Victims build app tackling cyber bullying

Sammy Riley with students Amy and Sarah test the Bullydown app. Picture: CALUM ROBERTSON Source: adelaidenow

TEENAGE victims of cyber bullying in the northern suburbs are fighting back with a smartphone application they have developed to link children to the help they need.

Co-developer Corey, 17, said his motivation to get involved stemmed from realising that cyber bullying is serious after being bullied himself.

"It might be a really blunt comment but cyber bullying is killing people," he said.

"Bullying doesn't end at 3.30pm like high school.

"I have gotten messages saying `I'm getting bashed' and `I have been told to kill myself'."

Corey is part of a group of about 20 young people from UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide's Fresh Connections alternative education program who have created the free app called Bullydown.

The app is launched today at 11am at Northern Sound System in Elizabeth. Bullydown project officer Sammy Riley said the app wouldn't solve the problem, but would start a conversation.

"We just try to promote good choices and then refer them on to other services," he said.

Sarah, 15, has lost two people to suicide because of bullying.

She said the app would help those who feel they have no options left.

For help, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.

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Cyber battle slows the web

A row between an anti-spam firm and a web-hosting company leads to the largest cyber attack ever recorded.

A massive cyberattack on anti-spam group Spamhaus may be affecting other internet users. Source: Supplied

CYBER CRIME cost Australian's $4.8 billion last year. A computer expert demonstrates just how easily you could become a victim, and what you can do to prevent it. VISION: Thomas Aldahn

THE world's biggest cyber attack is underway, with collateral damage spilling over to home users as major powers such as Google step in.

Internet spam filter Spamhaus, which 'black-lists' service providers suspected of offering refuge for spammers, is the target of the unprecedented attack. One expert warns that the side-effects of the electronic onslaught - 'the biggest attack in history' - was now affecting others across the internet.

If the Spamhaus service was to collapse, email users could expect an influx of email adverts in their inboxes for fake Viagra and bogus weight-loss pills.

The BBC reports major companies, such as Netflix, have been affected by the attack and that key players such as Google have now stepped in to help keep Spamhaus online.

Patrick Gilmore of Akamai Technologies said the attack was so large that online bystanders had been hit as well. Home users could experience slower internet or be subjected to unwanted emails.

In an interview, Spamhaus' Vincent Hanna said his site had been hit by a crushing wave of denial-of-service attacks and that it was "a small miracle that we're still online."

Denial-of-service attacks are where attackers target a particular website server with an overwhelming amount of traffic - like hundreds of letters being jammed through a mail slot at the same time.  However, there is often a spill-over effect where other key internet servers get 'clogged up'.

The attack's perpetrators had taken advantage of weaknesses in the Internet's infrastructure to trick thousands of servers into routing a torrent of junk traffic to Spamhaus every second.

This attack has involved traffic of up to 300 billion bits per second (300Gps). The previous largest attack was recorded at 100Gps, according to San Francisco-based CloudFlare Inc., which Spamhaus has enlisted to help it weather the attack.

"It was likely quite a bit more, but at some point measurement systems can't keep up,'' CloudFlare chief executive Matthew Prince wrote in an email.

Steve Linford, chief executive for Spamhaus, said the attack was large enough to take down government internet infrastructure.

"If you aimed this at Downing Street they would be down instantly," he said. "They would be completely off the internet."

Mr Hanna said his group had been weathering such attacks since mid-March.

Five different cyber-police-forces from around the world are responding to the attack. A Dutch web host recently blacklisted by Spamhaus is being investigated, as are Russian spam servers.

A man who identified himself as Sven Olaf Kamphuis said he was in touch with the attackers and described them as mainly consisting of disgruntled Russian Internet service providers who had found themselves on Spamhaus' blacklists. There was no immediate way to verify his claim.

He accused the watchdog of arbitrarily blocking content that it did not like. Spamhaus has widely used and constantly updated blacklists of sites that send spam.

"They abuse their position not to stop spam but to exercise censorship without a court order," Kamphuis said.

View the original article here

Cyber battle slows the web

A massive cyberattack on anti-spam group Spamhaus may be affecting other internet users. Source: Supplied

THE world's biggest cyber attack is underway,with collateral damage spilling over to home users as major powers such as Google step in.

Internet spam filter Spamhaus, which 'black-lists' service providers suspected of offering refuge for spammers is the target of the unprecedented attack. One expert warns that the side-effects of the electronic onslaught - 'the biggest attack in history' - was now affecting others across the internet.

If the service was to collapse, email users could expect an influx of email adverts in their inboxes for fake Viagra and bogus weight-loss pills.

The BBC reports major companies, such as Netflix, have been affected by the attack and that key players such as Google have now stepped in to help keep Spamhaus online.

Patrick Gilmore of Akamai Technologies said the attack was so large that online bystanders had been hit as well. Home users could experience slower internet or be subjected to unwanted emails.

In an interview, Spamhaus' Vincent Hanna said his site had been hit by a crushing wave of denial-of-service attacks and that it was "a small miracle that we're still online."

Denial-of-service attacks are where attackers target a particular website server with an overwhelming amount of traffic - like hundreds of letters being jammed through a mail slot at the same time.  However, there is often a spill-over effect where other key internet servers get 'clogged up'.

The attack's perpetrators had taken advantage of weaknesses in the Internet's infrastructure to trick thousands of servers into routing a torrent of junk traffic to Spamhaus every second.

This attack has involved traffic of up to 300 billion bits per second (300Gps). The previous largest attack was recorded at 100Gps, according to San Francisco-based CloudFlare Inc., which Spamhaus has enlisted to help it weather the attack.

"It was likely quite a bit more, but at some point measurement systems can't keep up,'' CloudFlare chief executive Matthew Prince wrote in an email.

Steve Linford, chief executive for Spamhaus, said the attack was large enough to take down government internet infrastructure.

"If you aimed this at Downing Street they would be down instantly," he said. "They would be completely off the internet."

Mr Hanna said his group had been weathering such attacks since mid-March.

Five different cyber-police-forces from around the world are responding to the attack. A Dutch web host recently blacklisted by Spamhaus is being investigated, as are Russian spam servers.

A man who identified himself as Sven Olaf Kamphuis said he was in touch with the attackers and described them as mainly consisting of disgruntled Russian Internet service providers who had found themselves on Spamhaus' blacklists. There was no immediate way to verify his claim.

He accused the watchdog of arbitrarily blocking content that it did not like. Spamhaus has widely used and constantly updated blacklists of sites that send spam.

"They abuse their position not to stop spam but to exercise censorship without a court order," Kamphuis said.

View the original article here

UK hires spy to watch cyber hackers

Hackers beware, the British government has its eye on you.
Source: News Limited

A TOP spy has been hired by the UK's House of Commons to defend MPs from cyber-attacks amid fears that foreign agents have penetrated Parliament's computer system.

Paul Martin, a senior MI5 counter-intelligence expert, has been appointed to help repel 'cyberwarriors' working for the Russian and Chinese governments, who are trawling for secret data or compromising information to use against MPs in blackmail operations.

As a Royal Palace rather than a Government department, Parliament is regarded as a 'weak link' by the Security Services because it does not automatically receive the same level of computer protection enjoyed by Whitehall.

The problem has been compounded by MPs' widespread use of taxpayer-funded iPads, which operate on Westminster's wi-fi networks.

One source has even claimed that there was 'panic' in the Commons late last year after it was discovered that hackers linked to the Chinese government appeared to have broken into the system. The suggestion has since been denied by Westminster-based security officials.

Now Mr Martin, whose 25-year intelligence career began after he responded to a coded magazine advert, has been tasked with leading the fightback. As the new Parliamentary Security Director, he is expected to call in help from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, the world-leading communications intelligence agency based in Cheltenham, to strengthen MPs' cyber-defences.

Last night, a senior Commons source admitted that it was becoming increasingly difficult to 'hold the line' against the attacks. The source said: "The problem is that, on our own, we don't have the resources to keep up with the hackers, so we do need help from the agencies.

"The main threat is coming from groups paid by the Chinese and Russian governments to crack our systems. They devote a lot of time and resources to it, and they are stepping up their efforts."

The source added that MPs' increasing use of tablet computers and 'remote printing' – using wi-fi to send instructions to their offices in Westminster or their constituencies – had made the hackers' job easier.

"We are watching the hackers," the insider added. "We know where they are and what they are trying to do."

Last year, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of MI5, warned that an 'astonishing' level of cyber-attacks from both enemy states and criminals posed an escalating threat. Their techniques include placing "Trojan" software into terminals to replicate and transfer sensitive data, or intercepting wireless signals.

Russian agents working for the FSB, the successor agency to the KGB, have been linked to cyber-warfare assaults on Nato and other military institutions, while attacks on Western computer systems have also been traced to computer addresses linked to China's People's Liberation Army.

It has even been claimed the Chinese managed to hack into computers in the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Martin, 54, who started his career as a lecturer in behaviouralism at Cambridge University, joined MI5 aged 28. Within a week of spotting the coded advert in New Scientist magazine, he had received a 'brown envelope' inviting him to an interview. After 'fieldwork' in the Middle East, he rose swiftly through the ranks.

A Commons spokesman said: "Mr Martin took up post as Parliamentary Security Director on February 4. The Director is responsible for the strategy, planning and overall delivery of security across the Parliamentary Estate."
 

View the original article here

UK hires spy to watch cyber hackers

Hackers beware, the British government has its eye on you.
Source: News Limited

A TOP spy has been hired by the UK's House of Commons to defend MPs from cyber-attacks amid fears that foreign agents have penetrated Parliament's computer system.

Paul Martin, a senior MI5 counter-intelligence expert, has been appointed to help repel 'cyberwarriors' working for the Russian and Chinese governments, who are trawling for secret data or compromising information to use against MPs in blackmail operations.

As a Royal Palace rather than a Government department, Parliament is regarded as a 'weak link' by the Security Services because it does not automatically receive the same level of computer protection enjoyed by Whitehall.

The problem has been compounded by MPs' widespread use of taxpayer-funded iPads, which operate on Westminster's wi-fi networks.

One source has even claimed that there was 'panic' in the Commons late last year after it was discovered that hackers linked to the Chinese government appeared to have broken into the system. The suggestion has since been denied by Westminster-based security officials.

Now Mr Martin, whose 25-year intelligence career began after he responded to a coded magazine advert, has been tasked with leading the fightback. As the new Parliamentary Security Director, he is expected to call in help from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, the world-leading communications intelligence agency based in Cheltenham, to strengthen MPs' cyber-defences.

Last night, a senior Commons source admitted that it was becoming increasingly difficult to 'hold the line' against the attacks. The source said: "The problem is that, on our own, we don't have the resources to keep up with the hackers, so we do need help from the agencies.

"The main threat is coming from groups paid by the Chinese and Russian governments to crack our systems. They devote a lot of time and resources to it, and they are stepping up their efforts."

The source added that MPs' increasing use of tablet computers and 'remote printing' – using wi-fi to send instructions to their offices in Westminster or their constituencies – had made the hackers' job easier.

"We are watching the hackers," the insider added. "We know where they are and what they are trying to do."

Last year, Jonathan Evans, the Director General of MI5, warned that an 'astonishing' level of cyber-attacks from both enemy states and criminals posed an escalating threat. Their techniques include placing "Trojan" software into terminals to replicate and transfer sensitive data, or intercepting wireless signals.

Russian agents working for the FSB, the successor agency to the KGB, have been linked to cyber-warfare assaults on Nato and other military institutions, while attacks on Western computer systems have also been traced to computer addresses linked to China's People's Liberation Army.

It has even been claimed the Chinese managed to hack into computers in the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Martin, 54, who started his career as a lecturer in behaviouralism at Cambridge University, joined MI5 aged 28. Within a week of spotting the coded advert in New Scientist magazine, he had received a 'brown envelope' inviting him to an interview. After 'fieldwork' in the Middle East, he rose swiftly through the ranks.

A Commons spokesman said: "Mr Martin took up post as Parliamentary Security Director on February 4. The Director is responsible for the strategy, planning and overall delivery of security across the Parliamentary Estate."
 

View the original article here

Cyber crims hit one in five top firms

More than 20 per cent of 255 organisations in Australia's energy, defence, communications, banking and water sectors reported a ''cyber incident'' last year. Source: Supplied

CYBER criminals stole confidential information and financially defrauded one in five major Australian businesses in 2012, a new government report has revealed.

Released today by Attorney General Mark Dreyfus QC, the 2012 Cyber Crime and Security Survey Report shows more than 20 per cent of 255 organisations in Australia's energy, defence, communications, banking and water sectors reported a ''cyber incident'' last year, despite the majority using security software and firewalls.

The number of incidents may be even higher than indicated by respondents, the report notes, as some attacks may have gone undetected.

The most serious attacks involved the use of ''ransomware'' and ''scareware'' - malicious software that either locks a computer system until a ransom is paid, or launches a hoax virus and demands payment to ''remove'' it.

One scareware attack mentioned in the report displayed fake warning screens claiming to be from the non-existent ''Anti Cyber Crime Department of the Federal Internet Security Agency'', saying the organisation's computers had been ''associated with criminal activity'' to discourage them from reporting the scam to police.

More than half the organisations who reported an attack said they had been deliberately targeted, with 17 per cent saying criminals had stolen ''confidential or proprietary information'' and 10 per cent reporting financial fraud.

In one case, an organisation reported the theft of 15 years' worth of critical business data.

The attacks come despite more than 90 per cent of all respondents saying they employed digital security measures such as anti-virus software, anti-spam filters and firewalls.

Commissioned by Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Australia and conducted by the Centre for Internet Safety at the University of Canberra, the report will be annual.

Mr Dreyfus said Australian businesses needed to be mindful of the risks of operating online.

''The digital economy has opened up myriad opportunities for Australian businesses to deliver goods, provide services and communicate with people more effectively. But with every online opportunity comes the risk of criminal exploitation,'' said Mr Dreyfus.

''Cyber attacks have shifted from being indiscriminate and random to being more coordinated and targeted for financial gain.''

View the original article here

Cyber crims hit one in five top firms

More than 20 per cent of 255 organisations in Australia's energy, defence, communications, banking and water sectors reported a ''cyber incident'' last year. Source: Supplied

CYBER criminals stole confidential information and financially defrauded one in five major Australian businesses in 2012, a new government report has revealed.

Released today by Attorney General Mark Dreyfus QC, the 2012 Cyber Crime and Security Survey Report shows more than 20 per cent of 255 organisations in Australia's energy, defence, communications, banking and water sectors reported a ''cyber incident'' last year, despite the majority using security software and firewalls.

The number of incidents may be even higher than indicated by respondents, the report notes, as some attacks may have gone undetected.

The most serious attacks involved the use of ''ransomware'' and ''scareware'' - malicious software that either locks a computer system until a ransom is paid, or launches a hoax virus and demands payment to ''remove'' it.

One scareware attack mentioned in the report displayed fake warning screens claiming to be from the non-existent ''Anti Cyber Crime Department of the Federal Internet Security Agency'', saying the organisation's computers had been ''associated with criminal activity'' to discourage them from reporting the scam to police.

More than half the organisations who reported an attack said they had been deliberately targeted, with 17 per cent saying criminals had stolen ''confidential or proprietary information'' and 10 per cent reporting financial fraud.

In one case, an organisation reported the theft of 15 years' worth of critical business data.

The attacks come despite more than 90 per cent of all respondents saying they employed digital security measures such as anti-virus software, anti-spam filters and firewalls.

Commissioned by Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Australia and conducted by the Centre for Internet Safety at the University of Canberra, the report will be annual.

Mr Dreyfus said Australian businesses needed to be mindful of the risks of operating online.

''The digital economy has opened up myriad opportunities for Australian businesses to deliver goods, provide services and communicate with people more effectively. But with every online opportunity comes the risk of criminal exploitation,'' said Mr Dreyfus.

''Cyber attacks have shifted from being indiscriminate and random to being more coordinated and targeted for financial gain.''

View the original article here