Hacking Threatens Airline Safety: Aviation Chiefs
Posted on December 11, 2014 by Kara Dunlap in Security
Cyber crime is a serious threat to safety in the skies, aviation industry heavyweights said Wednesday, vowing to fight the growing scourge before it causes a catastrophic incident.
Hackers, cyber criminals and other “terrorists” are stealing information but in a worst-case scenario could endanger lives by tampering with airline systems.
Among the five organizations getting together to take action against hacking are the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other bodies that signed a new cyber security agreement late last week, formalizing their front against cyber crime.
“Our common goal in developing this agreement is to work more effectively together to establish and promote a robust cyber security culture and strategy for the benefit of all actors in our industry,” said Raymond Benjamin, secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
He added: “As technologies rapidly evolve and become more readily accessible to all, cyber threats cannot be ignored.”
“This is an important new area of aviation security concern and our global community will ensure that it is met with a strong level of commitment and response.”
© AFP 2013
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US Slaps Briton With Fresh Hacking Charges
Posted on March 1, 2014 by Kara Dunlap in Security
NEW YORK – The United States on Thursday slapped two extra charges against a British man accused of hacking into thousands of US government computer systems, officials said.
Prosecutors in New York indicted Lauri Love, 28, on one count of hacking into the Federal Reserve and one count of aggravated identity theft. If convicted on these latest charges, he faces 12 years in prison.
He was already facing up to five years in prison and and a $ 250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, on each of two counts in New Jersey. He has been charged there with hacking the computer networks of US Army, Missile Defense Agency, NASA and other agencies.
Now, prosecutors allege that Love and other computer hackers from overseas, from October 2012 to February 2013, stole and disseminated information from the Federal Reserve’s network.
The data allegedly included identifying information of military service personnel and others. Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara described Love as a “sophisticated hacker” who broke into Federal Reserve computers, stole and made widely available sensitive personal information.
“We place a high priority on the investigation and prosecution of hackers who intrude into our infrastructure and threaten the personal security of our citizens,” he said in a statement.
FBI assistant director-in-charge George Venizelos said Love “underestimated the level of sophistication and dedication” of the FBI cyber division to track down his alleged crimes.
In New Jersey, prosecutors had said Love and his conspirators planned and executed the attacks in online chat rooms to “disrupt the operations and infrastructure of the United States government.” Love was arrested at his home in Britain on October 25. jm/nss
© AFP 2013
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Slovenia Frees Man Charged With Hacking Into NASA Despite US Extradition Order
Posted on January 22, 2014 by Kara Dunlap in Security
Slovenia Frees Hacker Despite US Extradition Order
LJUBLJANA – A Slovenian higher court on Wednesday rejected an United States extradition request and released a Romanian citizen charged with hacking into NASA computers in 2006.
Maribor’s higher court rejected the extradition request taking into account that Romanian citizen Victor Faur could not be tried again for the same charges for which he had already been sentenced in Romania in 2008 to 16 months of suspended prison time and a 238,000 dollar (EUR176,000) fine.
“I want to thank the Slovenian authorities for taking the right decision and not bowing to the American pressure,” Faur told Slovenian journalists after being released in the northeastern town of Murska Sobota.
He added “I’m sure they (the US government) knew they had no chance of extradition yet they wanted to keep me here as long as possible.”
Slovenian police detained 34-year-old Faur during a routine road control in October and kept him until the local authorities decided on the US international arrest warrant.
The US authorities charged Faur with hacking into NASA computers and causing more than 1.5 million dollars of damage to the US space agency and of breaking into the computers of the US Navy and Department of Energy between November 2005 and September 2006.
Faur has admitted the intrusions but said he wanted to prove that many computers are vulnerable to IT attacks and maintained he did not try to obtain material for personal gain.
Related: NASA Inspector General Said Hackers Had Full Functional Control Over NASA Networks
© AFP 2013
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