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

August 31, 2010

Cyber Criminals - The Bad Hatter

Knowledge is the best weapon against cyber crime. It's important to know as much as you can about cyber criminals so you can learn how to defeat them.

Alias: The Bad Hatter
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Cyberspace Detention Center
Primary attack: Hacking
Weakness: Overconfidence

Well that was an…adventure… The Bad Hatter was one of the most intense, unbelievable baddies we’ve ever come up against. I’ve got to say I’m extremely proud of all the Cadets for defeating him.

I’d love to tell you all about the Bad Hatter, but there’s a little problem. We still have him trapped in that old PC that Erika lured him into, and there’s no way we’re plugging it back in to question him. He’s just too dangerous.

Here’s what we know – the Bad Hatter is some sort of living computer program that’s capable of controlling reality. How it came about is anyone’s guess and how he’s able to warp the world around him is a question I don’t think we’ll ever answer. Maybe twenty years from now when we have the technology to deal with him we’ll let him out, but until then…I’ll sleep better at night knowing he’s trapped and powerless.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

June 28,2010

Cyber Crimes: Copyright Infringment

Whoa, talk about a major slip on my part! I was reading through some of my older blog posts and I realized something – I’ve mentioned something called “copyright” a few times now but never really said what it is. I think now is the perfect time to fix that.

Copyright law is a set of rules that protects the creator of an original work from having his or her work copied. For example, the blog I’m writing is an original work of mine. Because everything on this website is protected by a copyright (see the bottom of the page), anyone copying it without permission would be breaking the law. This crime is known as copyright infringement. It is punishable with very serious fines.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that the copyright law changes from country to country, so be careful! What might be legal in one nation could be a crime in another. Basically, it all comes down to this, though – no one likes a copycat, so do your best to be original!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

May 26, 2010

Cyber Criminals - Reomel Ramones and Onel de Guzman

Way back in the year 2000, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and cavemen rode around on wooly mammoths, people around the world received emails with “ILOVEYOU” as the subject. The email also had an attachment with it that read “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT”. Of course, people opened the email because they were curious who had sent it. Unfortunately for them, the email didn’t contain a letter from a secret admirer, but instead it held a nasty worm.

This worm, called “The Love Bug,” would then send a copy of itself to every email address in the victim’s address book. Once it had infected a system, the worm would make several nasty changes to the computer’s operating system. The cyber criminals, Reomel Ramones and Onel de Guzman, launched their cyber attack from their homes in the Philippines. Once they were caught, the Filipino government enacted “The E-Commerce Law” to make sure such terrible cyber crimes would never go unpunished.

In my opinion, this worm was particularly cruel. Not only were its victims’ computers infected, but they had their hopes crushed, too! I’m sure they would’ve rather had the love letter than the worm…

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

May 17,2010

Cyber Crimes: Wire Fraud

Hi there, Cadets. Enjoying this beautiful spring weather? I know I am. Bees are chirping, birds are buzzing. Wait, reverse that. Anyway, do you want to know something I don’t enjoy? WIRE FRAUD!

Before I dive into wire fraud, let me explain fraud at its most basic level. When one person lies to another in order to gain something, they have committed fraud against that person. Wire fraud is exactly the same, only the lie is told using electronic communication. Some examples of wire fraud include email scams and phony telemarketers that try to get personal information from their victims. Remember, Cadets, wire fraud is a very serious crime, punishable by time in prison and tough fines.

The best way to prevent wire fraud is to remain ever vigilant! In other words, be cautious with your personal information. The Internet is great, but it can also be dangerous!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

April 12, 2010

Cyber Criminals - Saad Echouafni

Howdy Cadets! Spring has Sprung! Birds are blooming, flowers are chirping…wait…reverse those… Anyway, all this return of activity and new growth has got me thinking about one thing…

Cyber Criminals!

Getting ahead in the business world can be tough…especially when you have competitors that will do almost anything to get ahead. Saad Echouafni is a former head of a satellite communications company turned alleged cyber criminal who is wanted in Los Angeles for allegedly using hackers to attack his competitors with denial of service attacks.

The attacks Echouafni allegedly ordered affected both commercial and governmental business. Some of these businesses were shut down for up to two weeks! The total cost of the attacks is between $200,000 and $1 Million.

And I thought those satellite TV vs. cable TV ads were tough…

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

March 22,2010

Cyber Crimes: The WANK Worm

In 1989, some Australian activists launched a cyber attack against NASA, causing their computers to flash with the message “WORMS AGAINST NUCLEAR KILLERS; YOUR SYSTEM HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY WANKED!” and “YOU TALK OF TIMES OF PEACE FOR ALL, AND THEN PREPARE FOR WAR.” The worm that infected NASA’s computers caused an estimated loss of over $500,000 before it was stopped. Additionally, it spread along the network before anyone could prevent its spreading, infecting sites across the globe.

Unlike the alleged criminals in most of our Cyber Crimes blogs, the creators of the WANK worm were never caught. Still, I can’t help but think they didn’t exactly come out on top of the situation. I mean, their goal was to speak out against nuclear weapons, when in reality, all they did was temporarily cripple a space program and several nuclear power plants and energy research facilities around the world. That’s the sort of thing we SHOULD be using nuclear technology for!

In my opinion, they probably could’ve done more good writing letters to Parliament about the dangers of nuclear weapons. At least that wouldn’t be illegal!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

February 19,2010

Cyber Crimes: Email Bombing

So uh…I accidentally email bombed Dr. Keen. Yeah, I know, I should have known better. In case you don’t know what email bombing is, let me explain by telling you what I did. So Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I thought it’d be nice to send her a card telling her how much I appreciate her. Well, after talking to Trey about being green, I decided to send her an electronic card instead.

The only problem is, once I got online, I couldn’t choose which card to send! Since they were free, I thought to myself why not send her all of them? Then she’d really know how much I care! Well…50,000 cards later, she couldn’t access her account! And on top of that, her Internet service provider (ISP) banned her entirely because they thought they were under a denial of service attack!

I think, in the future, I’ll just take Trey’s other advice and make her a card from recycled paper…or, you know, just tell her how much she means to me.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes