Tech III

Hey everyone. Hope you're enjoying the break. Heads up regarding the schedule, it has changed and probably will change again before class, make sure to take a look. Here's the two articles to read before the presentation in our first class back. As always, time permitting we'll discuss final exam questions so come prepared:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21274531
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/01/30/hacker-blackmail-stripping-webcam/ 

'Sextortion' man charged over 'blackmailing women online'

  The accused is said to have blackmailed women into stripping off on webcam

A man who is said to have blackmailed more than 350 women after convincing them to strip off in front of their webcams has been arrested in the US.

Prosecutors said Karen "Gary" Kazaryan, 27, had hacked into hundreds of Facebook, Skype and email accounts to obtain naked or semi-naked pictures.
It is alleged he threatened to post the nude images of victims publicly unless they removed their clothing on camera.
If convicted, he could receive a maximum jail sentence of 105 years.
A press statement from the US Department of Justice detailed the charges against Mr Kazaryan, of Glendale, California.
Mr Kazaryan is said to have gained unauthorised access to hundreds of women's accounts, changing their passwords to prevent them from getting access.
"Once he controlled the accounts, Kazaryan searched emails or other files for naked or semi-naked pictures of the victims, as well as other information, such as passwords and the names of their friends," the statement said.
"Using that information, Kazaryan posed online as women, sent instant messages to their friends, and persuaded the friends to remove their clothing so that he could view and take pictures of them."
Skype capture US authorities said they had found about 3,000 pictures of nude or semi-nude women on Mr Kazaryan's computer.
Some of the images had been taken from online accounts, while others had been captured by Mr Kazaryan himself on Skype, they alleged.
"When the victims discovered that they were not speaking with their friends, Kazaryan often extorted them again, using the photos he had fraudulently obtained to again coerce the victims to remove their clothing on camera," the statement said.
The FBI said on some occasions Mr Kazaryan had gone through with his threat to publish the sensitive images.
He now faces 30 charges - 15 counts of computer intrusion, and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft.
The FBI described the alleged blackmail as "sextortion".
Shower trick In recent years, hackers have concocted ever more devious ways to coerce victims, or to spy on them unawares.
Writing in the Naked Security blog, Sophos researcher Graham Cluley recounted prior incidents.
In 2011, a Southern Californian man was sentenced to six years in prison for hacking into more than 100 computers - often posing as targets' boyfriends in order to obtain pictures.
Luis Mijangos, 32, said: "To all the victims I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm ready to do the right thing and stay out of trouble."
In July last year, Trevor Harwell, 21, was given a year-long jail sentence for setting up a ruse in which he convinced women that they needed to "steam" their webcams in order to fix a fault.
The easiest way to do this, Mr Harwell's "error" message explained, was by setting up the webcam near a shower.

Hacker blackmailed 350 women into stripping on their webcams, FBI says

The FBI has arrested a 27-year-old man, who they claim hacked the accounts of Facebook users, and coerced hundreds of women into stripping while he watched via Skype.
Karen "Gary" Kazaryan, of Glendale, California, was arrested yesterday on federal computer hacking charges.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Kazaryan is alleged to have broken into victims' email and Facebook accounts, changed their passwords, and searched for naked and semi-naked photographs.
Additionally, Kazaryan is said to have scooped up other information about his victims, including their passwords, names of their friends, and other personal details.
Posing as a woman, Kazaryan would allegedly trick other potential victims into believing they were talking to one of their female friends, and persuade them to remove their clothing in front of their webcam.
Kazaryan allegedly threatened to post nude photos of some of his victims on their Facebook pages if they refused to comply with his demands.
The FBI says that it has seized approximately 3,000 compromising photos from Kazaryan's computer, and believes more than 350 women may have suffered from what the FBI has described as "sextortion".
If convicted of all counts, Kazaryan could face up to 105 years in federal prison.
The FBI is urging all women who believe they might be a victim to contact the Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565.
How hackers use webcams to get their sexual kicks
Over the years, we've heard plenty of stories of hackers who have use webcams to spy on young women, and blackmail them into stripping or performing sexual acts.
For instance, in early 2005, Spanish authorities fined a student who captured movie footage from unsuspecting users, and arrested a 37-year-old man who spied on victims via a webcam while stealing banking information.
The following year, Adrian Ringland, from the English town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was sentenced to jail for ten years after admitting posing as a minor on internet chatrooms and using spyware to take explicit photographs via children's webcams.
And in 2008, a 27-year-old Canadian man was charged with using spyware to take over the webcams of women as young as 14 and coercing them into posing naked for him.
In 2011, a man from Southern California who hacked into over 100 computers, and used personal information stolen from them to extort sexually explicit videos of young women and teenage girls, was sentenced to six years in prison.
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising incident I have heard of, however, is the case of the man who is alleged to have displayed error messages on his potential victims' laptop screens, tricking them into taking their webcams into the shower with them.
With many home users keeping poorly-defended PCs in their bedroom, there is clearly considerable potential for abuse - particularly amongst the young.
The message is simple: keep your PC protected against the latest threats with anti-malware software, security patches and firewalls, and if in any doubt unplug your webcam when you're not using it.
PS. The good news is that sometimes webcam spying can backfire on the hackers.
In 2012, the Georgian government claimed it had linked an internet attack against its computers back to Russia's security services.
More than that, however, the Georgian government's CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) turned the tables on a hacker they believed was involved in the attack, by secretly taking over his computer and taking video footage of him.
Maybe it would be a good idea if we all took more notice when the little green bulb on our webcam lights up..