Microsoft India Get Clean Sheet By Delhi High Court (All The Criminal Charges Has Been Lift)

Microsoft India Get Clean Sheet By Delhi High Court (All The Criminal Charges Has Been Lift)

Microsoft India faced criminal charges, the case was filed on the Delhi high court. But in Monday quashed charges of hosting objectionable content against Microsoft India and set aside a trial court order for initiating criminal proceedings against the company for lack of evidence. Justice Suresh Kait said: "There is no evidence on record against the petitioner."

Justice Kait accepted the company's plea that Microsoft was not providing a platform to people to interact with each other and post or publish their views, but one engaged in development and sale of software and computing solutions. The company's counsel told the court that no defamatory material was posted on its websites, and Microsoft India is not a social networking site or search engine. The move came as Microsoft India approached the high court, challenging the trial court's order initiating criminal proceedings against it for hosting "obscene and derogatory content".
The high court also gave the complainant Vinay Rai liberty to file a fresh complaint if any credible piece of evidence was found against the company. The company in its petition submitted that there is not even an iota of evidence against the Microsoft India. "Still no offence whatsoever is disclosed against the company." "The complaint is wholly false and malicious and has been lodged with an ulterior motive to cause harassment and to blackmail the company and other officers of the company," the petition said while seeking quashing of proceedings against it.

-Source (Ndtv)

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European Parliament Proposed Strict Punishment For Hackers

European Parliament Proposed Strict Punishment For Hackers 

Europe countries are now taking cyber crimes more seriously. Recently The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament has backed a draft law which immediately increases punishment for cyber criminals for attacks on IT systems within EU member states to at least two years of prison. Possessing or distributing hacking software and tools would also be regarded as an offense, and companies would be liable for cyber attacks committed for their benefit. If an attacker engaged a Denial of Service attack (DoS) or an attack through botnet, then immediately he will be sent behind bar for at-least five years. 

The proposal, which would update existing EU legislation on cyber attacks, was approved with by 50 votes in favour, 1 against and 3 abstentions. "We are dealing here with serious criminal attacks, some of which are even conducted by criminal organizations. The financial damage caused for companies, private users and the public side amounts to several billions each year" said rapporteur Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, DE). "No car manufacturer may send a car without a seatbelt into the streets. And if this happens, the company will be held liable for any damage. These rules must also apply in the virtual world" she added. 

• Other Punishable Offenses :- 

IP spoofing-

Using another person's electronic identity (e.g. by "spoofing" their IP address), to commit an attack, and causing prejudice to the rightful identity owner would also be an aggravating circumstance - for which MEPs say Member States must set a maximum penalty of at least three years. MEPs also propose tougher penalties if the attack is committed by a criminal organisation and/or if it targets critical infrastructure such as the IT systems of power plants or transport networks. However, no criminal sanctions should apply to "minor cases", i.e. when the damage caused by the offence is insignificant.

Cyber-attack tools -

The proposal also targets tools used to commit offences: the production or sale of devices such as computer programs designed for cyber-attacks, or which find a computer password by which an information system can be accessed, would constitute criminal offences. Liability of legal persons 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. They would also face penalties such as exclusion for entitlement to public benefits or judicial winding-up. To resist cross-border cyber-attacks, Member States need to ensure that their networks of national contact points are available round the clock, and can respond to urgent requests within a maximum of eight hours, says the text.

Background -

Large-scale cyber-attacks took place in Estonia in 2007 and Lithuania in 2008. In March 2009, public and private sector IT systems in more than 103 countries were attacked using a "zombie" network of compromised, infected computers.

Next steps -

The Rapporteur aims for a political agreement between Parliament and Council on this Directive by the summer.

-Source (European Parliament / News)

 

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Microsoft Along With FBI & EC3 Shattered The Notorious ZeroAccess Botnet

Microsoft Along With FBI & EC3 Shattered The Notorious ZeroAccess Botnet Responsible For Infecting More Than 2 Million Computers

Redmond based software giant Microsoft yet again got a huge success against a big racket of cyber criminals while shattering one of the world's largest and most rampant botnets named 'ZeroAccess'. The Sirefef botnet, also known as ZeroAccess, is responsible for infecting more than 2 million computers, specifically targeting search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines, and is estimated to cost online advertisers $2.7 million each month. Tech giant Microsoft working alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) have successfully disrupted this notorious botnet. This is Microsoft’s first botnet action since the Nov. 14 unveiling of its new Cybercrime Center — a center of excellence for advancing the global fight against cyber crime — and marks the company’s eighth botnet operation in the past three years.

“This operation marks an important step in coordinated actions that are initiated by private companies and, at the same time, enable law enforcement agencies around Europe to identify and investigate the criminal organizations and networks behind these dangerous botnets that use malicious software to gain illicit profits,” said Troels Oerting, head of the EC3. “EC3 added its expertise, information communications technology infrastructure and analytic capability, as well as provided the platform for high-level cooperation between cyber crime units in five European countries and Microsoft.”

Due to its botnet architecture, ZeroAccess is one of the most robust and durable botnets in operation today and was built to be resilient to disruption efforts, relying on a peer-to-peer infrastructure that allows cyber criminals to remotely control the botnet from tens of thousands of different computers. ZeroAccess is used to commit a slew of crimes, including search hijacking, which “hijacks” people’s search results and redirects people to sites they had not intended or requested to go to in order to steal the money generated by their ad clicks. ZeroAccess also commits click fraud, which occurs when advertisers pay for clicks that are not the result of legitimate, interested human users’ clicks, but are the result of automated Web traffic and other criminal activity. Research by the University of California, San Diego shows that as of October 2013, 1.9 million computers were infected with ZeroAccess, and Microsoft determined there were more than 800,000 ZeroAccess-infected computers active on the Internet on any given day.

How It Happened:- 

Last week, Microsoft filed a civil suit against the cyber criminals operating the ZeroAccess botnet and received authorization from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to simultaneously block incoming and outgoing communications between computers located in the U.S. and the 18 identified Internet Protocol (IP) addresses being used to commit the fraudulent schemes. In addition, Microsoft took over control of 49 domains associated with the ZeroAccess botnet. A10 Networks provided Microsoft with advanced technology to support the disruptive action.

As Microsoft executed the order filed in its civil case, Europol coordinated a multijurisdictional criminal action targeting the 18 IP addresses located in Europe. Specifically, Europol worked with Latvia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany to execute search warrants and seizures on computer servers associated with the fraudulent IP addresses located in Europe. This is the second time in six months that Microsoft and law enforcement have worked together to successfully disrupt a prevalent botnet. It demonstrates the value coordinated operations have against cyber criminal enterprises. For more information about this botnet operation click here

ZeroAccess is counted as a very sophisticated malware, blocking attempts to remove it, therefore recommended for every Microsoft user to click Here for detailed instructions on how to remove this threat. As Microsoft found that the ZeroAccess malware disables security features on infected computers, leaving the computer susceptible to secondary infections, it is critical that victims rid their computers of ZeroAccess by using malware removal or antivirus software as quickly as possible. 

In conversation with press David Finn, executive director and associate general counsel of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit said -“Microsoft is committed to working collaboratively — with our customers, partners, academic experts and law enforcement — to combat cybercrime. And we’ll do everything we can to protect computer users from the sinister activities and criminal networks that victimize innocent people and businesses around the world.” 

While talking about ZeroAccess botnet take down, I would like to remind you that in Match, last year Microsoft has successfully shutdown two command and control (C&C) server of world's of the most dangerous banking trojan Zeus.

-Source (Microsoft Official Blog)

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Europol says internet main tool for organised crime

The Internet has become a major tool in European organised crime, which uses it for drugs and human trafficking and money laundering as well as cybercrime, Europol's top official said Wednesday.

There has been a marked increase over the last two years in criminal groups turning to the Web to commit crimes regarded as "more traditional" rather than purely computer-based crime, Europol director Rob Wainwright said.

"Using the Internet has become much more mainstream," Wainwright said at the release of the policing body's bi-annual organised crime threat assessment (OCTA).

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"It has now become the principle facilitator for organised crime."

The OCTA report said: "In addition to the high-tech crimes of cybercrime -- payment card fraud, the distribution of child abuse material and audio visual piracy -- extensive use of the Internet now also underpins illicit drug synthesis, extraction and distribution."

The Web was also extensively used to recruit human trafficking victims, facilitate illegal immigration, supply counterfeit commodities and traffick in endangered species, the report said.

"It was also widely used as a secure communication and money laundering tool by criminals," it added.

Organised crime groups derived more than 1.5 billion euros from payment card fraud in the EU, the report estimated.

Europol's 37-page report looked at the development of organised crime over the last 24 months.

Organised criminal groups were crossing national, ethnic and business lines more than ever, it said.

The financial crisis and the fFinancial constraints it caused had made people "more likely to be recruited by criminal groups for example drug couriers or 'money mules'."

Criminal activity was located around five key hubs, the report added.

The Netherlands and Belgium was the main co-ordination centre for drug distribution in Europe.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia -- and Kaliningrad in Russia -- were the main points for the transit of illicit goods from Russia and home to violent groups with international reach.

Spain and Portugal remained a transit point for cocaine and cannabis resin and for human trafficking.

Bulgaria, Romania and Greece had seen the greatest expansion as a result of increased trafficking via the Black Sea illicit commodities and an significant increase in illegal immigration.

Finally southern Italy remained a centre for counterfeit currency and commodities as well as a centre for human trafficking.

The report, which will go to justice and home affairs ministries around the EU, will help governments set crime-fighting priorities for the next two years, Wainwright said.

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Obama Administration Is Implementing Tighter Penalties For Cybercrimes

The Obama administration is seeking tougher sentences for people who are found guilty of hacking or other digital offenses, two officials said Wednesday.  

Associate Deputy Attorney General James Baker and Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Pablo Martinez said the maximum sentences for cyber crimes have failed to keep pace with the severity of the threats.  

Martinez said hackers are often members of sophisticated criminal networks.

"Secret Service investigations have shown that complex and sophisticated electronic crimes are rarely perpetrated by a lone individual," Martinez said.

"Online criminals organize in networks, often with defined roles for participants, in order to manage and perpetuate ongoing criminal enterprises dedicated to stealing commercial data and selling it for profit," he said.

Baker and Martinez appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the portion of the White House's cybersecurity legislative proposal that calls for stiffer penalties for cyber crimes as part of an update to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

The administration argues the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act should be updated to make CFAA offenses subject to its terms. That law is used to prosecute organized crime. 

Baker said hacking has increasingly become a tool of choice for crimes like identity theft, extortion and corporate espionage.

"As computer technology has evolved, it has become a key tool of organized crime," Baker said. "Many of these criminal organizations are similarly tied to traditional Asian and Eastern European organized crime organizations."

The administration's proposal also calls for a national data breach standard to replace the current patchwork of state laws. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) expressed concern that the proposed 60-day window for companies to notify customers their data has been breached would be too long, but Baker said the administration is willing to work with Congress on the issue. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) shifted the conversation to the portion of the White House plan dealing with protecting critical private sector networks from outside attacks.

Baker said the White House plan does not include any criminal or civil provisions for forcing companies to comply with Department of Homeland Security cyber security standards. "The idea was to create a lighter touch ... to build incentives into the system," Baker said.

Experts have warned that without some sort of enforcement mechanism companies will not take the necessary security precautions. Blumenthal echoed that stance, suggesting the administration "consider some kind of stick as well as a carrot." Industry has argued that resources are the main limitation and argued for incentives such as liability protection for firms that experience attacks. 

But Baker expressed agreement with Blumenthal and said the current range of incentives built into the system, such as the loss of investor trust, stock market value and privileged corporate data has not been enough to convince companies to take adequate security measures.

-News Source (The HILL, CCFA, HLS)

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EU Opens The Door of European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) To Protect Europe From Cyber Threat

EU Opens The Door of European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) To Protect Europe From Cyber Threat

We all are aware of FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center also known as IC3, which is protecting U.S. citizen from cyber criminals and attacks. But the cyber world is not limited to U.S. so as cyber criminals, and to get rid of this and while protecting every countries digital fence safe and secure there need to be organizations like IC3. All the growing and developing countries across the globe are in rush to ensue maximum digital and cyber security. This same rush and impact also applies for Europe countries and the result is in front of us. As the fight against cyber crime in Europe has got a new home. The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) officially open its doors from this January 11, at the European Police Office, Europol in the Hague. In the middle of last year European Commission declared that are preparing a cybercrime center to fight against cyber threats. And after an effort of six months they made it possible and live for the people of Europe. Such organization will surely enhance the cyber security of European countries.  In the official press release EUROPA said "EC3 will be up and running to help protect European citizens and businesses from cyber-crime." 

EC3 officially commenced its activities on 1 January 2013 with a mandate to tackle the following areas of cybercrime: 

• That committed by organised groups to generate large criminal profits such as online fraud
• That which causes serious harm to the victim such as online child sexual exploitation
• That which affects critical infrastructure and information systems in the European Union

According to the press release of European Commission - "The Cybercrime Centre will give a strong boost to the EU's capacity to fight cybercrime and defend an internet that is free, open and secure. Cybercriminals are smart and quick in using new technologies for criminal purposes; the EC3 will help us become even smarter and quicker to help prevent and fight their crimes", said Commissioner Malmström.

"In combatting cybercrime, with its borderless nature and huge ability for the criminals to hide, we need a flexible and adequate response. The European Cybercrime Centre is designed to deliver this expertise as a fusion centre, as a centre for operational investigative and forensic support, but also through its ability to mobilise all relevant resources in EU Member States to mitigate and reduce the threat from cybercriminals wherever they operate from", said Troels Oerting, Head of the European Cybercrime Centre

Investigations into online fraud, child abuse online and other cybercrimes regularly involve hundreds of victims at a time, and suspects in many different parts of the world. Operations of this magnitude cannot be successfully concluded by national police forces alone.

The opening of the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) marks a significant shift in how the EU has been addressing cybercrime so far. Above all, the approach of the EC3 will be more forward-thinking and inclusive. It will pool expertise and information, support criminal investigations and promote EU-wide solutions.

The EC3 will focus on illegal online activities carried out by organised crime groups, especially attacks targeting e-banking and other online financial activities, online child sexual exploitation and those crimes that affect the critical infrastructure and information systems in the EU.

The Centre will also facilitate research and development and ensure capacity building among law enforcement, judges and prosecutors and will produce threat assessments, including trend analyses, forecasts and early warnings. In order to dismantle more cybercrime networks and prosecute more suspects, the EC3 will gather and process cybercrime related data and will provide a Cybercrime Help desk for EU countries' law enforcement units. It will offer operational support to EU countries (e.g. against intrusion, fraud, online child sexual abuse, etc.) and deliver high-level technical, analytical and forensic expertise in EU joint investigations. 

For Detailed Information Please Visit The Official Website of Europol's EC3 

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KickAss Torrents Facing a Total Blackout in Italy

KickAss Torrents Facing a Total Blackout in Italy

After Pirate bay now another widely preferred BitTorrent website  on the Internet - KickAss Torrents , is facing a total blackout in Italy. Following an investigation by the country’s cybercrime police, an ISP blocking order has now been granted against a site which authorities say is run by criminals generating millions of dollars. FIMI boss Enzo Mazza confirmed to TorrentFreak that both the old and new domains and IP-addresses will be blocked, and added the following message - “The investigation into the criminal organization behind the site is still making progress and the public prosecutor is in touch with the authorities in the countries involved in the case. The case is followed by the Fiscal police who are usually investigating Italian mafia bosses. This means they are well equipped to take the members of the KAT gang to justice.”

In an exclusive report Torrentfreak said - KickAss Torrents has been founded just three years ago in 2009, KickAssTorrents has shown that it’s serious about becoming a leading torrent site player. Of course, that has its drawbacks too. The site’s increasing profile has caused it to appear in numerous MPAA, RIAA and government reports, in the US and elsewhere. News today reveals that the authorities in Italy have been watching the site for some time.

According to a report coming out of the police department with responsibilities for tackling cybercrime, KickAssTorrents will soon be subjected to a nationwide ISP blockade. Translated as “Financial Guard”, the Guardia di Finanza (GdF) is a department under Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finance. Part of the Italian Armed Forces, GdF has in recent years been involved in many file-sharing investigations, most recently against KickAssTorrents.

Operation ‘Last Paradise’ has just concluded with the public prosecutor of the Sardinian capital Cagliari granting an “order of inhibition” which requires the country’s ISPs to cease providing access to the site. Similar orders were previously granted against The Pirate Bay and the now-defunct BTjunkie. “This is another memorable dark day for digital piracy in Italy. After starting with The Pirate Bay in 2008 and the final closing of the doors at BTjunkie in February 2012, the Guardia di Finanza has targeted another super-pirate platform, virtually located in the Philippines and servers scattered around the world,” GdF said in a statement.

“This colossal site of 10 million active torrents receives over 3 million visits daily from all over the world and Italy was the third most popular country of origin for users behind only India and the USA.” GdF adds that by their estimates, KickAssTorrents generates $8.5 million per year from advertising and other revenue.

“This international platform has long been targeted by U.S. authorities as one of the worst sites for the illegal distribution of music,” said Enzo Mazza, chief of FIMI, Italy’s answer to the RIAA. “The intervention of the Italian authorities was very important, especially for the protection of legal music in Italy, which now represents 30% of the market. Platforms such as The Pirate Bay, BTjunkie and KickAssTorrents are run by criminal organizations that make millions from advertising.” Responding to the news, Italian lawyer Giovanni Battista Gallus told TorrentFreak that unlike The Pirate Bay blockade, there is no “proper” court order for the current blockade. This also happened with the BTjunkie block earlier, which was handled by the same prosecutor. “In this case the order has been issued only by the public prosecutor, without any judicial intervention,” he said. “I have serious doubts whether this is appropriate under Italian criminal procedure law, and I’m very curious to see the outcome of an appeal against this order.”

The extent of the forthcoming blockade isn’t clear from the information currently being released. However, the GdF statement specifically mentions kickasstorrents.com, a domain the site left behind when it switched to Kat.ph in April 2011.

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19 Million+ UK Households Being Used As Cyber Weapon (Botnets)

You are also a cyber criminal. Don't get panic, we are sorry to say this for that is truth. An exclusive report is saying that more than a million households of UK is either used or misused as cyber weapons meainly Botnets.

Dutch researchers investigating ways to curtail the hijacking of domestic computers for criminal use, found that more than one million UK households’ PCs are linked to criminal networks known as ‘botnets’, which are groups of Internet-connected computers that have been compromised by a third party and put to malicious use. With around 6% of the UK’s 19m Internet households thought to be part of a botnet, this helps criminals spread spam around the Web more effectively, whilst it can also be used to attack websites and even garner bank details from the unsuspecting public.

The data was gathered from a number of different sources, though most emanated from what is known as ‘spam traps’, which are fake email addresses set up for the sole purpose of receiving junk mail. It’s thought that more than 90% of spam is sent through botnets, and it’s the Internet addresses on these botnets which are a good indicator of where the so-called ‘drone’ machines are located. The researchers then used the IP addresses of the machines that were sending the spam, and traced each one to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). And feeding into this was data about the Conficker botnet, which is thought to be one of the biggest examples of such a network, and incident reports from a computer security company called DShield. The UK figure is placed at number 19 in the top 20 nations with the biggest botnet problem, but it’s roughly in-line with the global average which sits at around 5-10% of domestic computers that are thought to be linked to botnets. Greece and Israel were way out on top, though, with around a fifth of all broadband subscribers thought to be unwittingly recruited into botnets. 

It goes without saying that the biggest ISPs have the biggest botnet problem. It has been figured out that the level of spam on BT’s network peaked at the end of July 2010, at which point more than 30m junk email messages were being sent each week.  

Here is a Statistic:- 

The good news, however, is that these figures have fallen sharply since then with a number of anti-cyber crime groups helping to bring down some of the biggest botnets. One takedown earlier this year saw spam fall massively overnight, when just an entire network, called Rustock, stopped sending junk.

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FBI Wanted Cyber Criminal Hamza Bendelladj Arrested in Thailand

FBI Wanted Cyber Criminal Hamza Bendelladj Arrested in Thailand

Another FBI listed cyber criminal get nabbed. The suspect named Hamza Bendelladj of 24 yrs have been arrested in late Sunday night during a layover at Thailand’s international airport while traveling from Malaysia to Egypt. According to the officials Bendelladj is an Algerian national wanted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly making tens of millions of dollars from cyber crime. Police confiscated two laptops, a tablet computer, a satellite phone and a number of external hard drives from Bendelladj. According to the officials FBI had been pursuing Bendelladj for nearly three years. U.S. authorities believe the suspect hacked private accounts in more than 217 banks and financial companies worldwide, causing about $10 million in losses per transaction. After this arrest, he will be extradited to the U.S. state of Georgia, where a district court has issued an arrest warrant. In an exclusive report Bangkok Post said -a smiling Bendelladj, who was present at the press conference, denied claims by the Thai authorities that he was on the FBI's top-10 most wanted list. "I'm not in the top 10, maybe just 20th or 50th," the Algerian suspect said with a laugh. "I am not a terrorist."

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Anonymous Retaliates For Megaupload Shutdown & Bring Down DOJ & FBI (#OpMegaupload)

Federal authorities shut down one of the Web’s most popular sites Thursday on charges that it illegally shared movies, television shows, e-books and so on. In the payback hacktvist Anonymous called #OpMegaupload performed "The Largest Attack Ever" where 5,635 Anon people bring down the websites of Universal Music, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Recording Industry Association of America while using one of the world's most popular and vastly used DDoSer LOIC. 

"The government takes down Megaupload? 15 minutes later Anonymous takes down government and record label sites,"  Tweeted by Anonymous. That note was followed shortly by this one: "Megaupload was taken down w/out SOPA being law. Now imagine what will happen if it passes. The Internet as we know it will end. FIGHT BACK." The tweet referred to the Stop Online Piracy Act, an Internet piracy bill being considered in the U.S. Congress. 

Detailing the attacks, which are being dubbed as the largest performed by the group, via numerous Twitter feeds, @YourAnonNews said: "You cannot censor the internet. You cannot subpoena a hashtag. You cannot arrest an idea. You CAN expect us #OpMegaupload"

The link is a page on the anonymous web hosting site pastehtml. It link loads a web-based version of the program Anonymous has used for years to DDoS websites: Low Orbit Ion Cannon. (LOIC). When activated, LOIC rapidly reloads a target website, and if enough users point LOIC at a site at once, it can crash from the traffic. Judging from a Twitter search, the link is being shared at a rate of about 4 times a minute, mostly by Spanish-speaking users, for some reason. (Here's a link to the Twitter search, just don't click the PasteHTML link.)

The thing is, DDoSing is a criminal offense that could earn you 10 years in prison, if you do it intentionally. With previous versions of LOIC, participants had to acknowledge this risk and press a button labeled "fire." But now, it appears some enterprising anonymous member has retooled it so that it automatically fires if you click an unassuming link and leave a window open.

Megaupload.com distributed a variety of digital content, including music and movies. Investigators say Megaupload’s executives made more than $175 million through subscription fees and online ads while robbing authors, movie producers, musicians and other copyright holders of more than $500 million. “This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,” the Justice Department and FBI said in a statement.

On Thursday, the U.S. DOJ announced that it had charged seven people who allegedly were affiliated with the site with running an organized criminal enterprise responsible for worldwide online piracy of copyrighted content. The DOJ worked with authorities in New Zealand, who arrested four of the seven people.

#OpMegaupload Press Release By Anonymous:- 

"Twitter - @AnonymousWiki
January 19th, 2012
Popular file-sharing website megaupload.com gets shutdown by U.S Justice - FBI and charged its founder with violating piracy laws. Four Megaupload members were also arrested. The FBI released a press release on its website which you can view here: 
http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/justice-department-charges-leaders-of-megaupload-with-widespread-online-copyright-infringement
We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.
#OpMegaupload 
The following sites were taken down in response to the FBI shutting down megaupload.com
:) TANGO DOWN


justice.gov
universalmusic.com
riaa.org
mpaa.org
copyright.gov
hadopi.fr
wmg.com
usdoj.gov
bmi.com
fbi.gov
..."

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CID (Criminal Investigation Department)of WB is Vulnerable & Sensitive Data Leeked By Hitcher & Mìstâ Hâxôr

The official website of CID (Criminal Investigation Department) Westbengal, Govt. of India is Vulnerable. Hitcher & Mìstâ Hâxôr from Team PCF (Paksitan Cyber Force) found both SQL-i and XSS vulnerability on this site. They also leaked some sensitive data from this site.The official website of CID (Criminal Investigation Department)  is Vulnerable & Sensitive Data Leeked

One of the leeked Message:-

"...

>>>>>>>>>::::::__Message from DGP CID West Bengal Following__::::::>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Recognizing the seriousness of cyber threats, CID West Bengal has developed a Cyber Crime Unit under the Special Operation Group (SOG). For Scientific Analysis of   such threats a Computer Crime Analysis Lab (CCAB) has also been set up. This Lab will have the ability to handle cases pertaining to hacking, spread of virus,  pornography, manipulation of accounts, alteration of data, software piracy, creation of false websites, printing of counterfeit currency, forged visas, theft of  intellectual property, email spamming, denial of access, password theft, crimes with cell phones and palmtops, cyber terrorism and the transmission of secret codes  concealed in pictures...."
     The fight against Cyber Crime requires the highest level of expertise. However, in addition to this there should be awareness among members of public about      seriousness of Cyber Crime. It is with this objective that the CID Website has been created."

Vulnerable Website:-

http://cidwestbengal.gov.in/

Vulnerable Link (SQL-i):-

http://cidwestbengal.gov.in/users/highlywanted.php?id=10 

Vulnerable Link (XSS):- 

http://cidwestbengal.gov.in/users/register.php?reset=Reset&submit=Proceed&ug=%27%22--%3E%3C/style%3E%3Cp%3E%3Ch1%3EYour%20all%20Database%20Info%20and%20Site%20Vulnerability%20Are%20Leaked%20by%20Hitcher_____________________________________________%3Ch1%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Ch1%3EHere%20is%20the%20leaked%20link%3C/h1%3E%20http://geo.it/Hitcher_cidwestbengal.txt%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/script%3E%3Cscript%3Ealert%280x000184%29%3C/script%3E

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An army of techies waging war on spam

It's a vast, invisible battle, going on all the time - and, unbeknownst to you, your computer may be one of the battlegrounds.
The struggle pits thousands of smart, evil folks, who send out trillions of pieces of spam e-mail, against the people in law enforcement and business guarding against them and trying to shut them down.
On the front lines against spam and cybercrime, some analyze malicious computer code (malware), and others - in the young science of cyberforensics - examine computers and drives confiscated in investigations.
Spam - hated word - is again in the news. A May 3 FBI alert warned of e-mail carrying purported images or videos of Osama bin Laden. "This will leave you speechless)," the spam says. "See picture of bin laden dead!"
Don't even open it, warned the alert. "This malicious software or malware can embed itself in computers and spread to users' contact lists, thereby infecting the systems of associates, friends, and family members."
Pumped out by networks (botnets) of malware-enslaved personal computers, unwanted e-mail - random junk, ads, porn, viruses, Trojan horses, get-rich-quick offers from Nigerian nobility - makes up most of all e-mail sent in the world. By far. Estimates range around 80 percent - but a 2007 Microsoft security report in October put it at 97 percent. It ranges from crud to criminal. As for malware, the United States has about 2.2 million computers (more than any other country) infected, according to Microsoft numbers (likely to be low).
"I guarantee," says FBI Special Agent Brian Herrick, director of the FBI Cyber Crime Squad in Philadelphia, "that thousands of Inquirer readers probably have computers infected with spam or malware, part of a botnet just pumping out spam."
The cyberthugs have an advantage, says Special Agent Cerena Coughlin, also of the Cyber Crime Squad. "We can stop them for a while, but they always come up with ways to circumvent it. And we're more restricted. We have to follow the letter of the law - they don't."
The extent of it is staggering. Before U.S. marshals took it down in March, the Rustock botnet was pumping out an estimated 30 billion spam e-mails a day. The botnets - big names include ZeuS, SpyEye, Dogma, Koobface, and Alureon - are run by criminal groups that use servers and supercomputers in several countries. Tracing their activity is extremely difficult and calls for highly skilled technical workers.
One of 16 such FBI squads in the country, the Philadelphia Cyber Crime Squad has 15 agents working full-time on cybercrime; the national program began in 1996. Working with national and international agencies, the squad studies and traces viruses, junk, and spam. Cases involve computer intrusions (everything from local hackers to international cyberespionage and terrorism), child exploitation (as in pornography), intellectual-property rights (copyright infringement, movies, music, software, proprietary business secrets), Internet fraud, and identity theft.
Coughlin says, "We are insanely busy. This is the third-busiest squad in the country, because of where it is and all the affected business and government concerns nearby. We don't have enough bodies for all the work there is."
In the Philadelphia area, the FBI joins hands with local businesses such as banks, agribusiness, and utilities (enterprises often attacked by spam and cybercrime) in a group called InfraGard. There are more than 1,400 local members - "So many people want to be part of it that we don't even need to solicit members," Coughlin says.
At monthly meetings, members share information, news, and tips. The FBI gives presentations and talks, and individual members speak about the cases they face. "It's a communication channel," Herrick says, "between the U.S. government and people in industry down in the trenches, looking to protect critical infrastructure."
Current president of the local chapter of InfraGard is Brian Schaeffer, chief information officer of Liberty Bell Bank in Marlton. He says, "I get thousands of cyberattacks a day. A lot of them are idiots just wanting to show what they can do. But a lot of them are looking to access banking information."
Like most banks, Liberty Bell has a strong firewall, "so hackers take a back-door approach," sending bank clients "phishing" e-mails - which pretend to be trustworthy communications but hide nasty intentions. "If a client even opens such an e-mail, they can get into their account information, their contacts, the keys to the kingdom."
Such attacks mean that "not only do I have to defend my own system, but also I try to help the customers with theirs. If their computers get infected, their account and credit information could get sold to strangers, and that could hurt us all." Schaeffer tells of an elderly couple who came to his bank one day, and just by coincidence, a bank clerk brought him a suspicious request "to withdraw a huge amount of money from their account - but there they were, sitting with us, so we knew some hackers had got at their information through e-mail."
He says InfraGard "has given me a network of people I can go to if I see things I never saw before. If I have a question, there's likely to be someone with an answer."
The other side of the battle is cyberforensics. Think of it as CSI with computers. It's happening right now, with the cache of computers, flash drives, and other cyberstuff taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. U.S. agents instantly began to analyze this precious trove for criminal evidence - and links to other al-Qaeda operatives.
Work much like this goes on in Radnor at the FBI's Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, one of 16 such labs in the country. As with InfraGard, the flavor is distinctly federal/local. Law enforcement agencies - such as the police departments of Philadelphia, Lancaster, Lower Merion, and Lower Providence - send officers to guest-work at the lab and receive training and experience in fighting computer crime.
Supervisory Special Agent J.P. McDonald directs the lab, which has been involved in some of the highest-profile local investigations of recent years, including the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot, the manhunt for the Coatesville arsonists, the case of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, and the 2007-08 "Bonnie and Clyde" case of Jocelyn Kirsch and Edward Anderton, now in prison for fraud and identity theft.
"You can track the growth of cyberforensics along the same timeline as computers," McDonald says. "The FBI's program began in 1999, and, as of the mid-2000s, cyberevidence now has recognition and a firm track record in courts."
The lab is a techie's paradise, with gadgets and screens galore, racks of digital evidence sealed in antistatic wrap, sophisticated hard-drive readers, radiofrequency-shielded spaces, and kiosks for quick analysis of cell phones and thumb drives. "The majority of what we do," McDonald says, "is analysis of what's in a machine, how it got there, and then making a timeline of the history of what got there when."
"People's electronic devices are really an extension of their thoughts," says Philadelphia Police Lt. Edward Monaghan, deputy director of the lab. "If you're into NASCAR, you're likely to have NASCAR stuff in your computer. Thugs who are into drugs and money like to have their pictures taken with drugs, guns, and money. It sounds dumb, but they love it. That's what cyberevidence is all about."
The FBI's Herrick is resigned to a long battle: "There's probably some high school kid someplace in the Midwest - or maybe Europe or Asia someplace - who's cooking up something nobody's ever seen before. You really have to stay on your game with these guys."

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NASA & UFO Hacker Gary McKinnon Will Not Face Prosecution in UK

NASA & UFO Hacker Gary McKinnon Will Not Face Prosecution in UK

Infamous NASA hacker Gary McKinnon who broke into US government computer system, while hunting for evidence of UFOs and fought a long fight against extradition, has been told that he will now not face prosecution in the UK. After discussing the case with US Department of Justice and the police, The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided the appropriate jurisdiction for the McKinnon case to be heard is the US. According to Karen Todner, McKinnon's solicitor, the decision on Friday is an "interesting" one given that he was first arrested and questioned by UK police.

The reasons for that decision were:

1. The harm occurred in the US - the activity was directed against the military infrastructure of the US;
2. An investigation had already been launched in the US;
3. There were a large number of witnesses, most of whom were located in the US;
4. All of the physical evidence (with the exception of Mr McKinnon's computer) was located in the US;
5. The US prosecutors were able to bring a case that reflected the full extent of Mr McKinnon's alleged criminality; and
6. The bulk of the unused material was located in the US. Given the nature of the offences, this inevitably included highly sensitive information and the US courts were best placed to deal with any issues arising in relation to this material.

In a statement, the CPS's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Kier Starmer QC, and Mark Rowley, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said that they had convened a joint panel to discuss the issue and decide whether a new criminal investigation should take place. They decided that the original reasoning for the trial being held in the US still held, and looked into the possibility of holding the trial in the UK. This would have involved transferring witnesses and sensitive physical evidence to the UK. The panel consulted with the US Department of Justice as to whether this would be possible, given that they believed that "the prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon, which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality, are not high".

According to the statement, the US authorities "indicated to us that they would be willing to co-operate with a prosecution in England and Wales if that would serve the interests of justice." However, the US authorities did not feel that transferring all the witnesses and evidence to the UK would be in that interest, given the panel's representations. The statement goes on to say: "That is a decision the US authorities are fully entitled to reach and we respect their decision." On that basis, the panel concluded that a new criminal investigation should not be started and the Assistant Commissioner accepted that advice.

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Cyber Fraud -A Russian Get Busted in U.S. & Have To Face 142 Years Of Imprisonment

Cyber Fraud -A Russian Get Busted in U.S. & Have To Face 142 Years Of Imprisonment  

Yet Again another cyber fraud issue. Here the suspect is Vladimir Zdorovenin of Russia, who was charged in the United States with cyber fraud, hacking into bank accounts and defrauding U.S. citizens of hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the Russian Legal Information Agency Zdorovenin agreed to plead guilty of criminal conspiracy and online fraud. Meanwhile, he denies having committed other crimes. Zdorovenin was detained in Zurich on March 27 upon U.S. prosecutors' request. He was extradited to New York and charged on eight counts, including hacking into U.S. bank accounts, stealing personal client data and defrauding clients of "hundreds of thousands of dollars." 

A criminal case against Zdorovenin and his son Kirill was initiated in 2007. Kirill's whereabouts are unknown. Southern District attorney Preet Bharara maintains that the two men committed fraud as of 2005 from Russia via bogus websites. The prosecution maintains it has evidence, including outdoor surveillance, and e-mails and testimonies from an informer whose name will not be disclosed. The court will hold the next hearing on May 21. Zdorovenin faces up to 142 years in prison. The Foreign Ministry has stated that Zdorovenin's case is yet another attempt by the United States to enforce U.S. legislation on Russian citizens.

-Source (RAPSI News)

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Hacker Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Selling Access to Botnets & Infecting 72,000 PCs

Hacker Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Selling Access to Botnets & Infecting 72,000 PCs

A 30-year old computer hacker received a thirty month in prison sentence for creating a botnet and a charge of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. According to Depertment of Justice - Joshua Schichtel, of Phoenix, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for selling command-and-control access to and use of thousands of malware-infected computers, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr.

Schichtel was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in the District of Columbia.  In addition to his prison term, Schichtel was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. 

Schichtel entered a guilty plea on Aug. 17, 2011, to one count of attempting to cause damage to multiple computers without authorization by the transmission of programs, codes or commands, a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

According to court documents, Schichtel sold access to “botnets,” which are networks of computers that have been infected with a malicious computer program that allows unauthorized users to control infected computers.  Individuals who wanted to infect computers with various different types of malicious software (malware) would contact Schichtel and pay him to install, or have installed, malware on the computers that comprised those botnets.  Specifically, Schichtel pleaded guilty to causing software to be installed on approximately 72,000 computers on behalf of a customer who paid him $1,500 for use of the botnet.

This case was investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Corbin Weiss, Senior Counsel in the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

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