:creepy: your rl can be traced by cyber data

[strollingbones]

A search for Collis on Creepy turned up nearly 100 hits, showing she has a clear predisposition for the Georgetown and Dupont Circle neighborhoods. In fact, it's easy to tell that she's often near M Street, Georgetown's retail area, or Connecticut Avenue, the main drag through Dupont. I sent her screen shots of these findings, and some examples that were even more specific. Like this: At 8 p.m. on Feb. 4 she told followers she was at Whole Foods in the Glover Park neighborhood, and that "Some dude was just kicked out for sneaking a beer in the seating area."

Just how creepy is 'Creepy'? A test-drive - The Red Tape Chronicles - msnbc.com

a new tool for stalkers?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Didn't read. But the chick in the article is hot!

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - big cyberthreat pow-wow on Washin'ton Hill...

Lawmakers Concerned About Cyber Threats to Critical US Infrastructure
March 13, 2013 — The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee has expressed concern about the threat of cyber attacks from China, Iran and other countries. He spoke at a Wednesday committee hearing as President Barack Obama met with corporate leaders to discuss the issue.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul compared the threat from cyber attacks to the terrorist threat the United States faced on September 11, 2001, but he said this time the U.S. is aware of the threat and is taking steps to counter it. "We know that foreign nations are conducting reconnaissance on our utilities - they are penetrating our gas and water systems and also our energy grids - and if the ability to send a silent attack through our digital networks falls into our enemies’ hands, this country could be the victim of a devastating attack," McCaul said. "Yet, while threats are imminent, no major cyber security legislation has been enacted since 2002."

Several lawmakers at the hearing expressed concern about recent reports that the majority of cyber attacks against the United States are emanating from China. Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Jane Lute said the Obama administration considers the attacks extraordinarily significant. "We have raised this issue of the attacks that are emanating from actors in China, with Chinese authorities. We have called on them to acknowledge it, take it seriously, understand it, to investigate it and stop it, and to work with us in creating broad norms of responsible cyber behavior," Lute said. In an ABC News interview Tuesday, President Obama said there has been a steady ramping up of the threat to cyber security from other nations and from criminals. He said the United States already has engaged in some "tough talk" with China and other countries.

China says it is a victim, not perpetrator

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Tuesday said Beijing is open to talks, but insisted that China is a victim, and not a perpetrator of computer crimes. President Obama signed an executive order a month ago directing U.S. agencies to improve information sharing on cyber threats, but such orders do not carry the weight of law.

A Senate bill on cyber security last year failed to get enough votes to pass and was opposed by some business groups and some privacy rights advocates. A new cyber security bill has been introduced in the House, but has not been brought to the floor yet. At a Senate hearing Tuesday, the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers America's biggest national security threat could come now from a computer keyboard instead of a terrorist bomb.

Source

See also:

President to host CEOs in Situation Room for cyber security chat
March 13th, 2013 - President Obama has invited a handful of CEOs to the White House Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss the growing threats posed by cyberattacks.

Administration officials are so far staying tight-lipped about who is attending the closed-door meeting, but one White House official tried to downplay the choice of convening it in the Situation Room, which is ordinarily reserved for high-ranking members of the president's national security team. Instead, the White House official said, the Situation Room is the only conference room available Wednesday to accommodate the meeting. The president is expected to discuss his administration's latest steps to beef up cybersecurity, including a recently signed executive order designed to improve intelligence sharing between the government and the private sector over potential cyber vulnerabilities, particularly those posed by Chinese hackers.

Among the CEOs invited are the leaders of AT&T, Honeywell and Northrop Grumman, the White House said Wednesday. In an interview that aired Wednesday morning, Obama downplayed recent comments from Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who said the United States was in a cyber "war" with China. "There's a big difference between them engaging in cyberespionage or cyberattacks and, obviously, a hot war. What is absolutely true is that we have seen a steady ramping up of cybersecurity threats. Some are state sponsored. Some are just sponsored by criminals," Obama said in the interview with ABC News. "Industrial secrets are stolen. Our companies are put into competitive disadvantage. You know, there are disruptions to our systems that, you know, involve everything from our financial systems to some of our infrastructure," he added. "And this is why I've taken some very aggressive executive actions."

Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he believes cyberattacks pose more of a threat to the United States than a land-based attack by a terrorist group. "Attacks, which might involve cyber and financial weapons, can be deniable and unattributable," he said. "Destruction can be invisible, latent and progressive." Meanwhile, in a speech before the Asia Society on Monday, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said cyberattacks are now the No. 1 U.S. issue with the Chinese government. "Beijing should take serious steps to investigate and put a stop to these activities," he said, adding that "we need China to engage with us in a constructive, direct dialogue to establish acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace."

Wednesday's meeting also comes a month after Attorney General Eric Holder unveiled a 150-page report on cybersecurity that included new pledges by the Justice Department and FBI to crack down on hacking. The report also shared how corporations vulnerable to attacks can strengthen their own security and included a proposal to better coordinate efforts with U.S. allies to prosecute foreign hackers.

Source

 

[waltky]

Cyber-extortion network broken...

Interpol, Philippines bust cyber extortion network
May 2,`14 -- Philippine police, backed by Interpol, have arrested dozens of suspected members of an online extortion syndicate who duped hundreds of victims worldwide into exposing themselves in front of webcams, including a Scottish teenager who committed suicide after being blackmailed, officials said Friday.

At least 58 Filipino suspects in the capital, Manila, and other cities were arrested recently after investigators from Interpol, the U.S. Homeland Security Department and other police agencies traced online chats from some of the victims' computers, said Philippine National Police chief Allan Purisima. Purisima said the syndicate would secretly record the victims after tricking them into exposing their bodies or having cybersex, and later threaten to send the video to their relatives and friends unless they paid, usually from $500 to $2,000. He said members of the "sextortion" group would create fake Facebook accounts of fictitious young and attractive women and entice and lure victims with pornographic materials after striking up online chats with them.

Hong Kong police Inspector Louis Kwan Chung-yin said more than 470 people from Hong Kong were victimized last year and about 160 so far this year. In one case, a victim paid the equivalent of $15,000, he said, adding that the victims were of various ages. Sanjay Virmani, director the Interpol Digital Crime Center based in Singapore, said the victims were from the Asia, Europe and the United States. He said that the extortionist had been tracked down using evidence from computers and intelligence information from police.

Warning those still engaged in cyber extortion in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, Virmani said: "You better be prepared for the consequences of your actions because as you can see we have made a commitment to work together. You will be caught and you will be held accountable for your actions." Scotland's police officer Gary Cunningham said he was representing the 17-year-old boy's family in tracking down those responsible for leading for his death last year. He said the family was "extremely supportive ... in bringing to justice to individuals out there who have fallen victims to these crimes."

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, chief of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group, said he could not specify the amounts extorted from the victims but said they ran into millions of pesos, or tens of thousands of dollars. "This is not an issue directly involving the Philippines exclusively," British Ambassador to Manila Asif Ahmad said. "Cybercrime is international, and is an international problem, it respects no nationality or borders. We are all potential victims of cybercrime, none of us are immune."

AP Newswire | Stars and Stripes