Cover, Featured
–
With the advent of the internet technology, the world has become a global village whereby people from other parts of the world interact freely in a matter of seconds, but its negative usage has turned the internet into an albatross
| By Olu Ojewale | Apr. 22, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT
CHANCES are that you have never heard about him. Kevin Mitnick is not a famous actor, a pop idol or even a football star. Mitnick, 49, got his fame as a notorious cyber criminal who delighted in breaking into hundreds of big corporate organisations such as Apple Computer, Motorola, universities and personal computers on the internet. Mitnick started his notoriety at 16 when he first gained an unauthorised access to the computer network of Digital Equipment Corporation and copied its software in 1979. From that crime, he was charged and convicted in 1988. He spent 12 months in jail and during his three years of supervised release, he hacked into Pacific Bell voice mail computers. Following a warrant for his arrest, Mitnick fled from the law and became a fugitive for two and a half years. During his time on the run, he gained access to many computer networks, including that of the FBI. Angered by the audacity, the bureau got help from a Japanese computer expert to trace him and arrest him in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 15, 1995. Found in his possession, were more than 100 cloned cellular phone codes, and many fake identities.
His 15 years of cybercrimes eventually caught up with him. He spent about five years in prison between 1995 and 2000, eight months of it in solitary confinement. Mitnick said it was because the law enforcement officials were able to convince the trial judge that he had the ability to “start a nuclear war by whistling into a pay phone” that he was put in a solitary confinement. Reformed, Mitnick is now chief executive officer of Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, a computer security consultancy. He consults for both governments and private concerns.
There are many Mitnicks now roaming the earth looking for fun, causing havocs and blackmailing people and organisation through cybercrimes. Two years ago, a 15-year-old boy, who called himself Comrade, got on the internet, and before anyone could realise what was going on, he had got access into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, files, causing the organisation a three-week shutdown. From the files, he stole government e-mail passwords, intercepted more than 3000 emails and downloaded about $2 million worth of software which was being used to operate the international space station. The US government spent about $41,000 to repair the damages he had done to the agency’s computers. Before he was caught, ‘Comrade’ had also twice gained access to the computers used by the Pentagon to monitor threats of nuclear and biological warfare.
As the dust on Comrade’s exploit was settling, another 15-year-old boy was arrested by Austrian police on allegation of hacking into 259 companies between January and March last year. In the three-month operation, the boy confessed to Austria’s Federal Criminal Police Office, that he had stolen and published data from the 259 firms he invaded, and also defaced many company websites.
But hacking into security computers is not only for fun. It is similarly used by super powers to cripple some things that they don’t want their opponents to get. India and Pakistan are known to been attacking themselves this way. According to reports, the two countries take delight in sending computer worms to destroy sensitive files of each other. The attacks from the two nations have become common place that it is now accepted as part of the way of settling scores.
China and the United States have similarly, through the sending of malwares, crippled some programmes being developed by each other to prevent their use. They also hack into their computers to spy on each other. A good number of the US corporate organisations announced recently that a group of hackers based in China had hacked into their systems to steal information and monitor their activities.
In January, The New York Times claimed that its computer systems were infiltrated and attacked by Chinese hackers. The attackers allegedly stole the corporate password for every employee of the newspaper, while the personal computers of 53 of them were also broken into and spied on. The Times offence was that it was doing a story on the family wealth of Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister. The story was published in October, last year. Once the story was out, the hackers intensified their activity to trace the sources that the reporter used for his report
In February, Microsoft disclosed that it recently fell victim to the same type of cyberattack that targeted Apple and Facebook. “During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organisations,” the company said on Friday, February 22. The company, however, said that there was no evidence of its customers’ data being affected by the attacks. “This type of cyberattack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries,” it said further.
Computer security experts estimated that more than one thousand companies were attacked recently. In 2011, security researchers at McAfee reported that it had discovered a vast online espionage campaign, called Operation Shady Rat. More than 70 organisations were then discovered to have been hit by the bug over a five-year period, many in the US. Such malicious and insidious attacks, no doubt, threaten security and cost companies and organisations billions of dollars. A Fortune magazine survey of 1000 companies in 1999, reported that the US companies lost an estimated $4 billion in information theft.
Some malicious hackers are similarly reported to be using information from companies and individuals to blackmail and extort money. For instance, in Sweden, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old tried to extort $2 million from a telephone company to destroy information they had illegally. According to experts, internet extortionists usually hide under the umbrella of the net, which makes it especially difficult for security agencies to trace them. Hence, a good number of companies all over the world are now being made to pay ransom. Ebongabasi Ekpe-Juda, a Nigerian security expert, told Realnews that he was sure that a good number of companies in Nigeria, especially banks must have also been forced into paying ransom.
Ekpe-Juda said cybercrime is the new method of engaging in warfare or dealing with perceived enemies around the globe. “Cybercrime is a new face of warfare today in the world because less blood is spilled,” he said. A case in point, Ekpe-Juda said, was a virus called Stuxnet which was sent to the Iranian nuclear plant that was about to be commissioned in 2010. The worm heated up the system forcing the country to shut down the launching immediately. (See Cover Box)
According to him, there are different types of hackers. “There are those who do it for the fun of it; for instance children,” Ekpe-Juda said, narrating how a 17-year-old Canadian school boy who sent a DDOS virus called mafiaboy, to CMM, Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay last year. The attack disabled the companies’ sites for five days, and resulting in more than $1 billion in damages. But when asked why he did that, the boy said he just wanted to see whether it could be done. Similarly, the 15-year-old Austrian who invaded 259 firms complained of boredom. Reports say, security officers in the US are on the trail of some persons who hired and paid youngsters as much as $1,000 each to help them break into computers to get access to their confidential documents.
Looking for such an excitement does not preclude Nigerian youngsters. According to sources, a group of Nigerian hackers take pride in breaking into the facilities of some of the nation’s telecommunication GSM providers. The group, Realnews learnt, share information on how they can use the services of the operators for free. “What the hackers do is to hack into the IP address so that they can browse free. There is a forum where these hackers discuss and pass information around on the IP that is opened for exploitation, and each time the service provider blocks the opening, they look for another method of hacking into the system,” a self-confessed former hacker told Realnews.
A story was told of another Nigerian who adventurously tried to navigate the FBI website. During the exploit, he got to a point he was warned that he should not try to go further. Apparently, he ignored the warning. But the excitement took the better part of him. That was his undoing. Suddenly his laptop stopped working and then it went blank. Since then, he has not been able to fix the system. He now keeps the carcass of the laptop as a reminder of his misadventure.
Ekpe-Juda said that millions of viruses are developed everyday to attack various computers across the globe. He said a study has shown that there are more than 360 million viruses in circulation around the world.
Hacking is not just a means of settling scores as being used by big countries such China, the US, India, Pakistan and others, it is another potent weapon to embarrass foes. A report said that some hackers broke into the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA’s, website and changed its name to Central Stupidity Agency and wrote many obscenities on the site just to embarrass the agency. Mercifully, there was no report that any of the agency’s files was accessed.
Recently, Israel also suffered cyberattacks on its government websites. The attackers were sympathetic to Palestinian issues. But Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, a spokesman of the government’s National Cyber Bureau, said there was no serious damage on key sites. “So far, it is as was expected; there is hardly any real damage,” Ben Yisrael said.
Julian Assange, the Australian former world famous hacker and founder of WikiLeaks, internet vigilante, is ironically still holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault. Assange had enraged the US government after WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic cables, revealing sometimes embarrassing information and behind-the-scene dealings of diplomacy, which the US government called a major security breach.
In an interview with Realnews, Akin Sowunmi, chief technical officer of CWorkx.com, based in London, United Kingdom, said: “Hacking on personal, business, government computers/network and infrastructure is a global problem. Not only are hackers getting more sophisticated with their malicious software, it is becoming a deeper problem for us all with the advent of government and large organisations such as banks having sensitive data on the cloud (The Internet).” Sadly, he said, no individual, government or organisation is immune or safe from the threats of hackers. “Everyone is at risk as the internet evolves with new technological advancements. It’s going to become much more sophisticated. It is also going to be extremely important to prevent hackers from being able to access our data. Our advice is to always ensure that you keep your software updates current and always install the most effective anti-virus, anti-malware and firewall applications on your computer/network infrastructure,” Sowunmi said. Ekpe-Juda holds a similar view. He told Realnews: “Nobody is safe. The only way to get protected is to have knowledge of it.” He also advised that those who have computers to use antivirus on them and update everyday they go on net.
Apparently that would not stop those who are bent on using the internet to further their malicious intentions like Mitnick to desist from exploring other options. But experts say, it would mitigate the damage that would have resulted in such attacks.
Tags:
It is unfortunate that the hackers have honest people protecting them, providing for them and promoting them. They use the infrastructure in the society to achieve their purposes. People are paid to maintain these facilities. They know the bad eggs in the society. The press men even celebrate them. You can see why only the USA can win the war against hackers. They are double dealers too. God bless you. Amen!