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Rs9m Robbed in Biggest Bank Heist of the Year
International News (04/15/11) Bin Perwaiz, Salin
Six armed men stole Rs9 million from the Muslim Commercial Bank in Karachi, Pakistan, on Thursday. According to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which is heading the investigation, one of the suspects is Anwer Ali, a private security guard working for the bank. Ali reportedly arrived for his shift as usual at 6:30 am, and then allegedly let in five other accomplices who captured and tied up bank staff as they arrived for work. The manger of operation for the branch was then forced to open the vault at gunpoint. Although the bank staff attempted to alert the private security company, it failed to respond to the situation. The company's manager did not arrive at the bank until 1:00 pm. The SIU confiscated the security company's records, but when they visited the address given for Ali, it was found he only lived there for a week in February, which was when he was hired by the bank. The company had little other information on Ali, both of the security guard's guarantors were found to be fake. The police tracked down one of the guarantors, who told him he had never met the suspect and that his CNIC number had been misused.
Five Held in Huge Chip Theft
Wall Street Journal (04/14/11) Clark, Don
Authorities in California have arrested five men who allegedly stole $37 million worth of flash-memory chips from the headquarters of chipmaker Unigen in Fremont, Calif., on Feb. 27. During the robbery, which authorities said was exceptionally brazen and well-organized, between 13 and 15 thieves burst into Unigen's headquarters wearing masks and gloves and carrying rifles and handguns. Five Unigen employees were then tied up and moved into a back room while the thieves loaded roughly 1.7 million flash-memory chips into a large truck. After they were done, the thieves left the building with the employees still tied up in a back room. The Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (React), which is directed by the Santa Clara County, Calif., district attorney's office, was subsequently able to track down some of the suspected thieves by using overseas sources that the chips may have been going to, and by following up on links to distributors in the U.S. Information from those sources sparked a lengthy surveillance operation that eventually resulted in the arrests of the five suspects and the recovery of nearly all of the stolen chips. The suspects face charges of armed robbery and kidnapping for robbery, and could face up to life in prison if convicted on the charges against them.
Huawei, Motorola Strike a Truce in Dueling Lawsuits Over Patents
Wall Street Journal (04/14/11) Cheng, Roger; Raice, Shayndi
Motorola Solutions and China's Huawei Technologies have reached a settlement in the intellectual property lawsuits they had filed against one another. Huawei Technologies filed its lawsuit against Motorola Solutions following an agreement between the two companies in 2001 that allowed Motorola to resell some of Huawei's gear. Motorola subsequently decided to sell its network-equipment business to Nokia Siemens Networks. But Huawei objected to the sale, saying that it would result in technology and knowledge of its trade secrets being given to Nokia Siemens. Motorola, meanwhile, claimed that Huawei had developed a complex plan involving former Motorola employees and a front company to steal its intellectual property. Under the terms of the settlement between the two companies, Huawei will drop its opposition to the sale of Motorola's network-equipment business to Nokia Siemens, while Motorola will drop its claims that Huawei stole its intellectual property.
Somaliland Struggles in Effort to Fight Piracy
National Public Radio (04/13/11) Langfitt, Frank
Over the last several years, piracy has become a growing problem off the coast of Somalia. In 2010, Somali pirates took more than 1,000 people hostage, which set a new record. So far this year, Somali pirates have hijacked 15 ships, including an American yacht whose four passengers were murdered. In response to this problem, Somaliland--an autonomous part of Somalia--is taking steps to fight piracy. However, the region's government is facing a number of obstacles in its efforts to stem piracy. For instance, Somaliland's coast guard is made up of just eight working vessels, despite the fact that the region has more than 500 miles of coastline. According to Somaliland Adm. Ahmed Osman, boats are the primary thing his coast guard needs in order to be effective. But Somaliland has limited space to detain pirates even if it had enough boats to catch them all. The United Nations attempted to help by recently building a new prison in Somaliland's capital that has the capacity to handle 400 inmates. Nevertheless, prosecuting suspected pirates remains difficult because it is difficult to catch them in the act and collect evidence against them, and because Somaliland does not currently have any anti-piracy laws.
Dodger Stadium Violence Under Scrutiny
USA Today (04/11/11) Norwood, Robyn
Los Angeles Police Department detectives seeking two assailants who wore Dodgers gear said they have no indication Bryan Stow did anything to lead to a beating at a March 31 game with the San Francisco Giants other than wear a Giants jersey to the game. "It's troubling to see people become targets for violence for wearing the colors or jersey of another player or team. Something occurs on a very primitive level," says psychiatrist Elizabeth Mahler, an expert in fan behavior and crowd management and a professor at Stanford. "Sometimes in crowds, certain people feel anonymous and freer to act out." Stow was beaten so severely by two men that he arrived at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center comatose, requiring what neurosurgeon Gabriel Zada says was a lifesaving operation the next day to relieve pressure on his brain. Despite a downward trend in crime across the city, roughly half of all serious crimes in the Chavez Ravine neighborhood occur on stadium grounds. The result is a planned overhaul of Dodger Stadium security led by Los Angeles Police Department chief Charlie Beck as well as former LAPD chief William J. Bratton and the risk-consulting firm he heads, Kroll. The 30 to 50 off-duty LAPD officers who typically worked games wearing polo shirts marked "security" will be replaced by a dramatically higher number of uniformed, on-duty officers with the authority not only to arrest fans but also to revoke their ticket privileges. Technological upgrades such as license-plate readers are on the way, as is an assessment of alcohol-sales policies, including plans the Dodgers had for promotions for half-price beer. Also on tap is the analysis of low-tech issues such as lighting. Detectives investigating the attack say there is video but lighting conditions make it of limited use.
Uganda Erupts in Rioting After a Key Leader is Shot
Wall Street Journal (04/15/11) Bariyo, Nicholas
Riots broke out in Uganda on Thursday after police in the capital of Kampala fired rubber bullets at several people who were protecting opposition leader Kizza Besigye from being arrested during protests over rising food and gas prices. Following the shooting, which left Besigye with injuries to his right hand, opposition supporters used burning tires, logs, and stones to block a number of roads in Kampala. Violence broke out in other parts of Uganda following the shooting, including the western town of Masaka, where protesters set fire to a police vehicle. In the northern city of Gulu, meanwhile, hundreds of protesters engaged in running battles with police to protest the arrest of Norbert Mao, a former presidential candidate and one of Uganda's leading opposition leaders. Witnesses said that protesters in Gulu burned tires in the streets and blocked several roads. Besigye and Mao, as well as a third opposition leader, Asuman Basalirwa, were wanted by police because authorities said that they did not have approval from the police to hold demonstrations and were inciting violence. However, Besigye could not be arrested because he was protected by dozens of his supporters. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Kampala, with the military backing up police in the city.
Belarus Arrests Suspects in Subway Bombing
Wall Street Journal (04/13/11) Fairclough, Gordon
Authorities in Belarus have arrested a third man in connection with Monday's subway bombing in Minsk, which killed 12 people and injured 200 others. The man who was arrested was recorded by surveillance cameras entering the subway station carrying a large bag and placing it underneath a bench. The bomb then detonated a short time later. The man as well as another suspect in the bombing are both said to be Belarussian citizens who lived in a provincial capital. Authorities are also detaining a third suspect. The announcement of the arrest came as Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said that prosecutors should question dissidents in the country to see if they were behind the bombing.
Synagogue Blast Suspect Charged in Calif., Ohio
Associated Press (04/13/11)
Authorities have charged 60-year-old Ron Hirsch in connection with his alleged involvement in the recent bombing at the Chabad House Lubavitch synagogue in Santa Monica, Calif. Hirsch, a transient who was known to have slept by the side of the synagogue, was charged in federal court on Tuesday with fleeing Santa Monica to avoid prosecution. Authorities believe that Hirsch purchased a bus ticket to New York in the immediate aftermath of the bombing but got off that bus in Denver. He then boarded another bus that was headed east. Hirsch eventually ended up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where he was arrested Monday after a rabbi there became suspicious about him. Hirsch also faces four felony charges, including possession of a destructive device near a public place and private residence, and explosion with intent to murder. Anti-Semitism is not believed to have been a motive in the attack, which was linked to Hirsch after authorities found a package that was addressed to him across the street from the synagogue. Hirsch is believed to have carried out the attack using explosives that were hidden in a trashcan that contained hundreds of pounds of concrete.
Rate Drops for Ex Guantanamo Detainees Returning to Terrorism, Insurgency
Kansas City Star (MO) (04/13/11) Rosenberg, Carol
During a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Dan Fried said that American intelligence agencies have determined that three of the 68 detainees who have been released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility under the Obama administration have returned to terrorism. By comparison, 79 of the 532 Guantanamo detainees who were released under the Bush administration later returned to terrorism, according to a report issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency in December. However, both sets of numbers have been criticized by some who say that neither the Obama or Bush administrations have released enough information about Guantanamo detainees to test the government's claims. In addition, some say that they doubt that detainees have returned to terrorism, since many of the terrorist suspects that have been held at Guantanamo have been cleared of ties to terrorists by federal courts or by the Defense Department. The House Armed Service Committee is focusing on the recidivism rate among former Guantanamo detainees because it wants to keep the facility open. More than 170 detainees are still there, 59 of whom have been approved for transfer but cannot be released for a number of reasons, including Congressional restrictions and instability in their home countries.
Pakistan Tells U.S. to Halt Drones
Wall Street Journal (04/12/11) Entous, Adam; Rosenberg, Matthew
Officials in Pakistan have reportedly used private channels to ask the CIA to stop launching drone attacks against suspected militants in the country. In addition, Pakistani officials have asked the U.S. to withdraw some of the intelligence and Special Operations personnel it has stationed in Pakistan. Pakistani officials have said that they want the drone attacks to end because they are excessive, and because they have hurt the government's standing with the public. Pakistani civilians overwhelmingly oppose U.S. drone attacks, which are publicly denied by the Pakistani government but are carried out with its help. However, some U.S. officials said that Pakistan may be threatening to stop providing assistance to the U.S. in order to increase its oversight of secret American activities in its territory, particularly U.S. efforts to gather intelligence on Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network, two militant groups that are both believed to have ties to the Pakistani intelligence agency. The U.S., for its part, has not said whether or not it would alter its drone program in light of Pakistan's request. The program is not required by U.S. law to have Pakistani support, and currently operates with some degree of autonomy in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Microsoft Delivers Monster Security Update for Windows, IE
Computerworld (04/12/11) Keizer, Gregg
Microsoft recently patched a record number of flaws in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer (IE), and other software, including 30 bugs in the Windows kernel device driver and one in IE that was exploited during the Pwn2Own hacking contest in March. The company also delivered a long-awaited backport to Office 2003 and Office 2007 that incorporates one of the newer security features in Office 2010 to the older versions. The 17 patches, which Microsoft calls bulletins, tied a record set in late 2010, but handily beat the October 2010 tally for the total number of vulnerabilities they updated. Altogether, the patches fixed 64 vulnerabilities, 15 more than in October and 24 more than in the former second-place patch batch in December 2010. Nine of the 17 bulletins were deemed critical, Microsoft's highest threat ranking, while the rest were labeled important, the next-most-severe label.
Malware Writers Making Code Tougher to Decode, Harder to Find
Dark Reading (04/13/11) Lemos, Robert
Reverse-engineering experts say that malware writers are doing a better job hiding their code and making it difficult to crack. According to Adam Meyers, the director of cybersecurity operations at SRA International, more and more malware writers are scrambling whole blocks of their code and are using better obfuscation techniques to make it difficult to analyze and detect their code. These techniques involve the use of better encryption or customized functions that make it difficult to reverse engineer the malicious code. For instance, some mobile malware uses DES encryption--an older data encryption standard--to scramble its data, Meyers said. Meanwhile, attackers are also using a variety of different ways to break into systems, experts say. Attackers that use social engineering attacks will utilize obfuscated Web addresses and code, while drive-by downloads will use encryption for the malware that is downloaded onto victims' computers when they visit certain sites. In addition, attackers are using more direct methods for attacking servers to scramble the code and avoid being discovered by intrusion-detection systems, said Stonesoft Director of Product Management Matt McKinley.
U.S. Shuts Down Massive Cyber Theft Ring
Reuters (04/13/11) Bartz, Diane; Finkle, Jim
U.S. authorities have shut down a cybercrime ring they say used malicious software to take control of more than 2 million PCs worldwide. The computer virus, dubbed Coreflood, enslaved PCs into a botnet that grabbed banking credentials and other sensitive data its masters used to steal funds via fraudulent banking and wire transactions. The government shuttered that botnet, which had operated for a decade, by seizing hard drives used to run it. Although the vast majority of infected PCs were found in the United States, the criminal gang was likely overseas, perhaps in Russia. McAfee's Dave Marcus says the criminals easily could have stolen tens of millions of dollars. The U.S. district attorney in Connecticut also has filed a civil complaint against 13 unnamed foreign nationals. In addition to shutting down the Coreflood botnet, U.S. government programmers also instructed the computers enslaved in the botnet to stop sending stolen data and to shut down.
Senators Propose Data Privacy Law
InformationWeek (04/13/11) Schwartz, Mathew J.
The Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011 introduced by U.S. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) seeks to shield people's personal information. The proposal urges reasonable procedures to guarantee that personally identifiable and sensitive data is accurate and securely stored. Kerry and McCain released a statement saying that the legislation "would require robust and clear notice to an individual of his or her ability to opt-out of the collection of information for the purpose of transferring it to third parties for behavioral advertising." Personally identifiable information is defined in the bill as a first name or initial plus last name, postal address, email address, telephone or cell phone number, social security or other government-issued identification number, credit card account number, biometric data, or any unique identifier that could be used to identify a particular individual. Among the bill's supporters are eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Microsoft. "We have long advocated for comprehensive federal privacy legislation, which we believe will support business growth, promote innovation, and ensure consumer trust in the use of technology," note the companies in a joint statement. McCain says the bill outlines a framework for companies to develop an environment that is respectful of consumers' personal information, while also allowing businesses to continue to market and advertise to consumers.
Adobe Warns of New Flash Player Zero-Day Attack
ZDNet (04/11/11) Naraine, Ryan
Attackers are inserting malicious Flash Player files in Microsoft Word documents to launch targeted attacks against certain businesses, according to Adobe. The most recent Flash Player zero-day attack comes weeks after EMC's RSA Division was bombarded with a malware attack that used a compromised Flash file buried in a Microsoft Excel document. In both instances, the attacks are being used to steal corporate data. The Flash Player vulnerability could cause a crash and possibly allow an attacker to assume control of the affected system, Adobe says. Adobe Reader X Protected Mode buffers would keep such an exploit from executing, according to the company. Adobe says it is in the process of finalizing a schedule for disseminating patches for Flash Player 10.2.x and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris, and Android, Adobe Acrobat X, and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh, Adobe Reader X for Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 9.4.3 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh.
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