crime
Latest
Amazon plans series based on the Jack Reacher novels
Amazon is reportedly working on a series based on Jack Reacher, the character from Lee Child's bestselling crime-thriller novels. According to Deadline, Amazon Studios landed the rights to develop a script-to-series drama. Scorpion creator Nick Santora will write, executive produce and serve as the series' showrunner.
The FBI plans more social media surveillance
The FBI wants to gather more information from social media. Today, it issued a call for contracts for a new social media monitoring tool. According to a request-for-proposals (RFP), it's looking for an "early alerting tool" that would help it monitor terrorist groups, domestic threats, criminal activity and the like.
Professor convicted of sending US missile chip technology to China
The American government is particularly wary of China these days, and it's determined to make an example out of those who would share US secrets with its major rival. A California federal court has convicted UCLA professor Yi-Chi Shih for reportedly stealing and sending missile guidance chip technology to China, not to mention separate charges for fraud, false tax returns and false statements to agency staff.
Google suspends trend alerts in New Zealand after naming murder suspect
Google has suspended Trends alerts in New Zealand following criticism from the government that it published the name of a murder suspect, in violation of a court order.
UK police's facial recognition system has an 81 percent error rate
Facial recognition technology is mistakenly targeting four out of five innocent people as wanted suspects, according to findings from the University of Essex. The report -- which was commissioned by Scotland Yard -- found that the technology used by the UK's Metropolitan Police is 81 percent inaccurate and concludes that it is "highly possible" the system would be found unlawful if challenged in court.
Teen hacked Apple hoping the company would offer him a job
If you were a teen hoping to land a job at a tech giant, how would you go about it? Plan your education and hope you eventually land an internship? An Australian had another, less conventional method. The teen hacked Apple and pleaded guilty while admitting that he hoped this would land him a job at the iPhone maker. He'd heard that Apple hired a European who'd done the same thing, and had assumed that a job was waiting for him the moment he was discovered. Clearly, law enforcement had other ideas.
International effort busts $100 million malware crime network
The US, five other countries and Europol have dismantled an elaborate cybercrime ring that relied on one piece of malware to pull off heists. Officials have charged 10 people across five countries with using GozNym malware to grab banking login credentials in a bid to steal about $100 million from over 41,000 target computers, most of them linked to US businesses and their associated banks. It's not certain how much money the team obtained.
US charges nine people over $2.4 million SIM hijacking ring
American law enforcement just took down a significant SIM hijacking ring. Federal agents have charged nine men with wire fraud and identity theft charges for participating in The Community, a group that transferred phone numbers to SIM cards in their possession, used those to take control of online accounts (particularly those with two-factor authentication) and promptly stole cryptocurrency. The group has been accused of perpetrating seven attacks that stole more than $2.4 million in digital currencies from targets.
Former YouTube star sentenced to 10 years in prison over child porn
A one-time YouTube star is facing the consequences of apparent abuse of his audience. A judge has sentenced acapella cover producer Austin Jones to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in February to receiving child porn. The internet personality admitted encouraging six girls, including one who was 14 years old, to produce sexually explicit videos to show they were his "biggest fan." He'd also acknowledged using Facebook on about 30 other instances to ask underage girls to send explicit photos and videos, and told some targets that these were part of a "modeling opportunity," according to the Department of Justice.
US charges three Germans over massive dark web marketplace
The US just made a dark web bust that makes AlphaBay's 400,000-user peak seem modest by comparison. Federal prosecutors have charged three unnamed Germans for allegedly operating Wall Street Market, a dark web marketplace that sold drugs, counterfeits and hacking software to more than 1.15 million customers. The trio reportedly maintained the site, including transactional chats, forums and financial transactions.
Microbiome testing startup faces FBI investigation over billing
Another lab testing startup is facing legal scrutiny, albeit not for the same reasons as Theranos. The Wall Street Journal has learned that the FBI is investigating uBiome, a firm that tests microbiomes (the communities of organisms in your body) to inform your health decisions, over its "billing practices." Agents reportedly conducted a search of uBiome's offices on April 26th, with the FBI confirming that it had visited the address.
Tesla accuses investor of harassing and stalking its workers
Tesla and Elon Musk haven't been fans of people short-selling company stock (earlier talk of going private was partly a response to that), but they apparently have extra reason to be worried about one short seller in particular. The EV maker has obtained a temporary restraining order against Randeep Hothi after accusing the man of routinely threatening its staff. He reportedly injured a security guard at Tesla's Fremont factory with his car in February after he was asked to leave the parking lot, and on April 16th stalked a Tesla-owned Model 3 for 35 minutes on the freeway to the point where he forced the car into a automatic emergency maneuver to avoid a collision.
An algorithm is attempting to block drug deals at UK WiFi kiosks
The InLink kiosks installed throughout the UK were meant to replace payphones and provide free calls, ultra-fast WiFi and phone charging. But it wasn't long before they became a hotbed for drug dealing. Rather than do away with the free phone service, British telecom company BT and InLinkUK developed an algorithm to automatically block and disable "antisocial" calls.
WikiLeaks claims Ecuadorian Embassy is spying on Assange
WikiLeaks says it has uncovered a comprehensive spying operation against its founder Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy, where he has sought political refuge since 2012. According to the group, thousands of photos, videos and audio recordings have been taken of Assange, in what WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson calls a "total invasion of privacy."
UK sentences porn site sextortionist to over six years in prison
A British court just imprisoned one of the most aggressive sextortionists in recent memory. Zain Qaiser has been sentenced to six years and five months behind bars after pleading guilty to a scheme that blackmailed porn site visitors in over 20 countries by spreading malware-laden ads. The campaign would impersonate regional police (such as the FBI) and claim that victims who clicked the ads had committed an offense requiring a fine between $300 and $1,000. Qaiser worked with a Russian crime group that reportedly pocketed most of the money, but he still made over £700,000 (about $914,000) -- and prosecutors believe he has even more money stashed in offshore accounts.
Tesla's Sentry Mode has already caught a suspected thief
At the start of the year Tesla teased Sentry Mode, a security feature for its EVs that leverages a 360 dash cam to record damage and attempted break-ins. It rolled out in February, and it's already earning its keep. According to ABC 7 news, the feature has resulted in the arrest of a would-be thief.
Former Senate IT worker pleads guilty to doxxing senators on Wikipedia
One former Senate worker is about to face harsh consequences for a doxxing campaign. Jackson Cosko has pleaded guilty to stealing multiple Senators' personal information from the Senate's network and publishing it on Wikipedia, including Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee. He admitted to being angry after he was fired from his systems administrator job at Sen. Maggie Hassan's office in May 2018, and conducted an "extensive computer fraud and data theft scheme" as revenge between July and October.
Hackers obtain millions of cards from Planet Hollywood's parent company
More than a few restaurant-goers in the US will want to check their bank statements. Earl Enterprises has confirmed that hackers used point-of-sale malware to scoop up credit and card data at some of its US restaurants between May 2018 and March 2019, including virtually all Buca di Beppo locations, a few Earl of Sandwich locations and Planet Hollywood's presences in Las Vegas, New York City and Orlando. It's a fairly large data breach -- KrebsOnSecurity discovered that a trove of 2.15 million cards were on sale in the black market as of February.
Man pleads guilty to hijacking Apple IDs of rappers and sports stars
The end to Celebgate didn't mark the end to attempts to exploit superstars. Georgia resident Kwamaine Ford has pleaded guilty to hijacking Apple IDs of athletes (including NBA and NFL players) and rappers for the sake of spending sprees. From "at least" March 2015 onward, Ford tricked stars into handing over their account details primarily through a phishing campaign where he posed as an Apple customer support rep. Whenever he succeeded, he'd change the sign-in details and attempt to obtain credit card information. He'd use that to pay for "thousands of dollars" of travel, furniture and money transfers.
'Call of Duty' swatter to serve 20 years in prison
Tyler Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a US district court judge today for placing fake 911 calls, including a swatting incident in 2017 that resulted in the death of a man in Wichita, Kansas, according to the Associated Press. The fatal shooting was the fallout of an argument over a $1.50 bet in Call of Duty between Barriss and another gamer.
