Busted

Fly the friendly skies.

Pythias Brown, 48, of Maplewood, New Jersey, regularly sold the high-priced video cameras, laptop computers, and global positioning systems on eBay using the handle “alirla”, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Newark. Brown told investigators he began stealing the items in September 2007 while screening luggage at Newark Liberty International Airport.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/tsa_screener_theft/

It’s not the first time baggage screeners/handlers have been busted for stealing from passengers.

New York Times. August 12, 2004.
4 Baggage Screeners Arrested; TV Stars Were Among Victims

[PDF] Press Release December 7, 2007.
Jacksonville Airport Baggage Screener and Three Baggage Handlers Arrested for Thefts

Jan. 21, 2003.

With the signing of the act, airport security came under direct federal responsibility for the first time in airline history. Strict new requirements have been adopted to screen checked baggage. At airports, a new security force of federally-employed managers, supervisors, law enforcement officers and screeners is posted to check passengers and carry-on bags. TSA hired 23,000 baggage screeners and 33,000 passenger screeners to help shoulder the load.

http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/tsa-pr.cfm

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A U.S. district court has ordered a halt to the operations of a vast international spam network that peddled prescription drugs and bogus male-enhancement products. The network has been identified as the largest “spam gang” in the world by the anti-spam organization Spamhaus. The Federal Trade Commission has received more than three million complaints about spam messages connected to this operation, and estimates that it may be responsible for sending billions of illegal spam messages. At the request of the FTC, the court has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting defendants from spamming and making false product claims, and has frozen the defendants’ assets to preserve them for consumer redress pending trial. Authorities in New Zealand also have taken legal action, working in tandem with the FTC.

According to papers filed with the court, the defendants deceptively marketed a variety of products through spam messages, including a male-enhancement pill, prescription drugs, and a weight-loss pill.

The defendants include two individuals – Lance Atkinson, a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, and Jody Smith of Texas – and four companies they control: Inet Ventures Pty Ltd., Tango Pay Inc., Click Fusion Inc., and TwoBucks Trading Limited. The FTC’s complaint alleges that both Atkinson and Smith are liable for the spamming. It holds Lance Atkinson responsible for all product claims, and Smith liable for claims made for the pharmaceutical products. In June 2005, the FTC obtained a $2.2 million judgment against Atkinson and another business partner for running a similar spam affiliate program that marketed herbal products.

News Release: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/herbalkings.shtm

Civil Action No. 08-CV-5666
FTC File No. 072 3085

Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0723085/081014atkinsoncmpt.pdf

Memorandum Supporting Plaintiff’s ex parte Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order with Asset Freeze, Other Equitable Relief, and Order to Show Cause Why a Preliminary Injunction Should not Issue
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0723085/081014atkinsonmemo.pdf
Interesting read. Snippet:

SanCa$hSupport i guess so… they’ll never find you
sancashl well they bought me up, but nothing linked to me, most i do is provide services for spammers

O what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.
(Sir Walter Scott. Marmion, Canto VI, Stanza 17)

Temporary Restraining Order with Asset Freeze, Other Equitable Relief, and Order to Show Cause Why a Preliminary Injunction Should not Issue
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0723085/081014atkinsontro.pdf

Certifiedbug: March 30, 2007.
Fake pharmaceuticals on-line, buyer beware

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United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced Tuesday that Gregory King, 21, a California resident once known as “‘Silenz” “sZ” “Gregk707″ and “GregK” was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $69,000 in restitution following a guilty plea to two counts of transmitting code to cause damage to a protected computer.

The Reporter.
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_10677450

King used a botnet to conduct distributed-denial-of-service (Ddos) attacks against two Web sites. KillaNet Technologies, a British Columbia-based website for high school students preparing for careers in online media, and Castlecops security forums.

The Register, 4th October 2007.
Portrait of an (alleged) cyber bully as a young man

Certifiedbug, November 30, 2007.
FBI: Botnet Crack Down (again) in Operation Bot Roast II

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Antivirus XP 2008, a known rogue anti spyware program, was digitally signed by Globalsign.

Alerted by The Register on Friday, GlobalSign revoked the certificate, pending an investigation.

They may have moved swiftly to remove the cert after being alerted, however the question still begs as to why GlobalSign gave Antivirus XP 2008 a certificate in the first place. Google is your friend.

Hat tip to Alex Eckelberry at The Sunbelt Blog who had emailed GlobalSign on or before Thursday, August 14th.

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My last post on this item was May 31, 2007, the month Soloway was arrested. Several months later, after pleading guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges, Soloway is due to be sentenced 20 June, 2008.

The notorious spammer has previously been found guilty of sending spam in several civil cases, Microsoft won a $7.8m judgement against him back in 2005, but he’s always avoided paying fines.

According to his lawyers, the only assets are a collection of two dozens pairs of expensive sunglasses valued at more than $3,700, 27 pairs of shoes, and clothing worth about $14,200.

Seattle Times

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Adult Website Operation Settles FTC Charges Unwitting Consumers Exposed to X-Rated Spam

An X-rated Web operation that paid affiliates who used illegal e-mail to drive customers to its Web sites will pay a $413,000 civil penalty under a settlement reached with the FTC and the Department of Justice. The settlement also bars the illegal marketing practices in the future and requires the operator to monitor its affiliates to ensure that they are complying with the law.

FTC Press Release

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Quebec provincial police conducted raids on Wednesday, breaking up a hacking ring said to be responsible for an estimated CDN$45 million in damage to computer systems. Police did not release names of the accused who range in age from 17 to 26 years old. Three are minors.

In a videotaped press conference posted to the police agency’s Web site, Capt. Frederick Gaudreau, of the Surete du Quebec, said the hackers installed remote-controlled botnet software on victims’ machines in order to run phishing and spamming operations. The botnet is believed to contain up to one million zombie PCs, spanning 100 countries around the globe.

If convicted of computer hacking charges, the accused could face 10 years in prison, Gaudreau said.

Police confiscated computer equipment during the raids, and information found on the machines may lead to more charges against other alleged ring members.

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Paperghost continues zapping phishing script kiddie sites, serious business but quite a funny saga when carried out batman style.

This time he enrolled a mom’s support with hilarious results.
How to give a wannabe hacker a very bad day

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One of my favourite bloggers is Paperghost, aka Christopher Boyd, security researcher and malware basher.

After reading his latest entry at Vitalsecurity I thought I’d share this link.

Rise Up With Fists, Strike Down With Vengeance

For the past week or so, I’ve been following a bunch of supposedly uber-cool hackers getting their kicks from phishing, social engineering and fake hacking programs. They make money from their scummery and make no attempts to hide their identities. Their ages ranged from 11 to 13 years old.

PG has such a way with words, it’s a funny read.

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