United States of America
Vs.
Jeffrey Lee Parson
United States of America, Plaintiff vs Jeffrey Lee Parsons, Defendant.
With the help of the Cyber Squad in the Seattle Division of the FBI, United States Secret Service and victim, Microsoft Corporation, a complaint was filed on August 28, 2003. According to the plaintiff, this individual intentionally caused and attempted to cause damage to a protected computer. Using the Homeland Security Act and the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, the complaint was filed under the U.S.C. Title 18, Sections 1030(a)(5)(A)(i), 1030(a)(5)(B)(i), 1030(b), and 1030(c)(4)(A), and Section 2.
On August 12, 2003, a computer worm was released called MSBlaster.B, which was distributed through two files “teekids.exe” ( which included code that directs compromised computers to attack the Microsoft domain name www.windowsupdate.com and a backdoor file “Lithium” ( which allows a way into a password protected system without use of a password and remote control a system). The worm itself targeted mostly Windows 2000 & Windows XP systems. If Windows NT or Windows 2003 servers do not have the appropriate patches, they too may be vulnerable. The function of the worm is to exploit the DCOM RPC vulnerability.
All information obtained about an IP address from where authorities suspected the worm had came from led them to obtain a search warrant on a individual on August 19, 2003. On that day, FBI and USSS Special Agents seized seven computers throughout the household. The individual in question, Jeffrey Lee Parson, admitted to agents that he modified the Blaster worm and creating a variety of them including one named, W32/Lovesan.worm.b. Within the worm he placed code that would direct computers to his personal website, www.t33kid.com, so he could maintain a list of compromised computers.
According to authorities, with the use of the worm and it’s code named “teekids.exe”, he was able to infect at least seven thousand computers upon releasing it to the internet. Using the “Lithium” file within the worm, he accessed the infected computers. He used those computers to launch and even larger attack called a DDos Attack (a target computer is inundated with requests from a overwhelming number of sources causing a computer to be overwhelmed and shut down). After he gained control, those seven thousand computers were used to launch the attack that contacted approximately 41,000 computers. Those were instructed to do an attack on the Microsoft web site. Federal investigators have estimated the cost of destruction to be around $1.
In the United States, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including FBI, Department of Homeland Security, among others, have taken on roles to fight computer crimes and terrorism. The roles and responses of these law enforcement agencies concerning digital crime have created challenges that limit enforcement efforts against digital crime.
The malware propagated mainly through the use of email attachments. The attackers utilized social engineering by posing as legitimate business partners or touting security updates. Once the employees opened the email’s attachment their computer would be infected. After a computer became infected, the attacker had the ability to perform a wide range of actions. Poison Ivy utilizes a client/server architecture that turns the infected machines into “servers” that the attackers can access from anywhere there is an Internet connection (Prince). Investigations by Symantec and law enforcement identified that the attacker’s actions were different in each case. In addition to having the ability to browse, copy, and upload documents from an infected computer the att...
...ons he was charged millions of dollars and up to 35 years in prison. It is my belief that the Computer and Abuse act is too broad and outdated to properly address the criminal sanctions of ever evolving technological advancements. Additionally in light of the presence political hactivists groups like Anonymous, any misuse of justice requires established oversight. It is a sad day when the government loses sight of justice and has to be reminded by politically motivated hackers.
Having first appeared in Russia in 2005, referred as Winlock, that successfully scammed over £10m from unsuspecting victims before the Russian authorities arrested 10 individuals for involvement in such hackings in 2010, however it hasn’t stop the growing number of the problem. With such profitable money to obtain, perpetrators have discovered new ways to spread the malware and to cash-in at the expense of victims.
The use of computers in homes, schools, offices, and other places has increased in the past few years due to technological developments. As computers have become important components of modern communication, their increased use has also led to the emergence of computer crimes. Computer crimes basically involve the use of a computer system to carry out an illegal activity. In attempts to lessen the frequency and impact of computer crimes, law enforcement agencies use computer forensic to investigate these offenses. Actually, computer crimes are governed by specific laws and dealt with through conducting a computer forensic investigation (Easttom & Taylor, 2011, p.337). Notably, a computer forensic investigation is usually carried out through the use of computer forensic tools, which help in collection of evidence based on the specific offense.
In The Hacker Wars documentary, the author Vivien Lesnik Weisman introduced Andrew Auernheimer, also known as “Wee. People in this documentary described as the Internet troll because he will do anything to troll people who are using the Internet. Andrew Auernheimer hacked AT&T server and revealed the weakness in its security structure of AT&T server. He was sentenced three and half years in prison by broke into AT&T website and stole more than 100,000 of iPad users’ data. He explained that he added one number to the end of AT&T’s web server URL and it exploded the login information of the iPad’s users.
This leak can potentially be bad for Microsoft because the hacking tools leak are aimed towards Microsoft Operating Systems such as Windows Xp, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Vista. Therefore, novice hackers will have the knowledge and the ability to compromise Windows based computer systems. After finding out about the leak, Microsoft responded saying “will take the necessary actions to protect our customers”. The following events are slowly diminishing the integrity and dignity of the
Black hat hackers majorly damage computer users and large organizations by exploiting sensitive data, shutdown of servers and modifying data in websites and network.
Technology (software, hardware): Although the Storm Worm is widespread, it's not the most difficult virus to detect or remove from a computer system. If you keep your antivirus software up to date and ensure it scans each computer automatically, you can minimize the impact of this virus.
over $10 million to his own accounts. A 16 year old English hacker penetrated a highly sensitive military research facility in Rome, New York. Just last year hackers shut down several 911 systems in Florida (Smith). So not only are they costing us money but they're also putting people's lives in danger.
There are different types of computer crimes that many people become victims of every day. Computer crime is any crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target ("Computer Crime: Chapter 2: What Are the Crimes? ", n.d.) - " Crimes such as data diddling, pump and dump, social engineering and spoofing are computer crimes. Even though these crimes are difficult due to privacy issues, the new technology has made investigations and prosecutions well organized and effective.
Every day, citizens are constantly losing money and being victimized due to these fraudulent activities. Cyber crime, including fraud, identity theft, stalking, and hacking, is a growing problem that can be prevented by taking the proper precautions. The biggest cases of cyber crimes are cases of fraud. Online fraud comes in many forms. It ranges from viruses that attack computers with the goal of retrieving personal information, to email schemes that lure victims into wiring money to fraudulent sources” (What is “online fraud”).
The threats to security from the United States Department of Defense, the national power grid and the Chamber of Commerce are very real and omnipresent. The Defense Department made an admission of the first major cyber attack upon its systems in August 2010. It was revealed that the attack actually took place in 2008 and was accomplished by placing a malicious code into the flash drive of a U.S. military laptop. “The code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital breachhead.” (2) This quote, attributed to then Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, is just part of the shocking revelations that were disclosed in his speech made on July 14, 2011.
There are different groups, from law enforcement agencies to the U.S. Secret Service, that are attempting to combat the problem through cooperation and preemptive efforts. If these groups combined with the public to protect themselves and the country from criminals that commit cybercrime, the nation’s network and technology servers would be much safer for technology users. Clearly, cybercrime is a problem because it puts internet users at risk of being taken advantage of or harmed. The advantages of technology and the internet have led more criminals to use cyberspace to commit crimes. The threat of cybercrime is increasing as globalization continues to spread across the world.
Computer crime or Cyber Crime is defined as any type of crime that involves or regards a computer or computer network. Cyber Crime mainly means that the computer may be used as a tool in the commission of the crime or the computer may be the main target of the criminal’s crime. The rapid growth of technology and gadgets as well as the further de...