Cybercrime stories

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Mother accused of cyber-bullying faces year in prison and $300,000 fine

Judge overturns guilty verdict in MySpace suicide case

July 2, 2009 -- The woman at the centre of a high-profile online bullying case was exonerated by a U.S judge today - despite having previously been found guilty of computer crimes that led to the suicide of her teenage neighbour. At a sentencing hearing in Los Angeles earlier today, Lori Drew, 50, was told that the verdict of a Californian jury would be overturned and she would not face imprisonment for her role in the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who killed herself in 2006 after being bullied on MySpace.

Despite having been found guilty on a number of minor counts last November, U.S. District Judge George Wu overruled the jury in the original trial and said that Drew should be acquitted. Although the ruling was tentative - and the decision will not become final until papers are filed later this week - Wu said he was concerned that the case set a dangerous precedent for prosecuting anybody who broke the terms of service of a website.

The shocking development marks the latest twist in the long-running case - which had been heralded as a landmark test in U.S. law, as the first prosecution over accusations of cyberbullying.

Meier, from Darden Priarie in Missouri, killed herself three years ago after receiving a string of nasty messages from a young male friend she had befriended online. A police investigation discovered that the bully's identity was fake and that the entire friendship had, in fact, been a hoax operated by Drew - the mother of another teenager who had been friends with Meier.

Reacting to what they claimed was bullying from Meier towards Drew's daughter, she and a friend concocted the persona of 16-year-old "Josh Evans", a boy who had recently moved to the area. "Josh" began exchanging messages with Meier, before telling her in October 2006 that "the world would be a better place without you". She killed herself soon afterwards. As details of the case emerged, public outcry over the case grew, and Drew - who initially referred to the hoax as a "joke" - became the subject of widespread condemnation for her behaviour.

But without legislation to specifically address such cases, the incident was seen as a test case for cyberbullying in the U.S. Despite public pressure, officials struggled to build a case against Drew. Local prosecutors in Missouri failed to take the case forward, eventually leading to the authorities in California - who argued they had jurisdiction because MySpace is based in Los Angeles - to prosecute. After legal arguments and a short trial, Drew was only found guilty of three reduced charges relating to her misuse of computers, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a fourth charge of criminal conspiracy.

Last month, however, Judge Wu indicated that he was still considering the defence's motion to overturn the verdict, after labelling the application of computer crime laws to the case as "weird". "Is a misdemeanor committed by the conduct which is done every single day by millions and millions of people?" Wu asked lawyers at a hearing last month. "If these people do read [the terms of service] and still say they're 40 when they are 45, is that a misdemeanor?"

Megan's family had argued that Drew should be held responsible for her actions, particularly since they were clearly intended to manipulate a child. Prosecutors had sought the maximum three-year prison sentence and a $300,000 (£183,000) fine.

[Al-khiyal]

Selon un rapport de Cisco :
Les cybercriminels manœuvrent comme des dirigeants d’entreprise

Lundi 20 Juillet 2009 -- Les cybercriminels mettent en œuvre des stratégies de chefs d’entreprise, dont ils appliquent les techniques de vente, de marketing et de gestion des risques à la sphère de l’escroquerie en ligne, estime dans un rapport le fabricant américain de routeurs informatiques Cisco. « Certaines techniques des pirates informatiques d’aujourd’hui ne sont pas nouvelles (...) Mais ils sortent désormais de la Harvard Business School ou de la ‘‘Business Room’’ de General Electric », avance Patrick Peterson, chercheur de Cisco chargé de la sécurité en ligne et auteur d’un rapport publié mardi dernier.

Le rapport évoque notamment la façon dont des pirates informatiques ont exploité l’émotion suscitée fin juin par le décès du chanteur Michael Jackson. Les catastrophes et la vie des stars nourrissent régulièrement le contenu de spams (courriers électroniques indésirables) et de sites piégés de virus informatiques, mais dans le cas de la disparition de la star américaine, certains pirates n’ont pas hésité à élaborer de fausses informations pour tromper leurs cibles. « Ils avaient leurs propres rédacteurs à pied d’œuvre pour suivre l’histoire et diffuser des nouvelles, avec une rapidité qui a concurrencé les médias. Les pirates avaient un avantage : eux n’ont pas besoin de sources, ni d’écrire des reportages », explique M. Peterson.

Des milliards de spams avec des liens vers des sites affichant à foison images et vidéos de l’icône de la pop ont été envoyés dans les jours qui ont suivi sa mort, selon Cisco. « Appâtés » par les liens, des internautes se transforment alors de pirates en « clients », dont les ordinateurs sont furtivement infectés de codes malicieux destinés à leur dérober des données, à usurper le contrôle de leur ordinateur ou autres actions malintentionnées. Les usagers infectés constituent alors des bataillons d’« ordinateurs zombies », associés les uns aux autres à l’insu de leurs propriétaires pour former des réseaux que les pirates utilisent pour envoyer des spams ou lancer des attaques, poursuit Cisco. Un dispositif disponible en ligne, basé en Russie, propose même ses services pour contrer les logiciels anti-virus, offrant aux pirates, contre un abonnement mensuel, de les tenir au courant des innovations des sociétés de sécurité informatique et des moyens de les contourner, affirme M. Peterson.

« C’est une entreprise de services criminels ! Nous avions déjà trouvé auparavant de nombreux exemples de pirates partageant entre eux des outils et des techniques, mais jamais avec une organisation commerciale pareille », s’étonne le chercheur. Les auteurs de spams utilisent également des pratiques basiques de marketing, truffant leurs sites piégés des mots clefs les plus demandés par les internautes dans les moteurs de recherche en ligne. « Parce que de nombreux usagers ont tendance à faire confiance (à leur moteur de recherche) et à n’éprouver aucune suspicion envers les premiers résultats affichés, ils peuvent être très facilement amenés à télécharger des logiciels piratés », indique le rapport.

Les cybercriminels s’adaptent à tous les types de nouvelles technologies, et cherchent à tirer profit de la croissance rapide de la téléphonie mobile en envoyant des textos piégés évoquant, par exemple, des problèmes avec leur compte bancaire. Les victimes qui répondent sont dirigées vers une messagerie automatique qui, prétendant être celle de l’établissement bancaire en question, leur demande d’entrer leur numéro de compte et autres informations personnelles. Les réseaux sociaux type Facebook ne sont pas épargnés. Ces espaces, dont les membres sont en permanence sollicités pour cliquer d’un lien à un autre, sont en passe de devenir pour les pirates des espaces privilégiés pour « chercher le client », avertit Cisco.

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Man tried to steal 130 million credit card numbers

WASHINGTON, August 17, 2009 — Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Miami man with the largest case of credit and debit card data theft ever in the United States, accusing the one-time government informant of trying to gain access to 130 million accounts. Albert Gonzalez, 28, broke his own record for identity theft by hacking into retail networks, according to prosecutors, though they say his illicit computer exploits ended when he went to jail on charges stemming from a previous case.

Gonzalez is a former informant for the U.S. Secret Service who helped the agency hunt hackers, authorities say. The agency later found out that he had also been working with criminals and feeding them information on ongoing investigations, even warning off at least one individual, according to authorities. Gonzalez, who is already in jail awaiting trial in a hacking case, was indicted Monday in New Jersey and charged with conspiring with two other unnamed suspects to steal the private information.

Prosecutors say Gonzalez, who is known online as "soupnazi," targeted customers of convenience store giant 7-Eleven Inc. and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers, Co. Inc. They also targeted Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor. Gonzalez is awaiting trial in New York for allegedly helping hack the computer network of the national restaurant chain Dave and Buster's. Trial in that case is due to begin next month. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the new charges.

The Justice Department said the new case represents the largest alleged credit and debit card data breach ever charged in the United States, beginning in October 2006. Gonzalez allegedly devised a sophisticated attack to penetrate the computer networks, steal the card data, and send that data to computer servers in California, Illinois, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Also last year, the Justice Department announced additional charges against Gonzalez and others for hacking retail companies' computers for the theft of approximately 40 million credit cards. At the time, that was believed to be the biggest single case of hacking private computer networks to steal credit card data, puncturing the electronic defenses of retailers including Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority and OfficeMax.

At the time of those charges, officials said the alleged thieves weren't computer geniuses, just opportunists who used a technique called "wardriving," which involved cruising through different areas with a laptop computer and looking for accessible wireless Internet signals. Once they located a vulnerable network, they installed so-called "sniffer programs" that captured credit and debit card numbers as they moved through a retailer's processing networks. Gonzalez faces a possible life sentence if convicted in that case. Restaurants are among the most common targets for hackers, experts said, because they often fail to update their antivirus software and other computer security systems.

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Woman charged with harassment over suggestive post

ST. PETERS, Missouri, August 18, 2009 — A Missouri woman is accused of cyberbullying for allegedly posting photos and personal information of a teenage girl on the "Casual Encounters" section of Craigslist after an Internet argument. Prosecutors said 40-year-old Elizabeth A. Thrasher posted the 17-year-old's picture, e-mail address and cell phone number on the Web site in a posting that suggested the girl was seeking a sexual encounter. St. Charles County Lt. Craig McGuire said Tuesday that the victim is the daughter of Thrasher's ex-husband's girlfriend. The girl, who has not been named, received lewd messages and photographs from men she didn't know and contacted police. Thrasher, of St. Peters, is the first person charged with felony harassment in St. Charles County under a law passed in Missouri after the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was the victim of an Internet hoax in a nearby community that drew international attention. Thrasher was freed on $10,000 bond, but the judge barred her from having a computer or Internet access at home. No one answered the door at her house in a neighborhood about 25 miles northwest of St. Louis. Neighbors said she and her two children had just moved in recently. Her attorney, Michael Kielty, said what Thrasher was accused of was no different from someone posting a number on a bathroom wall, telling people to "call Jane Doe for a good time." "It may be in poor taste. It may be inappropriate, but it's not criminal behavior," Kielty said. He said the state law was poorly written and Thrasher was devastated by the charges.

Authorities said Thrasher and the 17-year-old's mother had been arguing, and there was some back-and-forth bickering on MySpace among all three. "Who started what is up for debate," said St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas. McGuire said Thrasher then created the posting on Craigslist — whose "Casual Encounters" section warns that the pages may include adult content — that included the teen's picture, employer, e-mail address and cell phone number. She received calls, e-mails, text messages and pornographic photos to her cell phone, police said. If convicted of felony harassment, Thrasher could face up to four years in state prison, or up to a year in county jail, and a $5,000 fine, Banas said.

Under the harassment law that took effect last August, a cyberbullying offense can be charged as a felony if a victim is 17 or younger and the suspect 21 or older. Misdemeanor cases have been filed since then. The law was spurred by the Megan Meier case, in which an adult neighbor, her daughter and a friend were linked to a MySpace page concocted to appear to be that of a teenage boy. "Josh" initially flirted with Megan but then made hurtful comments shortly before she hanged herself. No state charges were filed, Banas has said, because the state lacked an applicable law at the time. A jury in California, where MySpace has its servers, found the neighbor, Lori Drew, guilty of three federal misdemeanors, but a judge overturned the verdicts and said he would acquit her. His decision has not been finalized. Given the awareness of cyberbullying that Megan's story had raised, Banas had thought St. Charles County was "the most unlikely place" for another case to arise. Megan's mother, Tina Meier, who campaigns against cyberbullying, said Missouri's updated law should be "used to the fullest extent." "This is not a joke," Meier said. "There have been too many people who have taken their own lives, too many people and their families getting hurt by this."

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Facebook bully jailed:
Death threat girl, 18, is first person put behind bars for vicious internet campaign

August 21, 2009 -- A teenager who posted a death threat on Facebook, yesterday became the first person in Britain to be jailed for bullying on a social networking site. Keeley Houghton, 18, said she would kill Emily Moore, whom she had bullied for four years since they were at school together. On her personal page, Houghton wrote of her victim: 'Keeley is going to murder the *****. She is an actress. What a ******* liberty. Emily ****head Moore.' Two days before she made the threat, Houghton had intimidated Emily, who is also 18, after spotting her in a pub. Sara Stock, prosecuting, told Worcester magistrates: 'When Emily was sitting on her own the defendant came over and sat next to her and asked her, "Are you Emily Moore? Can I have a huggle?" Emily told the defendant to leave her alone otherwise she would call the police. Keeley then told her, "I'll give you something to ring the police about".' Yesterday, jobless Houghton sobbed as she was sentenced to three months in a young offenders' institution after pleading guilty to harassment. She was also given a restraining order banning her from contacting Emily in person, via the internet or in any other manner for five years.

People have previously been jailed for harassment and stalking on social networking sites but she is thought to be the first to be jailed for bullying via the internet. Houghton, of Malvern, Worcestershire, had two previous convictions relating to her vendetta against Emily, the court heard. In 2005 she was convicted of assaulting her as she walked home from school. Houghton was subsequently expelled from school. Two years later she was convicted of causing criminal damage to Emily's home after kicking her front door. District Judge Bruce Morgan said: 'Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her. Bullies are by their nature cowards, in school and society. On this day you did an act of gratuitous nastiness to satisfy your own twisted nature.' The court heard that Houghton had told police she wrote the death threats while she was drunk late at night. But when officers examined internet records they discovered Houghton wrote the comments at 4pm on July 12 and kept them on her Facebook page for 24 hours.

Last month, an inquest heard how a schoolgirl took a fatal overdose of painkillers after bullies waged a hate campaign against her on Bebo. Megan Gillan, 15, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, swallowed the tablets to avoid a science exam after classmates posted spiteful messages on the social networking site. She was found dead in bed by her parents after she failed to come down for breakfast on the day of the exam. Her death prompted the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, to criticise such sites, saying they encouraged teenagers to build 'transient relationships' that can leave them traumatised when they collapse. The archbishop, who was appointed to the post in April, said the sites encouraged young people to put too much emphasis on the number of friends they have rather than on the quality of their relationships. Emma Jane Cross, from campaign group Beatbullying, said yesterday: 'The sentencing of an 18-year-old girl for cyber bullying is the first of its kind in the UK and sets an important precedent. Cyber bullying is a worrying and fast growing trend which can be more harmful than typical schoolyard bullying.'

Drama on Facebook

Facebook is used by tens of millions of people across the world, but the way some users use the site has led to various dramas. Last week, a picture surfaced of an alleged Facebook sacking, after an employee ranted about her boss online. He promptly replied, reminding her she had added him as a 'friend' before promptly firing her. Meanwhile the term 'Facebook Rage' is entering our language, often defined as feeling anger when a relationship breaks down and a former partner begins posting updates about their love-life. It has also been used to describe users, convinced their other half is cheating, who spend hours stalking their partner online in a bid the find further proof to fuel their suspicions, deliberately searching for incriminating evidence. Facebook was also in the dock a fortnight ago after a judge banned a gang of thugs from posting menacing photographs of themselves online. In a landmark ruling, nine men pictured making gun gestures on social networking websites will be locked up if such images appear again. Judge Clement Goldstone QC issued the ban while sentencing members of the Fallowfield Mad Dogs gang for affray. He was shown pictures of them pulling gun poses and talking about 'preparing for war' on a networking site. Teacher Sonya McNally, 35, from Grimsby, is also currently suspended on full pay since calling her 13-year-old pupils ‘bad’ in a private conversation on the social networking site.

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Pair sent racist messages to grieving girl

September 10, 2009 -- Two men who subjected a teenaged girl to a torrent of racist abuse have been punished. Appearing before Lincoln magistrates for sentencing, the court heard how James Frost, 24, and Thomas Tuck, 18, left a 17-year-old girl distraught after sending messages via MSN Messenger that she described as 'vile racist abuse'. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was grieving for her friends Harry Bhalla, 18, and Raman Sarwal, 16, who died when their car crashed into the Carpets4Less warehouse in Canwick Road, Lincoln in December. Last month Frost of Moorhen Close, Witham St Hughs, and Tuck of Granary Close, Waddington, pleaded guilty to sending messages via the Internet facility that were of a grossly offensive nature. Prosecuting, Edward Johnson, said yesterday that the victim was invited by the men to join four separate 'conversations' in January and February before reporting the abuse to the police. Mr Johnson said the messages were littered with references to magic carpets – referring to how the teenage boys died – and suicide bombers. He said that in one exchange, Tuck said: "Count yourself lucky they died as they would have only suicide-bombed us all in a few years." Mr Johnson said that Tuck replied: "So he kept us alive by crashing into Carpetland." Frost was given a six-week prison sentence suspended for 12-months. He was told to complete a alcohol awareness requirement and to pay £60 costs. Tuck was sentenced to a 12-month community order supervised by the probation service and was told to pay £60 costs.

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Mother tells how tragic Holly was tormented by Facebook bullies

September 20, 2009 -- The parents of a 15-year-old public schoolgirl who jumped to her death after being bullied on Facebook have spoken of the ‘huge pressures’ placed on young people by social networking sites. Holly Grogan died after plunging 30ft from a road bridge near her home on to a dual carriageway where she was hit by passing traffic. Steve Grogan, 45, and his wife Anita, 44, from Longlevens, Gloucester, said they were ‘devastated’ by the death of their ‘wonderful’ daughter, which followed the posting of dozens of abusive and humiliating messages on her Facebook wall. In a statement, they said: ‘Holly struggled to cope with the huge pressures placed upon her by the modern complexities of “friendship groups” and social networking. We are sure every responsible parent will empathise with our constant battle to instill self-belief and confidence in our children.’

Last night, it was revealed that Holly, who went to £11,600-a-year St Edward’s School in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, had suffered months, if not years, of cyber-bullying. A friend, Chloe Davis, 16, said Holly had moved to the fee-paying Catholic school in the past year to escape her tormentors. She added: ‘Holly was nice and had the biggest smile in the world. She always did well at school but the other girls used to pick on her. She didn’t have any confidence, that was the problem. Girls used to gang up on her and call her names and she didn’t have anything to say back. She just froze up. They used to leave comments on her Facebook wall, calling her names. They’ve probably all deleted them now.’ Chloe added: ‘I heard that the girls who bullied her at her old school told their friends at her new school to bully her as well and so it just kept on and on. Apparently there was a girl at her school yesterday who was crying because she used to bully her. But she should have thought about that at the time.’

Dozens of tributes to Holly were left on a local newspaper website and an internet tribute page. Her 17-year-old brother Tom wrote that her family ‘loved to her bits’. In their statement, her parents said her ‘beautiful smile and infectious laugh’ would be remembered by ‘everyone who was proud and privileged to have known or met her’. Holly’s death last Wednesday night is not being treated as suspicious. A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: ‘A formal identification and a post-mortem examination are now in the hands of the coroner. We are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.’ St Edward’s head teacher Andrew Nash said the school was in ‘shock’ but he refused to say whether staff had been aware of the bullying.