Tag: legal
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Help for victims of e-crime
Cybercrime support website launched. A website dedicated to helping victims of online crime and other incidents has been launched in the UK. The site, www.e-victims.org , aims to provide information and support for those who have been victims of online crime. Initially the site offers information about online shopping – providing details of consumer rights…
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Guidelines issued for UK hacker tool ban
Government issues guidelines in response to lobbying. The British government has published a set of guidelines for the application of a law that makes it illegal to create or distribute ‘articles for use in computer offences’. The piece of legislation in question was among several amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 that were introduced…
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US botnet master confesses to crimes
Security consultant to plead guilty, could face heavy sentence. A Los Angeles man has agreed to plead guilty to several counts of fraud and unauthorised interfering with computer systems, having built a botnet comprising up to 250,000 machines, installing adware and using harvested data to defraud money from bank accounts, both directly and via PayPal…
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E-crime unit to get government funding?
UK government responds to House of Lords call for better policing of the Internet. The UK government has indicated that it may set up a new national police unit dedicated to tackling computer crime. The hint comes as part of the government’s response to a report issued earlier this year by the Science and Technology…
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FTC demands more power against spyware
Prosecutions and fines needed to deter badware makers. Representatives of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the consumer protection body which has seen some success in the past in bringing spammers to justice, have called for greater powers to bring down makers of malicious spyware. At a spyware forum in Washington, D.C. earlier this week,…
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Spyware maker Direct Revenue closes doors
Notorious company forced out of business by legal actions. After numerous lawsuits and fines, adware and spyware maker Direct Revenue is no more. The firm behind a swathe of intrusive and malicious software products has ceased trading thanks to cases brought by New York State and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenging its devious…
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Bulletproof hosting firm claims legitimacy
Crime-laden Russian service threatens to sue detractors. A notorious Russian firm offering ‘bulletproof hosting’ – website hosting services with a guarantee that sites will not be taken down if found to be serving up illegal content, spam, malware, phishing sites etc. – has claimed in a media interview that its services are entirely genuine and…
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Five to six years for $1 million porn spammers
Strong sentences for CAN-SPAM breaches, money laundering. Two US men found guilty in June of breaching the terms of the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act, as well as numerous other charges including money laundering and witness tampering, have been sentenced to spend over five years in jail for their crimes. They are the first to be convicted…
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Fujacks/Panda virus authors sentenced, offered job
Fujacks author put away for four years. Four men who were charged last month with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm (a.k.a. the ‘Panda burning joss-sticks’ virus) have been sentenced in a Chinese court, with the self-confessed author of the virus being sent to prison for four years. But 25-year-old lead programmer…
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Microsoft files further adware patent
User behaviour monitors could be used to target ads. Following a patent application disclosed some months ago , details have been released of another adware scheme patented by Microsoft . This time, the idea is to monitor the behaviour of users to deduce the kinds of advertising that would be most effective at any given…