Ukash vouchers are simply cash vouchers and if you give the code to anyone it will allow them to cash the voucher in or spend it from anywhere in the world.
They can be safe if used as intended but if you step outside the guidelines of use, you are likely to get caught out."
People who suspect fraud should contact Staffordshire Police on 0300 123 4455. Alternatively contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit their website www.actionfraud.org.uk [Note 1]
Further Information
This crime could have equally have been carried out by the criminal asking for credit card information over the phone. What this article doesn't describe is the timescale over which the offence occurred. Ukash is available online and they advertise themselves as being a "virtual e-credit card". So the victim in this example must have exited the "fraudsters" call; called or gone online to open a Ukash account; purchased a voucher, then waited for the fraudster to call back ! So plenty of thinking time to consider a "NO" response.
Tip : Don't give any of your personal details to any unsolicited caller. Even your name is a personal detail.
UKASH SECURITY TIPS (dated 8th August 2011)
We want to ensure that all your experiences of Ukash are easy, safe and convenient. So we've put together some hints and tips to keep your Ukash safe!
Ukash works just like cash. Giving your Ukash voucher code to someone you don't know or a merchant that is not approved by Ukash puts you at risk of losing your money. The best way to protect yourself from being a fraud victim is to be aware of scams and guard your Ukash voucher like cash! Transactions cannot be reversed, so only give the voucher code to approved Ukash merchants.
- Treat your Ukash voucher code just like cash
- Only use Ukash with merchants listed at the Ukash website
- Never use Ukash to pay for items purchased from classified ads or give the voucher code to anyone else
- Only Combine, Split or Convert your vouchers using Ukash Tools
- Never email your Ukash voucher code or give it to anyone over the telephone
(12th January 2012)
TWITTER FAILNG ON CHILD ABUSE, CEOP WATCHDOG WARNS
(BBC News, dated 11th January 2012 author Chris Buckler)
www.bbc.co.uk
Twitter's child protection policies are lagging behind other social networking websites, a watchdog has warned.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) has urged Twitter to address its fears that some paedophiles use the site to discuss abuse and link to pornographic images.
Twitter said safety was a high priority and it acted immediately on complaints of inappropriate behaviour.
Twitter users can report accounts in breach of its child protection policy.
But former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who works as a child protection expert, claims some users have still been active on the site days or even weeks after they have been reported to the firm.
"There is always going to be a problem with social networking sites, because where there is an opportunity offenders will seek that out," says Mr Williams-Thomas.
"Clearly what Twitter needs to do is to take responsibility for its users. And when they identify there is somebody promoting child abuse material, swapping it or even discussing it the site must come down straight away."
In a statement, Twitter insisted it dealt with complaints as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
"When we receive a report and identify it as valid, we take action immediately," said Del Harvey, Twitter's Director of Trust and Safety.
'A bit behind'
"Accounts being reported may be the subject of law enforcement investigations.
"In those instances, while the profiles are certainly disturbing, removing them immediately can actually harm the cases that law enforcement may be attempting to build."
The company says it plans within the next few months to have a team working 24 hours a day in order to investigate complaints.
Facebook and Bebo have both worked with Ceop to introduce so-called panic buttons, allowing users to report their concerns by simply clicking a single link.
However, Twitter users need to search the site for an email address to report accounts that are causing concern.
"They are a little bit behind some other sites that have been around a little bit longer," says Peter Davies, the chief executive of Ceop. "These people who have an unhealthy interest in child abuse images occupy a lot of different space on the internet - while they are allowed to be in that space. "I think that's got to be wrong."
There are also fears that some paedophiles have attempted to contact young teenagers through their Twitter accounts.
Ceop says that issue of online grooming in an industry-wide problem.
Twitter relies on users to report accounts that breach its policies on child protection.
But Mark Williams-Thomas believes that is a problem when privacy settings allow account-holders to hide their conversations from everyone but their followers. "Clearly you can communicate whatever you want within a protected profile," he says.
However, Twitter says it works with police and organisations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US to ensure users acting illegally are prosecuted.
Anyone with concerns about a Twitter user can report the account by sending details to 'cp@twitter.com'. [Note 1]
(12th January 2012)
ISRAEL VOWS TO HIT BACK AFTER CREDIT CARDS HACKED
(Reuters, dated 6th January 2012 author Dan Williams)
www.reuters.com [Note 1]
Israel said Saturday the online publication of thousands of its citizens' credit card details by a hacker claiming to be Saudi was comparable to terrorism, and vowed to hit back.
The data theft, which appeared to focus on commercial web sites, was one of the worst Israel has said it has faced. While the financial damage was reportedly minimal, the breaches have heightened concerns about the potential use of stolen information by the Jewish state's foes.
Such cyber-attacks are "a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said during a speech at a community center.
"Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action," he said, without elaborating.
The hacker, identifying himself as Saudi-based OxOmar, said Thursday he had leaked private information about more than 400,000 Israelis. Credit card company officials said around 25,000 numbers, some of them expired, had been posted as of Friday.
After Israeli media ran what they said were interviews conducted with OxOmar over email, the Haaretz newspaper said a blogger had tracked the hacker down and determined he was a 19-year-old citizen of the United Arab Emirates studying and working in Mexico.
An aide to Ayalon, Lital Shochat, said Israel was aware of the report but had not yet requested help from Mexican authorities.
(12th January 2012)
WORM STEALS 45,000 FACEBOOK PASSWORDS
(BBC News, dated 5th January 2012)
www.bbc.co.uk
A computer worm has stolen 45,000 login credentials from Facebook, security experts have warned.
The data is believed to have been taken largely from Facebook accounts in the UK and France, according to security firm Seculert.
The culprit is a well-known piece of malware - dubbed Ramnit - which has been around since April 2010 and has previously stolen banking details.
Facebook told the BBC that it was looking into the issue.
The latest iteration of the worm was discovered in the labs of security firm Seculert.
"We suspect that the attackers behind Ramnit are using the stolen credentials to login to victims' Facebook accounts and to transmit malicious links to their friends, thereby magnifying the malware's spread even further," said the researchers on the firm's blog.
"In addition, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fact that users tend to use the same password in various web-based services to gain remote access to corporate networks," it added.
'Viral power'
Social networks offer rich pickings for hackers because of the huge amount of personal data that is stored on them. Increasingly malware is being updated for the social networking age.
"It appears that sophisticated hackers are now experimenting with replacing the old-school email worms with more up-to-date social network worms. As demonstrated by the 45,000 compromised Facebook subscribers, the viral power of social networks can be manipulated to cause considerable damage to individuals and institutions when it is in the wrong hands," said Seculert.
According to Seculert, 800,000 machines were infected with Ramnit from September to the end of December 2011.
Microsoft's Malware Protection Center (MMPC) described Ramnit as "a multi-component malware family which infects Windows executable as well as HTML files... stealing sensitive information such as stored FTP credentials and browser cookies".
In July 2011 a Symantec report estimated that Ramnit worm variants accounted for 17.3% of all new malicious software infections.
For Facebook users concerned that they have been affected by the worm, the advice is to run anti-virus software.
"It won't necessarily be obvious that you have been attacked. The worm is stealing passwords so it is not going to announce itself," said Graham Cluley, senior security consultant at Sophos.
FURTHER INFORMATION
It doesn't take much to reduce the likelihood of your computer being infected by malicious software (malware).
For a start and this doesn't take much effort, do not open any attachments to e-mails from unsolicited sources; or from known sources where you don't understand why they are sending you an attachment or link (their computer could be infected and be sending out malicious messages).
Secondly, choose sensible passwords of 8 characters or more (Letters, numbers and not names). Don't leave passwords to the provided default.
Thirdly, install security software onto your computer and keep it up to date. Remember software licences only normally last for one year. Then the software becomes inactive and then your computer would become vulnerable to threats.
Computer security software doesn't cost a fortune and can save you from losing valuable documents, photo's and even your reputation. At this time of the year when the sales are on it is even cheaper ( reductions in the case of Nortons products, from £49 to around £24 !). In these cases it is cheaper to buy another software package and enter the enclosed new license number (if the same brand and product type) than to buy direct from the software manufacturer.
Then there is the free stuff. According to computing magazines they tend to not be as 100% efficient as the ones you pay for, but they are 100% better than having nothing.
The following are the well known chargeable brands for computer security packages (ie. Anti-virus and firewall). They are listed in not any particular order; pick the one that suites you best.
Norton Internet Security (UK) [Note 1] : http://www.symantec-norton.com/default.aspx?lang=en-GB
Kaspersky [Note 1]: http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/
McAfee [Note 1] : http://home.mcafee.com
The following are companies that provide free security software for personal home use. The free products are currently not packages. AVG provides the anti-virus software and Zone Alarm provides the firewall software.
Ensure that you read all of the terms and conditions before downloading anything. Remember, this software is free from the respective company's website only, so do not be hoodwinked by the unscrupulous into buying it via another source.
AVG [Note 1] : www.avg.com
Zone Alarm [Note 1] : www.zonealarm.com
(6th January 2012)
SAUDI HACKERS PLASTER 14,000 CREDIT CARD PRIVATES ON THE WEB
(The Register - Security, dated 4th January 2012 author John Leyden)
www.theregister.co.uk [Note 1]
A Saudi Arabian hacking group claims it has leaked information on up to 400,000 Israelis, including names, addresses and credit card details.
The data dump follows a reported attack on Israeli websites and has already led to fraudulent use of the sensitive info. Credit card biz Isracard said it had issued 6,600 of the 14,000 cards revealed.
However Dov Kotler, chief exec of Isracard, a unit of Bank Hapoalim, said that much of the data is either "incorrect or invalid", Reuters reports. Only an unspecified percentage of the credit card details released were were actually valid. Even so the lifted data trove has been used to make a number of unauthorised internet purchases.
Kotler said Isracard has blocked transactions on cards that have been exposed, adding that anybody who suffered any losses as a result of the breach will be reimbursed. In the meantime the firm has set up an app on its website so that customers can find out if they are affected, a development that by itself suggests that a substantial number of people have been hit.
Israeli paper Haaretz reports that Israeli credit card companies say leaked list is repetitive and only includes the details of 14,000 Israelis. Much of the data came from a hack on popular sports website One.co.il, it adds.
The data dump was carried out by a member of group-xp, the self-described "largest Wahhabi hacker group of Saudi Arabia". In a statement accompanying the release, the group said it had already used the stolen credit cards to purchase computing resources, such as VPNs and renting cloud clusters. It released the data partly to put Israeli banks at the expense of issuing new credit cards and partly through a desire a make Israeli-issued credit cards more untrusted globally.
The statement links to a series of files that purport to offer details on 400,000 credit cards. One of these five files is marked "184 working fresh Israeli credit cards", a tacit admission by the hackers that data in the other files is outdated and therefore high on useless. Other uploaded files claim to offer personal information on more than 22,000 Israeli business people - names, addresses, phone numbers, passwords and so on. Another file purports to offer information on 500 people who donated to "Israeli Zionist Rabbis".
(6th January 2012)
FBI SAYS HACKERS HIT KEY SERVICES IN THREE US CITIES
(BBC News, dated 13th December 2011)
www.bbc.co.uk
The infrastructure systems of three US cities have been attacked, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
At a recent cybersecurity conference, Michael Welch, deputy assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, said hackers had accessed crucial water and power services.
The hackers could theoretically have dumped sewage into a lake or shut off the power to a shopping mall, he said.
Industrial control systems are becoming an increasing target for hackers.
'Ego trip'
"We just had a circumstance where we had three cities, one of them a major city within the US, where you had several hackers that had made their way into Scada systems within the city," Mr Welch told delegates at the Flemings Cyber Security conference.
"Essentially it was an ego trip for the hacker because he had control of that city's system and he could dump raw sewage into the lake, he could shut down the power plant at the mall - a wide array of things," he added.
Such systems - commonly known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) - are increasingly being targeted by hackers, following reports that they rely on weak security.
It follows two alleged break-ins to city water supplies. The first, to a water supply in Springfield, Illinois, was later played down by the FBI which said it could find no evidence of cyber-intrusion.
Initially it had thought a hardware fault was caused by Russian hackers but it later emerged that this was not the case.
In another attack a hacker named pr0f claimed to have broken into a control system that kept water supplied to a town in Texas.
The hacker said the system had only been protected by a three-character password which "required almost no skill" to get around.
Mr Welch did not confirm whether this breach was one of the three he was talking about.
Default passwords
Security experts predict there will be a rise in such attacks.
"Such systems have become a target partly because of all the chatter about the lack of security. Hackers are doing it out of curiosity to see how poorly they are protected," said Graham Cluley, senior security consultant at Sophos.
He said that many relied on default passwords, and information about some of these passwords was "available for download online".
Furthermore the firms that run Scada systems, such as Siemens, often advise against changing passwords because they claim the threat from malware is not a great as the problem that will be caused if passwords are changed.
"Not changing passwords is obviously slightly crazy. Proper security needs to be in place otherwise it is laughable," said Mr Cluley.
24-hour surveillance
Industrial-scale hacking hit the headlines in 2010 with news of a worm aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities. Stuxnet was widely rumoured to have been developed by either the US or Israeli authorities and, according to experts, was configured to damage motors used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges by sending them spinning out of control.
Iran later admitted that some of its centrifuges had been sabotaged although it downplayed the significance of Stuxnet in that.
This year a Stuxnet copycat, Duqu, was discovered by security experts.
Initial analysis of the worm found that parts of Duqu are nearly identical to Stuxnet and suggested that it was written by either the same authors or those with access to the Stuxnet source code.
Unlike Stuxnet it was not designed to attack industrial systems but rather to gather intelligence for a future attack.
Mr Welch also revealed at the conference that, to date, the FBI's cyberteam had worked a 9 to 5 day. He said that a 12% increase in its budget would mean the team could now expand and begin monitoring cyberthreats around the clock.
(6th January 2012)
SAVE A LIFE - ITS NOT AS HARD AS IT LOOKS
NO MORE KISSING - JUST HARD AND FAST CPR TO THE BEE GEES
(British Heart Foundation website, dated 4th January 2011)
www.bhf.org.uk
Untrained bystanders should give the kiss a miss during CPR and concentrate on giving just chest compressions to the beat of Stayin' Alive.
We have become the first organisation in the UK to actively promote Hands-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Backed by Resuscitation Council UK, we say anyone who doesn't have CPR training should now ignore the kiss of life in favour of "hard and fast" compressions in the centre of the chest.
Our poll showed nearly half of people are put off helping because of a lack of knowledge about CPR. A fifth of respondents worried specifically about the thought of the kiss of life or catching an infectious disease.
So a national campaign, including a new TV advert featuring Hollywood hard man Vinnie Jones, will help show how simple Hands-only CPR can be, encouraging more people to help if somebody is in cardiac arrest. We're even urging people to hum the Bee Gees classic Stayin' Alive to get the tempo of chest compressions right.
The UK-wide survey also revealed four in ten people feared they'd be sued if they did something wrong, despite the fact there's never been a successful case of that kind in the UK. Without CPR of some kind there is a very small chance of someone surviving cardiac arrest.
Chest compressions with rescue breaths will continue to be part of gold standard CPR and taught during formal training, including on our Heartstart courses.
Ellen Mason, our Senior Cardiac Nurse, said: "The kiss of life can often be daunting for untrained bystanders who want to help when someone has collapsed with a cardiac arrest.
"Hands-only CPR should give lots of people the confidence and know-how to help save someone in cardiac arrest, the ultimate medical emergency. It's been shown that hard, fast and uninterrupted chest compressions are better than stopping compressions for ineffective rescue breaths.
"It's very simple; call 999 and then push hard and fast in the centre of the chest at a tempo similar to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. If you're untrained or unconfident about the kiss of life give Hands-only CPR a go instead - it could help save someone's life."
The TV advert, showing throughout January, will reveal a compassionate side to Vinnie Jones as he performs Hands-only CPR to Stayin' Alive in a deserted warehouse, flanked by two dancing henchmen.
Former Chelsea footballer Jones said: "There really shouldn't be any messing about when it comes to CPR. If you're worried about the kiss of life just forget it and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest to Stayin' Alive.
"Hands-only CPR should give have-a-go heroes the confidence to step in and help when somebody is in cardiac arrest."
HANDS-ONLY CPR
Call 999. Then press Hard and Fast to the beat of Stayin' Alive
See the advertisement / Guide video : http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/life-saving-skills/hands-only-cpr.aspx
(6th January 2012)
GPs AND VETS HELP INSURANCE FRAUDSTERS
(Evening Standard, dated 3rd January 2012 author Nigel Davenport)
www.thisislondon.co.uk [Note 1]
Crime gangs are working with growing numbers of professionals such as doctors, lawyers and vets to commit insurance fraud, police warned today.
A senior officer said professionals were either being used unwittingly or were being recruited to work as insiders on insurance rackets.
The warning came as City of London police launched a specialist squad to take on gangs and individuals involved in insurance fraud, which is estimated to cost the economy £2 billion a year.
The squad will initially focus on motor insurance crime - in particular cash for crash scams - which makes up half of all insurance fraud.
Commander Ian Dyson, the head of the City police's fraud squad, said a "threat assessment" of the scale of the problem had revealed how organised crime groups were using more professionals to commit fraud.
"We are not saying everyone is caught up in this. Often people are unaware they are being used by criminals and organised crime groups. For instance, a doctor might unwittingly sign off a bogus personal injury claim but there are others who are corrupt."
Police have evidence that crooked lawyers are involved in car crash scams while vets can be involved in bogus pet insurance claims. This fraud has rocketed fourfold recently.
Police say they have also identified a rise in the number of fraudsters posing as brokers. The new squad of 35 detectives will be funded by £9 million over three years from the Association of British Insurers. Fraud is estimated to add an extra £44 a year to each premium.
(6th January 2012)
CHINA SEEKS TO COMBAT HI-TECH CRIMEWAVE
(BBC News, dated 30th December 2011)
www.bbc.co.uk
The Chinese government is cracking down on home-grown cyber thieves seeking to steal online banking details.
The crackdown combats phishing by ensuring that the websites of legitimate banks appear at the top of search results.
The move comes as the personal details of more than 45 million Chinese people were stolen in separate attacks.The government is investigating the thefts and said that the wave of attacks "threatened internet safety".
Crime spree
The 10 biggest search engines in China have signed up to the anti-phishing scheme to ensure that users looking for bank websites go to the right place.
Phishing attacks involve messages that look like they come from a bank or other organisation and direct people to a website that mimics the real thing.
When people visit the fake site and enter their login details these are recorded by cyber criminals who may loot the account soon afterwards.
By ensuring that the websites of banks appear first, the government hopes to limit the numbers of people falling for phishing scams and visiting the fake sites.
Some of the search engines will put a special icon next to the bank links in lists of results to flag them as legitimate.
Hacked accounts
The anti-phishing initiative comes at the end of a week in which the personal details of almost 10% of China's 485 million web users were stolen.
On Christmas day, the hugely popular Tianya chat site revealed that the login names and passwords from 40 million of its users had been stolen. All risk being plundered by attackers as the information was held in plain
Tianya has contacted the affected users and urged them to change their passwords as soon as possible.
Soon after, CDSN, one of China's largest forums for programmers, reported that the details of all its six million users had been stolen. The attackers got away with email addresses, login names and passwords. Again, all the details were stored in plain text.
The scale of the attacks prompted government action and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it would investigate who was behind the attacks.
"The department believes the recent leak of user information is a serious infringement of the rights of internet users and threatens internet safety," the Ministry said in a statement.
The Chinese government is known to have put in place technology that monitors online chat rooms for controversial topics but the far-reaching measures have not stopped all nefarious cyber activity.
As well as criminal hackers, many activists are turning to the web to make protests more visible.
The website of Menginu, a firm at the centre of a tainted milk scandal, was vandalised and its homepage image replaced with text that read "Do you have a conscience?".
(6th January 2012)
BLUE BADGE PARKING MEASURES INTRODUCED TO COMBAT FRAUD
(BBC News, dated 30th December 2011)
www.bbc.co.uk
Measures to crack down on drivers who abuse the disabled parking system will come into force in England and Scotland from 1 January.
There are an estimated 2.5 million blue badges in circulation, allowing drivers to park on yellow lines as well as avoid parking and congestion charges. But blue badge fraud is estimated to cost the UK £46m a year.
New badges will have added security features and the method to determine people's eligibility is being improved. It is hoped the redesign will make blue badges harder to forge or alter.
Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "Motorists who pretend to be disabled to get some free parking are frankly disgraceful". "They prevent real blue badge holders from using parking bays designed for those genuinely in need and they cheat the vast majority of road users who play fair when they park their cars."
'Abuse and misuse'
Previously, blue badges were made from card and hand written, but from 1 January disabled drivers will be able to apply for an electronically printed badge, much like a driving licence.
It will have a unique hologram, digital photo and serial number allowing parking attendants to check for genuine badges more easily through the windscreen.
Mr Baker said: "Our new blue badge will be as secure as a banknote and anyone thinking of faking it can forget it. "We are also tightening up on enforcement and eligibility so there will be no way to scam the system."
Other measures being introduced from 1 January include the ability for badge holders to apply for renewals online and an increase in the maximum fee a local council can charge for a blue badge from £2 to £10.
The changes will see local authorities gain more powers to seize badges they think are being misused and tests for eligibility will be run by councils rather than GPs.
Scotland's Transport Minister Keith Brown said the system had been "open to abuse and misuse by far too many".
He said: "This causes real day-to-day problems for those genuine users of the scheme who need the use of disabled spaces but find them taken up, often by vehicles displaying fake or misused badges.
"We want to make sure that these crucially important parking places are used for the purpose for which they were intended - to help severely-disabled people retain their independence and live full lives."
Helen Dolphin, director of policy and campaigns at Disabled Motoring UK, said: "After years of campaigning for improvements to the blue badge scheme, I'm delighted that changes that make the scheme fit for the 21st Century have been introduced."
Anne MacLean, convener of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland, also welcomed the changes.
She said: "The blue badge is an essential service for disabled people and this package of reforms to help prevent abuse, protect the parking rights of genuine badge holders and provide a more consistent and uniform approach is great news."
The scheme, which was introduced in the early 1970s, operates throughout the UK and is managed by local authorities. It differs slightly in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The new blue badge is expected to be introduced in Wales in April 2012. Northern Ireland is retaining the old-style badge for the time being.
(6th January 2012)