Information Policy

Iran blocks email, restricts net access: reports

Iran has further restricted access to the Internet and blocked popular email services for the past few days, in a move a top lawmaker said could "cost the regime dearly," media reports said on Sunday. Millions of Iranians have been unable to log onto their accounts on popular email websites such as Google's Gmail, Yahoo's Mail and Microsoft's Hotmail since Thursday without any official explanation, the Arman newspaper reported. But the Mehr news agency said the restrictions were not related only to email. "It has been a while that Internet users have had difficulty accessing domestic and news websites as well as foreign search engines and email services," it said on its website. These difficulties include "low speed, outage and blocking" of websites, Mehr said

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/iran_blocks_email_restricts_net_access_reports/

INTERPOL Set To Open Global Cybercrime Center In 2014

By Kelly Jackson Higgins
Dark Reading

CANCUN, MEXICO -- Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit 2012 -- One of the many challenges faced by law enforcement worldwide in investigating cybercrime cases is the ability to efficiently share intelligence among different nations and to disseminate it to the appropriate local police units.

Michael Moran, director of cybersecurity and cybercrime for INTERPOL, says the planned opening of the INTERPOL Global Complex in Singapore in 2014 is crucial to improving global cooperation among law enforcement. Moran says the organization is working on putting in place a secure online presence for police worldwide to work together on cybercrime cases, which often crisscross multiple regions and geographic jurisdictions.

"The Confickr Working Group report called for a formalization to do these jobs. We are trying to achieve that in Singapore," Moran said yesterday in a presentation here at the Kaspersky Lab Security Analyst Summit 2012. This would formalize and better coordinate investigations of cybercrime among law enforcement worldwide including the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, academia, and vendors.

Today, local police forces aren't typically, nor do they have the resources and expertise to move forward on cybercrime cases, Moran said. "They can't afford to pay the young geeks" who have the expertise.

INTERPOL's new Global Complex ideally would help improve that flow of information and expertise to all levels of cybercrime investigation. Plans for the complex were first announced nearly two years ago, and details are just now beginning to emerge.

Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said the idea of an Internet INTERPOL was an idea he began pitching ten years ago. "People were smiling on me then, but now governments are looking at it," Kaspersky said in his keynote address here yesterday. "There's an urgent need for an Internet INTERPOL and an Internet declaration."

Kaspersky later gave the latest INTERPOL plans for beefed-up collaboration resources and efforts a thumbs up.

He also shared his concerns for the worst-case security scenarios during his keynote, including targeted cyberweapons going out of control and causing collateral damage: "I'm afraid that a cyberweapon with a mistake in the code would damage that and many other random targets around the world," Kaspersky said.

Another concern, he said, is that cyberterrorists will hire hacktivists to do their dirty work.

Meanwhile, the privately held Kaspersky Lab today announced that it has decided not to go public and will buy back the shares it sold to a private equity firm that was hired to set up the firm for an initial public offering (IPO).

General Atlantic purchased a $200 million stake -- about 20 percent -- of Kaspersky in January of 2011.

Kaspersky said that remaining a private firm is the "right way" to continue with the company, so it would begin the process of buying back General Atlantic's stock. "We will stay private for the foreseeable future," he said. "We will stay focused on security -- maybe not just antivirus," he said, hinting that the company could branch out into other areas of security. "This is to protect the spirit and emotion of the company."

Among the drawbacks of going public, he said, would be that the company would no longer be as fleet on its feet. "There is a longer decision-making process, and more reports" for a public company, he said. "It gets a little slower."

Kaspersky still plans to work with General Atlantic "in other ways in the future," he said in a statement.

http://www.darkreading.com/advanced-threats/167901091/security/news/232600267/interpol-set-to-open-global-cybercrime-center-in-2014.html

An Economic Map of Cybercrime

by Jens Grossklags, John Chuang, Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Alfredo Alvarez Cardenas & Svetlana Radosavac [TPRC 2009]

Abstract: The rise of cybercrime in the last decade is an economic case of individuals responding to monetary and psychological incentives. Two main drivers for cybercrime can be identified: the potential gains from cyberattacks are increasing with the growth of importance of the Internet, and malefactors' expected costs (e.g., the penalties and the likelihood of being apprehended and prosecuted) are frequently lower compared with traditional crimes. In short, computer-mediated crimes are more convenient, and protable, and less expensive and risky than crimes not mediated by the Internet. The increase in cybercriminal activities, coupled with ineffective legislation and ineffective law enforcement pose critical challenges for maintaining the trust and security of our computer infrastructures.
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1997795

WordPress Plugin Unblocks Censored Sites, Including The Pirate Bay

A new WordPress plugin makes it dead easy to uncensor blocked websites. In just a few clicks people can setup their own proxy site with the popular blogging software. An essential tool for people whose speech is restricted by oppressive regimes, and handy for downloaders in The Netherlands, Italy, Finland and other countries where ISPs are blocking The Pirate Bay. Additionally, the plugin partially defeats the PIPA and SOPA bills in the US.

There’s been a lot of talk about censorship lately. Last week the Internet witnessed the largest protest in its history, against the Internet censorship bills PIPA and SOPA. And earlier this month ISPs in Finland and the Netherlands were ordered to censor The Pirate Bay.

Alongside the millions who protest against these increasing censorship initiatives, there’s also a group of people who come up with ways to route around it. One of these projects is the RePress plugin for WordPress.

The plugin is developed by the hosting company Greenhost and allows everyone with a WordPress blog to start a proxy for sites that are censored elsewhere in the world. As an example, Greenhost have setup a Pirate Bay and Wikileaks proxy.

“By adding this plug-in to your WordPress website it will start functioning as a proxy and uncensor any blocked website you’d like,” Greenhost explains. “The only thing you’ll need is a WordPress website and the ability to install new plug-ins. After that you can maintain a list of websites you’d like to keep open freely available on the web.”

 

Repress Options

One of the main motivations for the plugin’s developers was to provide people in the Netherlands full access to The Pirate Bay when the recent court order is enforced. However, if SOPA or PIPA pass there might also be a need for people in the US to have a tool like this.

“We hope people outside Holland use the plug-in to uncensor piratebay.org, as it is in danger of being blocked in our country after a court-ruling. In the Netherlands we could then uncensor websites for people in oppressive regimes like Iran, Syria or the US after SOPA is passed.”

“[SOPA and PIPA] are said to defend the interests of the Entertainment industry, but will mainly cause grave and undeniable damage to the Open and Free web and all of its users: from the end-consumer to the cutting edge developers and inventors. Our aim is to make this impossible,” the Greenhost team notes.

Although the plugin can’t prevent domain names from being seized, it is indeed a good solution to bypass all of the common blocking measures that are used today.

The RePress initiative is applauded by several politicians, including European Parliament member Marietje Schaake. “This is a fantastic opportunity for human rights activists and a solution for people who face technological censorship and repression,” she told Webwereld.

To those eager to start their own proxy of blocked websites, RePress can be downloaded in the WordPress repository.

http://torrentfreak.com/wordpress-plugin-unblocks-censored-sites-including-the-pirate-bay-120126/

New Index ranks ability of G20 nations to withstand cyber attacks, harness digital environment

INTERNATIONAL.  A new benchmarking study of 19 of the world’s 20 leading economies found that the United Kingdom and the United States lead Group of 20 (G20) countries in their ability to withstand cyber attacks and to deploy the digital infrastructure necessary for a productive and secure economy.

The index also found that several major economies—Argentina, Indonesia, Russia and Saudi Arabia—do not have cybersecurity plans and do not appear to be developing them. The index is at www.cyberhub.com.

The Cyber Power Index, developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, measures both the success of digital adoption and cyber security, and the degree to which the economic and regulatory environment in G20 nations promote national cyber power.

The Index allows visitors to compare the cyber power rankings of the G20 countries on a scale of 0-100 with 100 being most favorable. Each country's ranking is a weighted mean of scores from four categories: Legal and Regulatory Environment; Economic and Social Context; Technology Infrastructure; and Industry Application. Each category features at least four underlying indicators, many of which are composed of sub-indicators. The European Union, the newest member of the G20, was not included in the study.

“The Cyber Power Index identifies those countries that understand what it takes to operate in a digital era…and those that don’t,” said Booz Allen Hamilton Vice Chairman Mike McConnell. “Many define a nation’s cyber power simply like other domains such as land, air or space. While cyber is a domain, a nation’s capabilities must be measured by more than their military might alone. The countries able to master the uses and security requirements of emerging technologies and societal shifts brought on by the cyber revolution will emerge as the cyber powers and the winners of the 21st century.”

Overall, the top five countries exhibiting cyber power, as measured by the index—the UK; the US; Australia; Germany; and Canada—illustrate that developed Western countries are leading the way into the digital era. The top five performers also rate highly across the board, ranking in the top seven in all four categories. The G20’s last member, the EU, was not analyzed.

The leading emerging market countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs), have some room for improvement; out of the 19 economies, they rank 10th, 14th, 17th, and 13th, respectively. There is also a wide discrepancy between the top and the bottom of the index. The UK, the top performer, scores around three times the amount of points on a scale of 0 to 100 as the worst performer, Saudi Arabia.

Among other conclusions from the data:
• Cyber power relies on a solid foundation that includes technical skills for security and effective use of the cyber environment, high educational attainment levels, open trade policies, and an innovative business environment. The US has the most supportive economic and social context for fostering cyber power according to the index. This is driven by high tertiary education enrollment, research and development (R&D) investment, and an open trade environment. Asia’s rising influence is also apparent in this category, as China leads the trade indicator, while Japan and South Korea fill the number one and two positions, respectively, in technical skills.

• The gap in cyber capability between the U.S. and other countries is closing. While the U.S. has a broad and deep cyber power base, other nations such as South Korea and Japan are aggressively adopting greater levels of bandwidth and communications stability.

• Big does not always mean powerful. China has a large population and a powerful military. As a result the nation is often considered to be a cyber power. In reality, the Cyber Index found that the country’s true level of cyber power is in reality quite modest. Going forward, other countries are expected to be added to the Index, which could show the power of small countries such as Estonia. In contrast to China, Estonia is relatively tiny and hosts a modest military, yet that country’s well known ability to integrate advanced technology into its society could make a telling comparison.

• Germany’s comprehensive cyber policies are a key to its success. Germany leads the legal and regulatory framework category with a near perfect score (99.3 out of 100), followed by other Western countries that also performed well in the overall index. Germany is one of only five countries (the others being the UK; the US; France; and Japan) to have both a comprehensive national cyber plan and a comprehensive cybersecurity plan.

• Prioritisation of ICT access is higher in the developed world. There is still a clear divide between developed countries and emerging markets as measured by access to internet, mobile phones, and WiFi. The UK, US, and Germany lead Information Communications Technology (ICT) access, while Mexico, Indonesia, India, China, and South Africa have the lowest access scores. An exception is South Korea, which is fifth, despite having strong government policy towards improving access.

• The G20 countries have made limited technological progress within key industries. Australia is the top performer within the industry application category, which measures the ability of different industries (energy, health, transportation, government, and e-commerce) to leverage ICT developments, including security advancements. As an indication of uneven technological development across industries, Australia ranks first in the category overall, but only scores well within the electronic health indicator.

The Cyber Power Index anchors the Cyber Hub, a new platform also developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton intended to help governments and businesses remain competitive in today’s cyber landscape. The Cyber Hub features a series of research papers and expert points of view examining cyber’s implications for the business community. Much of the content will focus on specific industry verticals: health, finance, transportation, energy, open government, and defense-security.

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=56137&t=1&c=34&cg=4&mset=1011

Pirate Bay responds to Dutch court ruling

The Pirate Bay (TPB) has adapted its homepage, following Wednesday’s ruling by a Dutch Court in The Hague ordering internet providers Ziggo and XS4all to block access to the torrent site. TPB warns against censorship of the free internet and gives tips on how to avoid the block.

“Listen up people of the Netherlands. Your internet is being censored,” warns The Pirate Bay. The authors are angry with the copyright organisation Brein, which they accuse of being corrupt and providing false information in court. Along with North Korea, China and Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands is now on the list of countries that don’t allow free access to the internet, The Pirate Bay claims.

With this remarkable homepage, The Pirate Bay reacts to Wednesday’s court ruling that XS4all and Ziggo should block access to the download site. According to the court, 30 percent of the customers of these internet sites are guilty of illegally downloading films and music. But XS4all and Ziggo’s lawyers say the court made a huge miscalculation.

The Brein Foundation started the court case. The copyright organisation sees the ruling as an important breakthrough, as it will make it possible to force other internet providers to block TPB without having to go to court. The Brein Foundation believes the court will rule the exactly the same way in similar cases.
XS4all and Ziggo have announced that they will appeal against the ruling. Both providers will have to continue blocking the torrent site until there until a decision has been made on the case.

The Pirate Bay offers Dutch internet users who want to continue to have access to their site several tips on how to avoid the block.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/pirate-bay-responds-dutch-court-ruling

Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document. A "privacy compliance review" issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards." The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to "collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture." The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. A DHS official familiar with the monitoring program said that it was intended purely to enable command center officials to keep in touch with various Internet-era media so that they were aware of major, developing events to which the Department or its agencies might have to respond.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/homeland_security_watches_twitter_social_media/

Official Opening of Dutch National Cyber Security Center

The Dutch Minister of Security and Justice, Ivo Opstelten, addressed an audience at the World Forum in the Hague today, 12 January, at the official opening of the new National Cyber Security Center (NCSC). The center will provide cybersecurity expertise and alerts to organizations and agencies.

In his speech, Minister Opstelten called for cooperation between the public and private sectors and urged interested parties to come forward to share their knowledge and expertise so that all the different pieces can be put together to form a complete picture.

The setting up of a national center is part of the Dutch National Cyber Security Strategy which includes six points of action with the aim of integrating public and private parties, providing an effective threat and risk analysis, strengthening defenses against cyber attacks, and raising awareness and education about cybercrime and related matters.

More information can be found on the official Dutch NCSC website.

http://news.hostexploit.com/cybercrime-news/5029-official-opening-of-dutch-national-cyber-security-center.html

Growing Trend: Botnets, Malware Are Hitting Smartphones

Mobile security firm Lookout has published a collection of malware trends for 2012.

Among them are a few common techniques such as mobile pickpocketing such as SMS fraud, but there is also the note of botnets, which have been are moving more and more from the PC to mobile phones. Just like it is the case with the PC, the infection is invisible to the user and potentially thousands of phones are then connected for a specific purpose.

According to Lookout, there have been examples such as DroidDream as well Geimini this year, but none has been used at scale to date. While malware researchers discovered ten new botnets in 2011, that number is likely to rise in 2012 and botnets are expected to being activated to "distribute spam, steal private info, and install other malware". The message here is that you may want to think about installing security software on your phone as well.

Lookout tells users to be careful especially when visiting third-party app stores, as malware is often tested on smaller stores before they move to Android Market and the App Store. Especially games, utility and porn applications seem to be hosts of malware and users are recommended to check the reviews of an app first before downloading it. Also, users are told to be careful with in-app ads and not to automatically approve all the requests an app has.

"Bad guys will always follow the money, and with the meteoric growth of mobile devices there is more money to be made in mobile fraud than ever before," Lookout wrote. "Easy distribution combined with efficient monetization will keep malware developers and perpetrators of Web-based fraud hard at work designing the next great mobile scam."  However, the company said that careful conduct as well as keeping device software up to date as well as a malware scanner will "go a long way toward protecting your privacy and shielding you from fraud in 2012."

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/lookout-security-malware-botnet-smartphones,news-13584.html

Belarusian website Charter 97 attacked, shut down

By Danny O'Brien/CPJ Internet Advocacy Coordinator

It's not unusual for Charter 97, a Belarusian pro-opposition news website, to be disrupted online. CPJ has documented intimidations, threats, and arrests against its staff members, the murder of its founder, and denial-of-service attacks against the website.

On Thursday, the site endured a devastating online raid, Editor-in-Chief Natalya Radina told CPJ. Anonymous individuals used a password that Radina believed they got from malware used on an editor's personal computer. The saboteurs then logged on to the site's administrative section, deleted archives, and created a false news story about opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, she said. Sannikov was imprisoned after coming second in the December 2010 elections, and was sentenced to five years in prison in May.

Then again, this morning, Charter 97 was forced off-line after another DOS attack, Radina told CPJ.

Sites like Charter 97 do not have the resources to devote to digital forensics. Radina, winner of CPJ's 2011 International Press Freedom Award, works in exile in Lithuania. Like Sannikov, she faces charges of "organizing mass disorder" in her home country of Belarus.

For all of the accusations of criminality they make against journalists and political opponents, Belarusian authorities seem entirely uninterested in combating acts of computer crimes in at least some circumstances. While most of the disruption against Charter 97 took place behind the shield of anonymizing services, one of the attackers was using a Belarusian IP address. An assailant who not only sabotages Charter 97's archive but plants false information about an opposing presidential competitor would seem to be strongly connected to the Lukashenko regime.

Before the second attack this morning, Charter 97 was able to restore most of its archive, but its editors were not sure if some of the articles from December 2011 could be recovered, Radina told us.

Whatever the news from Charter 97 will be in 2012, it's clear that some in Belarus do not want their compatriots to read about it online. Radina remains defiant: "Take it from me that we shall live through today's attack too, no matter how serious it is. And we shall work even better."

http://www.cpj.org/internet/2011/12/belarusian-website-charter-97-attacked-shut-down.php