CrimProf Blog

Internet Crime Growing

From SFGate.com: Criminal attacks against major Web sites have grown so common that Internet users have no reliable way to know which sites are safe to visit, no matter how well known those destinations are, security experts say.

News of the latest attack comes from Finjan, an Israeli security firm, which is reporting today that last month it found a large cache of information - including confidential medical records, financial records and business e-mails - sitting unprotected on a computer network server in Malaysia.

The data came from more than 40 major financial companies around the world, including the United States, and was stolen from computers belonging to doctors and home users conducting online banking and, in some cases, from machines inside corporate networks that the hackers managed to penetrate and infect. Finjan has notified the companies, which it declined to identify, as well as law enforcement agencies in several countries.

Included in the stolen information were medical diagnoses and insurance details, Social Security numbers, the recorded keyboard strokes of online shopping sessions and e-mails from businesses discussing an impending court case.

The largest banks "were not surprised we found this data," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan's chief technology officer. "The second-tier banks were surprised and thanked us very much. Other businesses were also very appreciative - overall, we had a very positive response."

At any moment, thousands of sites are sitting on the Web hosting malicious software code designed to try to steal information, said Mary Landesman, a researcher at ScanSafe, a Web security provider in San Mateo.

The numbers are staggering - in April, Yahoo Inc. detected 7.8 billion links served up by search engines that led to compromised sites. In statistics collected by hackers, who were tracking an attack of their own that was discovered last year by Finjan, 500,000 computers had been infected.

Many of these attacks are invisible to computer users - there are no clues in the appearance of a Web site that you are being redirected to a compromised site.

Full article here. [Brooks Holland]

Ninth Circuit Affirms Grant of Habeas Based on DNA Expert's Exaggerated Claims

From latimes.com:  "A Nevada man sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl should be freed or given a new trial because a prosecution expert exaggerated the strength of the DNA evidence against him, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday."  You can read the rest of the article here and the Ninth Circuit's 2-1 decision here [Mike Mannheimer].

Uma Thurman Stalker Convicted

From the New York Times: Jack Jordan, a University of Chicago graduate turned drifter who lived in his car, was found guilty on Tuesday of stalking the actress Uma Thurman, the star of edgy, violent movies like “Kill Bill” and “Pulp Fiction."

He was also found guilty of one count of second-degree aggravated harassment, but was acquitted of two additional counts of second-degree aggravated harassment.

During the jury trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Jordan testified in his own defense, describing his elaborate visions — which he called the daydreams of an artistic soul — that he was predestined to meet Ms. Thurman and live a happy life with her and her two children.

The trial attracted widespread attention because Ms. Thurman testified, along with her mother, Birgitte, a former Ford model known to friends as Nena, her father, Robert, a professor of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia University, and her brother, Dechen.

Mr. Jordan testified for about five hours with the calm, neutral demeanor of someone at a college or job interview. His father, a nuclear physicist, and brother attended some of the trial, his lawyer said. Mr. Jordan carried an overstuffed hiking backpack to court every day, and was photographed sleeping on a street in Chelsea during the trial.

Mr. Jordan faced one count of stalking Ms. Thurman from 2005 to 2007, with a hiatus of about a year in 2006, and three counts of aggravated harassment by sending her and people around her notes and letters.

Both charges are misdemeanors, and he faces up to 90 days in jail on the stalking charge, with possibly more time for the aggravated harassment. His lawyer said that Mr. Jordan had turned down a prosecution offer to plead guilty to aggravated harassment in return for a sentence of 18 months in inpatient psychiatric treatment, which would be reduced to a violation once completed.

Rest of article. [Brooks Holland]