China is the biggest espionage threat. Innovation is "key to American competitiveness" and economic success (Collins). New inventions are the key to maintaining the United States' present in the manufacturing game. China's ability to compromise our new inventions is threatening to our manufacturing, national security and the security of our economy. In 20 years the FBI has had a total of four investigations dedicated to Chinese espionage and only one was successful. 'According to Nicholas Eftimiades author of the book "Chinese Intelligence Operations," Chinese espionage is focused on the theft of American technology" (Collins). According to the U.S. Army War College, China has gathered information on electronic warfare systems, navy propulsion systems, stealth technology, and nuclear weapons through espionage. For example, China stole technology for silent submarines from the United States Navy (Brenner 3). The U.S. invested five billion dollars to create this technology, and Chinese hackers stole this critical information for free. The U.S. lacks the money to devlelop a weapon, necessary to maintain a military edge over other countries, and then lose the secret formula rendering the technology antiquated.
More Examples of Cyber Spying:
David Yenb, an employee of Valspar, downloaded proprietary paint formulas valued at $20 million with the intent to sell them to China.
Meng Dong, a DuPont Corp. research chemist, downloaded proprietary information on organic light emitting diodes with the intent of sending them to a Chinese University.
Yu Xiang Dong, a product engineer with Ford Motors copied 4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive with the intent of transferring the data to an auto company in China.
McAffe Company attributed an intrusion attempt by a company with a Chinese IP address to steal data from a computer system of a petro chemical company.
Brenner, Joel. America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime, and Warfare. New York: The Penguin Press, 2011. Print.
Collins, Mike. "How China Is Stealing Our Secrets."Manufacturing.net. Advantage Business Media, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.
Everyone knows you should NEVER click on link with an unknown destination; however, human curiosity has a way of making us do stupid things and THAT is what hackers count on. Once you click on that link, attachment, email file, etc.. they have access to your computer.
In a case called Trident Breach, “hackers stole $70 million from the payroll accounts of some 400 American companies and organizations” by e-mail links and attachments infected with ZeuS, a Trojan bug that targeted and recorded passwords and usernames of online banking accounts (“University Professor”).
Let it be clear that these hackers stole $70 million dollars from the safety of their homes in Eastern Europe. They used a key logger program, that recorded the keystrokes when infected users typed in their password. Talk about hurting the economy, random people in another country stole $70 million dollars from Americans, and generally we don't catch the hackers. So, this number is big, but in the scheme of things it's not.
“University Professor Helps FBI Crack $70 Million Cybercrime Ring.” Rock Center With Brian Williams. MSNBC. 21 Mar. 2012. Web.
21 Apr. 2012.
Easy Money: Hackers pull of $70 million cybercrime. Msnbc.msn.com. 21 April 2012. MSNBC. Web. 21 April 2012.
According to the 2012 North Cyber Report the price tag on cybercrime in the U.S. is 21 billiondollars, out of a worldwide total of 110 billiondollars. A contributing factor to the increasing cost of cybercrime (40% increase according to HP Research on the 8th of October 2012) is because of the changing profile in cyber criminal. A few years ago hackers hacked to make a name for themselves, but because of the increase of commerce on the web hackers also want a piece of it, so their main goal is to steal money. And hackers have perfected organized crime, with some of most sophisticated crime rings. For example Sky News made an example of how easy it is for a hacker to hack into your phone. So, ethical hacker, Jason Heart, in five minutes download free software from the internet and with it set up a free Wi-Fi hotspot outside a popular cafe. To demonstrate, Heart only targeted Sam Kiley, Sky's Security editor, which is called spear phishing. When Kiley connected to the Wi-Fi Heart had instant access to Kiley's email passwords, skype and twitter. And as most don't turn off their Wi-Fi connection hackers have unconditional access to their personal information such as financial accounts and contacts. In 2011, 40% of phones purchased have been smart phones, and the number of people affected are increasing.
The problem with cybercrime is that it is generally international. In order to investigate and prosecute there must be cooperation, and generally the countries with cybercrime hotspots aren't the most cooperative, like China and Russia. And if two countries cannot reach a state of cooperation where is the justice? All the money a cyber criminal stole cannot be retrieved and the economic impact grows.
There is also no international definition of cybercrime. So countries all have their own set of rules, but as cybercrime generally starts in one country and attacks another it makes it unclear whose rules should be followed, because the crime occurs in one country, but affects another country. And the evidence generally is not just one country so it cannot be easily collected.
Even when cybercrime is local, the chance of finding enough evidence to prosecute in slim. For example, In 2010, fraud tax returns totaled 1.5 million which equals $5.2 billion dollars in revenue for criminals. This means 1.5 billion people who don't get their tax returns, and the IRS says this problem is growing.
Then there is the problem, who should be legally responsible? Should a cafe that provides Wi-Fi be responsible for crimes committed on that Wi-Fi? And should botnet infected computers have legal responsibility in their actions?
For example, in January, Anonymous, infamous hacking group, attacked the US government in response to the FBI shutting down Megaupload. Followers of Anonymous on Twitter would receive tweets containing links that contributed to the hack. According to legal terms DOS attacks are illegal; however many participants believed they were tricked so they shouldn't be held accountable. So should they be held accountable? megaupload.com/
Norton Symantec released their Internet Security Threat Report: 2011 Trends in the early months of 2012. In the early pages of the report they summarized the attacks that had taken place in the year of 2011 by month. One of the biggest accomplishments of 2011 was when the FBI received the court order to take down the Coreflood botnet. The botnet was controlled by 13 individuals who manipulated 2 million computers and stole millions of dollars from those computers through bank accounts and credit cards. The hacker's used a key logger to steal the passwords, usernames and financial information. They also had "the ability to launch massive denial-of-service attacks." Civil complaints were filled against the 13 individuals by a Michigan real estate company ($115,771 stolen), a South Carolina law ($78,421 stolen), and a Tennessee defense contractor ($241,866 stolen). This decade old botnet was shut down April of 2011 with the help of Microsoft's Digit Crime Unit. For more information about the Coreflood botnet visit the website below: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/FBI-Shuts-Down-Coreflood-Botnet-Zombies-Transmitting-Financial-Data-767165/
AND
According to the Norton Study, "1.5 + million victims per day" "18 victims per second"
In the total amount of cyber attacks, almost half occured last year!
The 2012 Norton Cybercrime Report is a report created by over 20 analysts, developers, and directors that take data from 24 countries and measures the effect of cybercrime on our world. Symantec has recorded Internet threat data through Symantec's Global Intelligence Network which "records thousands of events per second" in over 200 countries. They catch phishing and malware data through Symantec Probe Network, and they have a strong anti-fraud network.
The FBI director, Robert Mueller proposes cybercrime will outweigh terrorism as the FBI’s number one priority.
As computers continue to become more prevalent in our everyday society the cybercrime threat only increases, because the magnitude of participates increases the possible amount of bots. Hacking is an undeniable alternative to the James Bond lifestyle. Now, you don’t have to be incredibly fit, agile and know martial arts to wield magnificent power. You don’t have to know how to wield a knife or a gun, you just need a computer and some codes. People can be lazy, sit around in their pajamas sipping coffee in their bed and steal money from half way around the world, or compromise company codes and data by wielding thousands of bots or injecting a computer virus, and it’s almost impossible to track. If you had a choice, why would you steal any other way?
The problem?
NOBODY TAKES CYBER THREATS SERIOUSLY!
FBI Executive Director Shawn Henry said, “If I tell them (American public) there was a bomb in their house they would get it but if I tell them there is someone in their computer it just doesn’t resonate, because they often don’t see anything missing”
(Easy Money: Hackers Pull of $70 Million Cybercrime).
Who cares if someone can access my files, or if someone is using my computer in a botnet to steal money, because I’m not doing it. Wrong! A major discussion topic now, is whether citizens should be responsible for the actions of their computers. And I think the answer is YES, if people know that their computer is messed up or contributing to a botnet well they better try to do something about it. However, the problem? People don’t know their computer has a bot. So why should you be punished for being naive? Well, the information is there; as an active citizen YOU need to inform yourself. Because a lack of education or proper protection against cybercrime could lead to a zero balance in your debit cards, savings account or credit cards charged up the ying yan.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, “During the five-month period between October and February, there were 86 reported attackson computer systems in the United States that control critical infrastructure, factories and databases compared with 11 over the same period a year ago"(qtd. in Schmidt). And half of power plant operators and “other criticalinfrastructure” admit to infiltration by an adversary (Robertson). The Department of Homeland Security documented more than 50,000incidents of cyberintrusionsince October, 10,000 more than last year.
Cybercrime is a REAL-LIFE threat. It is a legitimate crime; therefore it is naturally that it should have all the repercussions of a more accepted crime like physically stealing money from a bank. According to a research done by HP, released on October 8th this year, "cybercrime costs rise nearly 40 percent" (News Release).
Easy Money: Hackers pull of $70 million cybercrime. Msnbc.msn.com. 21 April 2012. MSNBC. Web. 21 April
2012.
"News Release." HP Research: Cybercrime Costs Rise Nearly 40 Percent, Attack Frequency Doubles. Ed. Kristi Rawlinson and Michelle Doss. HP Research, 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 08 Dec. 2012.
Robertson, Jordan. "Power Plants, Other Infrastructure Under Hacking Assault; 54 Pct Say They've Been Infiltrated." Canadian Press, The Newspaper Source Plus. 28 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
Schmidt,
Michael S. “New Interest in Hacking as Threat to Security.” The New York
Times. New York Times Corporation, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
“University
Professor Helps FBI Crack $70 Million Cybercrime Ring.” Rock Center With
Brian Williams. MSNBC. 21 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.
"Botnets are networks of virus-infected computers controlled remotely by an attacker. The Coreflood virus is a key-logging program that allows cyber thieves to steal personal and financial information by recording unsuspecting users’ every keystroke"
Cybercrime is a war zone. But instead of A47's dropping missiles, hackers are shooting emails and links fully armored to take out the computers intelligence system and reprogram. Information is valuable to the infrastructure of every organization. The United States is held together by public works (exp.: oil, water, gas, & electric) known as critical infrastructure. Hackers have the ability to penetrate the systems that make these technologies tick. The public should equate a bomb threat to a cyber attack; if a hacker reprograms a pipeline, it will blow, just like if a bomb went off. Because a cyber attack has the capability to do the same damage to the physical and economic infrastructure. Cybercrime is detrimental to the economy because it causes billions of dollars in damage each year, it effects a large amount of people, and it has the ability manipulate our critical infrastructure, which without could put the whole country in physical and economical turmoil.
Computer attack:
A generic term for a malicious action whose target and means involves computing.
Botnet:
Network of malicious robots ("bots"), installed on compromised machines
("zombies"), in a number to ensure active camouflage and to direct
its actions to one or more determined targets (ex. Distributed denial of
service (DDoS) or mass emails ("spam")).
"Botnet"
controller ("bot herder"): Individual
responsible for remotely managing and monitoring a network of robots through a
C&C Control and Communication server.
Trojan horse:
Hidden malicious code that can take control of the compromised computer without
the knowledge of the legitimate user.
Cloud computing:
Method of processing client data, using the Internet, in the form of services
provided by a service provider. This is done using a cloud computing model that
provides access to a shared set of configurable resources over an on-demand
network. Its resources include networks, servers, storage, applications, and
other elements, arranged into "clouds" in various geographical
locations, without the specific location or operation of the cloud being made
known to clients.
Malicious code
("malware"): A program developed for the purpose
of causing harm through a computer system or a network. Trojan horses, viruses,
and worms are forms of malware, characterized by the presence of propagation,
triggering, and action mechanisms that are often developed with an intent to cause
harm.
Cyberattack:
A malicious act through a computing device, generally over a telecommunications
network.
Cyberthreat:
A local or remote threatening action targeting information or information
systems.
Denial of Service
(DoS): An action to prevent or greatly limit the
ability of a system to provide an expected service.
Distributed
Denial of Service (DDoS): An action launched from multiple sources,
especially by means of a botnet.
Phishing:
Misleading technique intended to obtain personal information by misleading the
holders of that information.
Fraud:
A deliberate illegal act carried out by one or more subtle means, with the
intention to deceive in order to gain an advantage. This can take various
forms, which may or may not require complicity, leading to injury to the
victim.
Social
engineering: A method of obtaining an asset or
information by exploiting trust, ignorance, or credulity, or by applying
psychological pressure or appealing to one’s compassion.
Accountability:
Security property associated with monitoring performed operations and
functions, without possible repudiation.
Integrity:
Security property associated with storing data and components without
corruption in space and time.
Intrusion:
Introduction and maintenance of a fraudulent character in a system for the
purpose of retrieving or modifying, or else altering or destroying.
Pirated machine
or "zombie": A machine compromised by a malicious
robot ("bot") on a network ("botnet") directed by a
"bot herder".
Hacker:
An individual who breaks into a computer system for an intellectual challenge,
with malicious intent, or for profit, acting alone or as part of a group.
Spam:
Unsolicited email messages, often sent in large numbers.
Address spoofing:
The act of deliberately replacing one address with another address, such as a
physical MAC (Medium Access Control) address, IP address, domain address, email
address, etc.
Identity Theft:
Temporary or permanent borrowing of a person’s identity by appropriating the
victim’s identifiers.
The defintions above come from the glossary section of a french study Prospective Analysis on Trends in Cybercrime from 2011-2020 by 22 experts from Gendarmerie Nationale ("based on an iterative process of electronic consultations, using the Delphi method and an open-ended questionaire based on an ad hoc model").
"Botnet Operation Disabled."FBI. U.S. Government, 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. Gendarmerie Nationale, and François Paget. Prospective Analysis on Trends in Cybercrime from 2011 to 2020. Rep. Trans. McAfee. N.p.: n.p., 2011. Web.
On August 14, 2003 there were massive power blackout in Northeast, most prominently affecting New York and Toronto. One hundred power plants shut off, phone lines and water lines were down and people were trapped in elevators. Just a few days before in Toronto and computer virus known as blaster had infected airline and train technology, delaying their departure for many hours. The officials claimed that blaster was not the official cause of the largest blackout in American history that totaled no less than 60 billion dollars of damage. The official cause was overgrown trees and brush on power lines. However, virus hunter Mikko Hypponen disagrees. According to the report, the screens flashed black screens and described everything that would be the cause of blaster. As blaster is a worm, it doesn't need programs to propel itself on the net. Your computer could get a worm by being online, like the financial network, power plants, water treatment centers and nuclear reactors. As most people disagreed with the official report it was a wake-up call: computer viruses could impact the physical world.
Example of how a blaster worm works. http://www.cisco.com/web/about/security/images/mysdn/mysdnimage005.gif
On the ninth of November in 2011 six Estonian nationals were arrested for infecting over a million computers worldwide in a cyber fraud ring to puppeteer the "MUTI-BILLION-DOLLAR Internet advertising industry." This virus made compromised users at risk for other malicious viruses. This fraud ring began in 2007 with a malware called DNSCharger that infected 4 million business, personal and governmental agency computers, 500,000 in the United States. The virus was able to scam 14 million dollars, and often damaged users' ability to update their anti-virus.
What is a DNSCharger?
A DNS (Domain Name System) is the thing that converts the domain name into numerical numbers, which is what allows computers to communicate with each other like emailing and surfing the web. So what the DNSCharger did was give the hackers control over the users web activity. So when a user clicked on a link they were taken to a different website. The thieves would sometimes create a duplicate of a legit website and sell their products; however when customers would purchase off the fake website the cyber criminals would steal their money, gain access to their computer, and deprive the actual websites of traffic.
Because of rare international cooperation between the FBI and Estonian officials the six responsible for the cybercrime are in custody and will be extradited to the United States.
