Pakistan IT » Cyber Crime

Newspaper from China Warned Google Regarding Hacking Claims

Pakistan IT — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:36:29 +0000

The issue of Gmail hacking has taken a serious turn when the government officials from both the countries involved. The U.S is symbolizing these attacks with the cyber war. China is an emerging super power and having 450 million internet users. So China can affect the global economy of internet.

An official newspaper of china has taken this issue and said that Google may have to pay price for these hacking claims. It means China and its government is rejecting the accusations of hacking.

It is written in the People’s Daily overseas edition:

“Deliberately pandering to negative Western perceptions of China, and strongly hinting that the hacking attacks were the work of the Chinese government. Google’s accusations aimed at China are spurious, have ulterior motives, and bear malign intentions. Google should not become overly embroiled in international political struggle, playing the role of a tool for political contention. For when the international winds shift direction, it may become sacrificed to politics and will be spurned by the marketplace.”

China says that Google is just playing bad politics and this accusation process may hurt Chinese business. So Google should stop this. The friction between the China and Google may affect the U.S-China relations as the whole issue has become political.

In past, the relationship of Google and China was tensed because of the hacking and censorship issue. Google has partially come out of China and it is losing much of its business. The issue has become politicized and it should be resolved soon. The officials from both sides are giving statements that may hurt anyone’s feelings.

The investigation process is taking place and it will soon be revealed that who is the culprit. I personally feel that Google is just blaming China and nothing is in between. It is taking revenge from China for the censorship issue.

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Gmail Hacking Issue Become Sterner

Pakistan IT — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:01:45 +0000

The issue of Gmail hacking is creating tension between both Google and China. It is also becoming the issue of countries and people are linking it with the cyber military warfare. As this is the era of technology and war between countries can be done in many ways. The physical presence is no issue these days. The people from U.S.A and China both are getting aggressive and denying each other’s statements.

As we all know that China is an emerging super power and it is the hub of world’s electronics so there is a factor of jealousy among various countries including west. Officially neither Google nor U.S officials are blaming the government of China. There are many rumors regarding this hacking issue but most of them are focused on China.

U.S.A never leaves any issue that is related to its sovereignty and they do certain investigations for getting into the roots of it. Though it is bit difficult to know who is actually behind the hacking scene but every possible step will be taken by U.S and Google with the collaboration of FBI. The two military officers from china have written a paper regarding this issue and they mentioned many things in it.

Senior Colonel Ye Zheng and his colleague Zhao Baoxian said:

“Just as nuclear warfare was the strategic war of the industrial era, cyber-warfare has become the strategic war of the information era, and this has become a form of battle that is massively destructive and concerns the life and death of nations. The targets of psychological warfare on the Internet have expanded from the military to the public”

China is also going through the censorship issue regarding facebook and twitter and from this we can know that there are certain restrictions over freedom of expression in China. We cannot comment on it because this is a personal matter of China and they better know what they have to do with it.

Now let me tell you a bit about the place named as Jinan that is in China and some unknown people are accused from that place for hacking. If you see Jinan from Google earth you will notice that it is same as other cities of China having low level construction. It is also having university and lot of railway lines.

Google says that in Jinan there might be servers of computers who have hacked Gmail accounts or there might be a laptop of a hacker from where Gmail accounts have been compromised. Now this cyber attack is considered as a military cyber war and many of military officials from U.S have accepted this.

Now the investigation is going on and we have to see the real culprit behind this, but as I told you before that this issue has become diplomatic and it might affect various countries relationship because of the involvements of senior U.S officials.

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Pakistan Government to Expand Cyber Crime Wing

Pakistan IT — Mon, 02 May 2011 08:53:55 +0000

The government has decided to expand the National resource centre for cyber crime andit will be made a permanent part of the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency).

According to a news report in The Dawn on April 17, Government Central developmentworking has allocated 468.667 million rupees for the second phase of the project.

A good chunk of the above money, 10 million will be spent on creating awareness in the publicthrough seminars, workshops and other events.

In the first phase, three wings will be set up in the following cities:

Peshawar
Quetta
Rawalpindi

Reported earlier, Cyber crime is on the rise in Pakistan and only 10percent of this crime got reported and 90 percent goes unchecked. There is a strong need for efficient legislation to check cyber crime in Pakistan that must reach to the very accused who iscommitting crime and must be dealt with an iron hand.

Earlier, the ordinance for the prevention for cyber crime 2007 was lapsed in Nov, 2009 afterrepetitive lives and a draft law was presented before the National Assembly committee forreview. However, some law makers have expressed their fear that law-enforcement personnelmay misuse their powers under this proposed legislation. The government should also keep thisview in tact before finalizing any such law.

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Mobile Threats Double in Number

Pakistan IT — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:30:55 +0000

Number of malicious programs targeting mobile devices has more than doubled between August 2009 and December 2010.

In 2010, over 65% more new threats targeting mobile devices were detected than in the previous year; said a report published by Kaspersky Lab.

The growing popularity of the Android platform has inevitably drawn the cybercriminals attention: in August 2010, the first malicious program targeting Android was detected, and since then, that number has reached 15 programs from a total of 7 families.

The first threats targeting Apple’s iPhone OS also appeared during this last reporting period, but infected only devices that had been jailbroken in order to install third-party games and other software not manufactured by Apple.

Most mobile threats continue to target the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform, which is supported by a huge number of mobile devices. That means it is not only smartphones that are at risk of infection, but basic mobile phones as well. The second most-targeted platform is Symbian, with Python in third place.

The distribution of variants of detected threats, by platform

“The use of SMS Trojans is still the easiest and most effective means by which malicious users can earn money. The reason is relatively simple: any mobile device, be it a smartphone or a basic mobile phone, has a direct connection to its owner’s money via their mobile account. It is this ‘direct connection’ that cybercriminals actively exploit,” said the report.

From 2010 onwards, sending fee-based text messages ceased to be the sole illegal money-making scheme for virus writers developing threats targeting different platforms.

Other unlawful schemes such as redirecting mobile Internet banking users to phishing sites and stealing passwords sent by banks to mobile phones were also used. Mobile threats have become more complex than ever and include the emergence of mobile bots and other remotely-controlled software.

Kaspersky Lab predicts an increase in the number of vulnerabilities found on mobile platforms, as well as an increase in the number of threats for Android and the continued use of short numbers by cybercriminals.

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Never Ever Give Away Your Pictures / Videos [Especially if You are a Girl]

Pakistan IT — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:17:51 +0000

Most of us already know the seriousness of a situation when our private pictures or videos land in fraudulent hands. Still, we make mistakes – and are often embarked with this condition when suicide becomes the last option to save ourselves.

Night packages (the root cause of above mentioned problem) have bought our nation on the verge of social destruction. Every other mobile phone subscriber has a list of friends (of opposite gender) with whom they spend nights, every night in fact. Soon it becomes a habit and then a mental dis-order, depression, irritation, increases annoyance and what not.

Let’s forget the mental and physical health for time being and talk about even greater problem.

Lately, thanks to significant increase of Camera Phones, and almost zero MMS charges (with SMS/MMS Packages), the number of such incidents have increased where pictures and videos (at times with objectionable orientation) are shared with partners over internet and MMS.

Based on few incidents I recently came across, here are few recommendations:

Now Remember Following (as an advice / request from elder brother):

Never send your pictures to ANYONE, WHO EVER he/she is – no matter what relation he/she has got with you, or whatever level of trust you guys have between each other. (This doesn’t apply to your family members).
Never keep your private pictures in your phone – save them in your PC/laptop and delete from mobile phones. Your phone can easily get stolen/lost.
Make sure that privacy settings of your Facebook aren’t revealing the information you would not like to reveal otherwise. (Go to Facebook –> My account –> Privacy Settings –> customize setting)
Make sure you don’t have casual acquaintances mixed up with your family members or close friends on Facebook. Make proper lists with different level of privacy settings for each list.
NEVER EVER shot objectionable pictures/videos – because they will remain in your phone even after deleting them.

Never Trust Phone Friends: This is for those who make friends over phone and talk to them indefinitely. Never trust them. There are organized groups targeting both girls and boys to attain intimate information/pictures/videos to later blackmail them.

Deleted Pictures/Videos are Recoverable: If you think you have deleted a photo/video and you safe, then unfortunately its not the case. A deleted video/photo or any data is recoverable. So never shot videos / pictures at first place which you may not want to keep without self for ever. Read this unfortunate example for more details on this.

Fear Voice Recorders too: So if you are good with not giving photos, videos, you are still prone to voice recorders. Please make sure that you are using your mobile phone without any risk and with utmost care.

What to Do if pictures/videos are exposed? God forbid, if your pictures/videos are somehow in someone’s hands who is blackmailing you (for money or at times with some other demands) then do following:

Tell everything to your parents, they are going to be your best buddies in this bad time.
Lodge FIR at your nearest police station
Though Police station, lodge a complaint with FIA

Disclaimer: I highly recommend you to talk to your parents, however, approaching Police and FIA should be considered based on your circumstances. (Considering our police’s performance) I fear,that approaching police (if you don’t have high-level contacts) may ruin your life.

We need to be extra careful, especially, when there is no cyber law in our country.

At the end, I would say: Bad deeds meet bad consequences, so be sincere to your self, your parents and to your life.

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PML-N Gets Hacked!

Pakistan IT — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:27:07 +0000

It a recent development, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) lost control of its official website when a hacker, apparently from Pakistan, defaced its official website.

Below is the screen shot provided, courtesy of Google Cache as PML N was quick enough to forward their URL to a backup page available here http://www.pmln.org/.

It looks that Hacker is fed-up of the current state of Pakistan. He tried to record his/her protest by hacking into PML-N’s website and left following comment:

Plz stop filling your own pockets, think about for your country, Our country

Agar yeh hi na raha to tum logun ki jaiban kahan sy bharain gi pir ?

Yeh hai To tum log bi ho and if our Pakistan is not on the map then you won’t be Aswell.

Take sometime and Think about it for a moment

PAKISTAN ZINDABAD
Greetingz : | My lovely Pakistani Nation |

Other political parties can mark this event as a warning for their official websites.

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Illegal International Exchanges Busted in Peshawar and Karachi

Pakistan IT — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) conducted two successful raids in University Town, Peshawar and at Tariq Road, Karachi against illegal call termination setups.

These raids were conducted on the basis of information obtained through PTA traffic monitoring facility which detects grey/illegal traffic.

The raid at Peshawar resulted in confiscation of four (04) GSM Gateways having approximately one hundred and twenty (120) connections, Switches, Routers and number of other accessories. Whereas at Karachi, the raid resulted in confiscation of one (01) GSM Gateway having approximately one hundred and twenty eight (128) connections, Switches, Routers and other accessories.

It may be mentioned here that in last two years, PTA has conducted forty (40) successful raids on grey traffickers throughout Pakistan, which included small and big gateway operators. During these raids, number of persons including foreigners were arrested along with confiscation of more than sixty (60) Gateways, hundreds of SIMs/Connections and other accessories. In the campaign against illegal telephony approximately 45,000 mobile SIMSs have been also blocked. The apprehended culprits are being interrogated by FIA and legal proceedings are underway to recover the millions of rupees loss caused to the national exchequer.

PTA with state of the art monitoring facility is observing the international traffic coming in to the country, round the clock. The aim of monitoring is to identify the illegal exchanges and track the elements operating them.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen has shown his pleasure and appreciated the joint efforts of PTA and FIA teams. Moreover, the Chairman has directed PTA Zonal Offices to further expedite joint raids against illegal setups throughout Pakistan and save the loss occurring to the national exchequer.

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B.Tech Graduates in Middle of No Where, as Status of Degree is Still Undefined

Pakistan IT — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:54:19 +0000

Earlier Dawn and Today ‘The News’ published this story which reveals a shocking fact that degree of B. Tech is undefined in Pakistan.

Hence, anyone doing B. Tech or those who have done B. Tech may end up without any legal degree in the country, meaning that no further studies or jobs.

By the way, as per estimates, 10,000 fresh graduates pass out with B. Tech degree every year.

It seems, according to Sheikh Javed – Chairman Pakistan Council of Technologists, the situation has reached this level due to government’s negligence. As it is the case with Cyber Law, R&D Fund, USF and various other institutes of the country.

Following is excerpt from ‘The News’:

Technology (B.Tech) graduates in the country are deprived of access to higher studies, job opportunity in public departments and promotions due to undefined status of their degrees.

Over 50,000 B.Tech graduates have demanded to establish Pakistan Technology Council (PTC) for their registration, which can safeguard their rights.

Talking to APP here on Sunday, Chairman of Pakistan Council of Technologists Sheikh Javed said that a draft bill for the establishment of Pakistan Technology Council (PTC) was forwarded to the Prime Minister in February 2010, which was sent to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) on March 3, 2010 for comments but it was still pending with the ministry.

The government had reiterated its commitment many times to work for the promotion of technical education but the PEC had prohibited the education ministry for establishing Pakistan Technology Council, Javed said.

B.Tech programme was formally launched in 1973 and the then Ministry of Education was directed to give status of B.Tech (Hons) degree at par with B.Sc Engineering/B.E degree, according to the letter No. 15-29/73-Tech.
According to the letter no PEC/4-P/QEC, the PEC stated that B.Tech degree would be considered equivalent to B.Sc/BE and the same decision was taken in 9th inter-provincial ministers conference at Quetta in 1986, 39th HEC meeting on 12-2-98, FPSC in its letter no F4-89/2002-R but now the PEC is not ready to accept their status.

The B.Tech holders study the same courses like engineers and are equally competent but they have to struggle and file cases individually to recognize their degree status, Sheikh Javed said.

The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has refused to register technologists while different public departments are denying to recognize their degrees, not giving them jobs. Those, who have already got government jobs, do not get promotions up to Grade 16, he said.

The full bench of Supreme Court in Suo Motu Review Petition No. 52 of 1993 gave its verdict on June 05, 1995 in favor of B.Tech (Hons) (PLD 1995 SC 701), thrashing out the role of PEC.

But, the PEC in 2004-05 managed the amendments by adding new clauses and definition of professional engineering work and section 5A of Section 27 only to null and void the decision of full bench of Supreme Court thus to interfere in the service matters and blocking promotion channels of employees possessing B.Tech (Hons) degrees.

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NR3C Smashes 10 Illegal VoIP Exchanges in Lahore

Pakistan IT — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:20:37 +0000

FIA Cyber Crime Circle (NR3C) Lahore raided and seized 10 VoIP exchanges in Faisal Town, Lahore and Model Town Extension, Lahore, said a statement.

Statement said that the raids were conducted under the supervision of Mr. Sajid Akram Chaudhry, Deputy Director Cyber Crime Circle (NR3C) FIA Punjab Lahore.

Five Illegal Gateway Exchanges in running condition in Faisal Town, Lahore and five Illegal Gateway Exchanges in running condition in Model Town Extension, Lahore have been recovered and seized.

The accused parties were causing huge loss of 60 Million rupees per year (approximately) to the Government Exchequer according to initial investigations.

The recovered / seized equipment include 10 Quintum Gateway Exchanges, 20 CDMA Channel Boxes with 08 lines each (Total 160 ports), 70 V-PTCL Phones, 05 computer systems, 03 UPS System, 08 Batteries and internet cables of different sizes, which worth about 25 Million rupees (approximately) according to initial investigations.

Case FIR No. 04/2011 has been registered against the accused persons namely i. Saleem Ahmed Butt R/o Johar Town, Lahore, ii. Muhammad Faizan Qureshi R/o Gujjar Pura, China Scheme, Lahore and iii. Hassan Dar R/o Alfa Society, Near Doctors Hospital, Lahore and Case FIR No. 05/2011 has been registered against the accused persons namely i. Saleem Ahmed Butt S/o Abdul Waheed Butt R/o Johar Town, Lahore, ii. Hassan Dar R/o Alfa Society, Near Doctors Hospital, Lahore and iii. Naseem Butt S/o Abdul Waheed Butt R/o Model Town, Extension, Lahore, which are under investigation.

The accused i. Saleem Ahmed Butt R/o Johar Town, Lahore, ii. Muhammad Faizan Qureshi R/o Gujjar Pura, China Scheme, Lahore and iii. Naseem Butt S/o Abdul Waheed Butt R/o Model Town, Extension, Lahore have been arrested and efforts are being made to arrest the remaining accused involved / identified.

The role of ISP and PTCL will be determined during the investigation.

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Teens Arrested for Cyberbullying Classmate With Fake Facebook Profile, Nude Photos

Pakistan IT — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:19:49 +0000

Two teenage girls from Florida were arrested Wednesday, on allegations that they had set up a fake Facebook account in their classmate’s name, and filled it with sexually explicit photos.

According to the police report, the fake Facebook page first appeared on April 20th, and eventually accumulated 181 friends. A second page under the same victim’s name surfaced on April 29th, and attracted five friends. Investigators traced the IP addresses of both profiles to the home of 16-year-old Taylor Wynn, who, along with 15-year-old McKenzie Barker, now faces charges of “aggravated stalking of a minor under 16.”

Prosecutors claim that Wynn and Barker outfitted the fake profile with nude pictures of teenage girls, superimposed with a photo of the victim’s face. The girls also posted a digitally altered photo of the victim’s face next to a man’s penis, and wrote lewd comments across the page. Wynn told investigators that she and the victim were “friends at one time but they do not like each other now.” The girl added that she only created the page with the intent of pulling off a “funny joke,” and didn’t have any qualms about ridiculing her target “because nobody liked her.”

The victim, whose name has not been released, was aware of the fake Facebook account, but told her school resource officer, Deputy Allen Thierer, that she thought it would eventually “go away.” According to Thierer, though, she was still “subjected to numerous incidents of teasing and ridicule for an ongoing period of time.” It was a parent, in fact, who first notified authorities of the page in April. After obtaining the necessary subpoenas and search warrants, investigators gathered incriminating text messages and e-mails sent between Barker and Wynn, and accessed the fraudulent page with the help of cooperative students.

In 2008, the Florida state legislature enacted a tough law on cyberbullying in honor of a boy named Jeffrey Johnston. Johnston committed suicide in 2005, at the age of 15, after being tormented online. The ‘Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act’ calls for harsher penalties for anyone convicted of cyberbullying, meaning that Wynn and Barker, if convicted, would likely receive more than just a slap on the wrist. And, if they really were behind this “funny joke,” they would certainly deserve it.

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