Officer Ward

Officer Ward
Cyber Defender & Detention Center Security Officer

Officer Ward believes that most people who disrespect the privelages of Cyberspace are more ignorant than criminal, and that most cyber criminals can be rehabilitated into faithful cyber citizens through education about the dangers of delinquency in Cyberspace.

Working closely with Commander Omni and the Cyber Defense Academy, Officer Ward hopes to secure Cyberspace for everyone.

Favorite Quote:

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do
- John Baptiste Moliere

Favorite Food:

Cupcakes

Interests:

Coaching softball, fishing, catching cyber criminals

January 27, 2010

Cyber Criminals – George Kopiloff

Did you know that file sharing can put your information at risk? What’s that? You already knew that? Oh. Sorry, I guess I forgot how smart you are.

Anyway, aside from downloading viruses and Trojan horses, certain cyber criminals are using file sharing services to hack into people’s computers and steal financial information. One such cyber criminal was George Kopiloff, who used Limewire to steal over 80 peoples’ information. He then used this information to open fake credit cards and bank accounts and buy expensive merchandise. He even had the merchandise sent to different mailboxes so police would have a harder time catching him. He would then go do these different mailboxes, pick up the goods, and sell them for a high price to someone else.

Of course George Kopiloff was caught. He was sentenced to 51months in prison and has to pay back the $70,000 he stole. Every time I see this happen, I wonder why these people don’t just use their smarts to get an honest job. With skills like that, he probably could have made more money than he stole AND avoided getting thrown in prison!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

January 21,2010

Cyber Crimes: Cyber Defamation

To put it simply, defamation is a big word meaning lies you say or write about someone that hurts their reputation. Lawyers break these lies into two categories. If the lie is written, it’s called libel. If the lie is said out loud, it’s called slander. Either way, it’s illegal. Also, it’s mean! Don’t do it!

Not that I have to worry about you cadets doing something that cruel.

Anyway, this sort of thing can have serious consequences. Imagine if you were applying for a job and your employer did an Internet search for your name. Imagine then if she found a bunch of terrible lies about you on a Web site. Do you think she would want to hire you? No way! Cyber defamation can have serious consequences, even if it’s done as a joke.

If you know someone is spreading lies about you or someone you know, whether it’s on the Internet or in person, tell a trusted adult right away. It might just seem like an innocent joke, but it can be really hurtful!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

December 15, 2009

Cyber Criminals –Albert Gonzalez

When it comes to data theft, Albert Gonzalez is the worst. Between 2005 and 2007, he used malware like packet sniffers and other criminal methods to hack into several corporate databases, from which he stole and sold over 170 million – that’s 170,000,000 – credit card and ATM numbers. And what do you do after stealing ridiculous amounts of money from good, hard-working people? Throw yourself a $75,000 birthday party, of course! That would buy a TON of piñatas!

Well, of course, the thief got caught and is now being prosecuted. Why do criminals bother? It’s not like they get away with it. Just think, if Albert Gonzales had spent that time using his skills to do something productive with his life, he could’ve kept all the millions of dollars!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

November 24 2009

Cyber Crimes: IP Spoofing

All right. IP spoofing. Let’s get to it. The best way to understand IP spoofing is with an example. Say you were mailing a mean letter to someone you didn’t like. You probably don’t want the person reading the nasty letter to know who sent it, so you change the return address on the envelope from your actual address to one you just made up. Better yet, you change it to the address of someone else you don’t like! This way, when the person receives the nasty letter, they’ll think someone else sent it! Of course, you would never do this in real life because you’re not a jerk. Moving on.

Cyber criminals do the same thing, but with IP addresses. Rather than using their own IP address when they do their cyber villainy, they’ll use a false address so their victim won’t know who’s behind the attack. Sometimes, the criminal will try to copy the IP address of a computer that their target network already trusts. This way, they won’t have to hack the password. Sneaky!

So there you have it. Don’t do it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a pirate to catch.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

November 9 2009

Cyber Criminals –Robert Morris

Here’s a weird one for you. In 1988 (that’s right, over 20 years ago), a student named Robert Morris created the world’s first Internet worm. According to Morris, this worm wasn’t meant to cause the $530,000 worth of damages it did, but rather it was meant to be a tool to measure the size of the internet. Unfortunately, the worm copied itself over and over again and, before it could be stopped, it infected thousands upon thousands of computers.

Morris wasn’t given any jail time for what seemed like an honest mistake, but he was still forced to do community service and was put on probation. Today he works as a professor. Pfft. I don’t know why he got off so easy.

Sorry, that’s not fair. I’m actually glad Morris didn’t receive harsh punishment for his mistake. I guess I’m just upset about my blunder with Captain Jack Plunder. Don’t you worry though, we’ll catch him. Just like Morris, I’m not about to let one little mistake get in my way.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

October 28 2009

Cyber Criminals –Vladimir Levin, Citibank Fraud

Back in 1994, when I was at the youthful age of...15 years younger than I am now...there was a famous case of fraud involving Citibank. Wow, I feel old now.

Back then Vladimir Levin used Citibank's dialup wire transferring service to steal $10.7 million dollars! Of course, Levin was caught in less than a year, the bank got almost all of its money back, and Levin went to prison. Talk about a waste of time!

The interesting thing about this case is that originally, the media said Levin was a mathematician and graduate of Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology. After all, this would explain how he could hack into their system so easily, right? Well, as it turns out, Levin had no such skills. Instead of hacking into Citibank’s wire transfer service, Levin simply paid $100 to someone in the company to give him access to the systems.

Does this make Levin less of a cyber criminal? Not at all. Though he might not have had the smarts to break in himself, he did have $100 and a plan to steal millions via technology.  So watch out! It doesn’t take genius to be a notorious cyber criminal, just a regular person with evil in their heart and $100 in their pocket!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

October 23 2009

Here’s the Plan

Before I do anything else, I just want to say how impressed I am with Jax and Sparky. Not only did they encourage Erika to come forward, but they also came up with a fantastic plan to catch the cyber pirate Captain Jack. Here’s what they came up with. Since Erika hadn’t responded to Captain Jack’s email yet, we had her write back to him saying that she did want to join his crew. We also had her invite the pilfering pirate to a Halloween party at the Academy. By the way, Dana, can you throw a Halloween party together for this Friday? Thanks.

Anyway, once Captain Jack shows up, we’ll nab him and make him walk the plank! I mean, we’ll arrest him. Sorry, I got carried away with the pirate theme…

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Miscellaneous