Welcome to the Crime Lab! Here you will find information about cyber crimes and what happens to people who commit them.
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.
It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do
- John Baptiste Moliere
Cupcakes
Interests:Coaching softball, fishing, catching cyber criminals
July 7 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: The Phisherman
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 Phisherman
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email, Web sites
Primary attack: Phishing
Weakness:Phishing filters, reporting to authorities, the cold shoulder
The Phisherman trained under M.C. Spammer but quickly grew tired of his ineffective spam attacks that most people just learned to ignore or blocked with a spam filter. Wanting to steal more money faster, he turned to Phishing attacks, using social engineering tactics to trick people into giving away their personal information.
His most common phishing scam is to send a victim an email claiming there is something wrong with their bank account. This email may include some of the victim’s personal information, like their name or social security number, to trick them into believing the email is truly from their bank. The email directs the victim to a Web site to enter their bank account information to “fix” the problem, but this fake Web site allows the Phisherman to steal their bank account information and their money.
His many other scams include pretending to be a network administrator, a PayPal or eBay employee, and even the IRS. He will use any Internet communication tool, including email, chat rooms, social networking sites, and instant messenger, to try and trick people into giving him their personal information or passwords.
Refer to Scout's Cyber Defense Threat: Phishing post for more information about how to protect yourself from Phishing attacks.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
June 2 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: Captain Bluetooth, the Cyber Pirate
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: Captain Bluetooth, the Cyber Pirate
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Peer-to-peer software, download sites
Primary attack: Cyber piracy
Weakness:Reporting to authorities, avoiding downloads
Captain Bluetooth terrorizes Cyberspace with his cyber piracy, pillaging files and content and leaving masses of damage in his wake. Ignoring copyright law completely, he maliciously copies and distributes software, music, and movies throughout the Web. His ruthless theft hurts not only the creators of the software and music, but also everyone else because the more he steals, the more companies have to raise their prices to compensate for lost profits.
Captain Bluetooth's reckless cyber attacks are just as illegal as walking into the store and grabbing something off the shelf without paying, and he will try to tempt you into cyber piracy yourself by offering you free software, music, and movies to download. He has also been known to work with Elvirus to install malware into his pirated files. Lacking any sense of right and wrong, Captain Bluetooth will offer you his free software and music and then stab you in the back by infecting your computer.
To protect yourself, avoid downloading anything that you would normally have to pay for in a store. You could get into serious trouble by committing cyber piracy, so check with a trusted adult before downloading.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
May 5 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: The Master Hacker
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 Master Hacker
Real Name:Ex-Commander Nils
Location: Cyberspace Detention Center
Primary attack: Hacking
Weakness: Protecting your Personal Information, Firewalls
Before he was The Master Hacker, Nils was Commander Nils of the Cyber Defense Force and Commander Omni's partner. A few years after graduating from the Carnegie Cyber Academy, Nils was on an undercover mission to infiltrate a league of hackers when he suddenly disappeared. When he finally resurfaced, he had joined with the criminals and become a Cyber Villain, The Master Hacker.
He began using his knowledge of Cyberspace to seek out riches and revenge rather than to protect the Internet, stealing money, identities, secrets, and personal information from people and causing terrible damage. He also masterminded the single largest attack on Cyberspace in the history of the Academy, trying to take it over completely and force everyone to reveal their personal information and allow him access to their computers. Nils committed many crimes and deceived many authorities before he was finally captured by a large team of Cyber Defenders, led by his former partner Commander Omni.
UPDATE: In January of 2008, Nils managed to escape from the Cyberspace Detention Center with the assistance of the Cyber Villains Elvirus, M. C. Spammer, Ms. Information, and the Dis Guys. The Cyber Defense Force was able to track him down again thanks to the reckless but heroic efforts of Carnegie Cadet Alan, who allowed himself to be kidnapped by the Cyber Villains in order to gain knowledge about their activities.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
April 7 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: Jax, Cyber Bully
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: Jax
Real Name: Jenny
Location: Detention Center
Primary attack: Sending mean and hurtful messages to other
Weakness: Reporting to Authorities, the cold shoulder
Jax is a cyber bully who attacked people through instant messaging, chat rooms, and emails because she thought it was funny. She started out bullying just her friends, sending them nasty emails and instant messages telling them how stupid they were and trying to make them angry. Her friends got tired of it and blocked her, so she started sending the messages to complete strangers.
She did not realize that there are ways to monitor the Internet and that sooner or later someone was going to get sick of her bullying and report her. She's in the Detention Center because of her mischievous behavior.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
March 3 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: Sparky, Script Kiddie
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: Sparky
Real Name: Francis Quincy
Location: Detention Center
Primary attack: Using borrowed hacking programs to alter Web sites and disrupt data
Weakness: Reporting to Authorities
A script kiddie is an inexperienced hacker, frequently a kid like Sparky, who uses programs developed by other hackers to attack computers and alter Web sites. Most script kiddies are just trying to cause trouble, impress their friends, or gain credit in an underground hacker community.
Sparky used an easy-to-trace program to hack into his school's library database and rearrange it. He was trying to get attention and fame, but the harm he caused only made everyone resentful towards him. They traced the attack straight to his home computer and he confessed to using the program to wreck the database.
Even though he did not create the program, Sparky's crime is severe enough for him to spend some time in the Detention Center. He will be released when he has learned his lesson about treating a serious crime like hacking like it's a game.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
February 4 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: The Dis Guys
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 Dis Guys
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Chat rooms, Instant Messengers
Primary attack: Stealing Personal Information, Identity Theft
Weakness: Reporting to Authorities, the cold shoulder
The Dis Guys are twin brothers who seek out victims in Cyberspace to steal their personal information to cause trouble. They work under several aliases but most common are the screen names Spyke9 and Mr.Floppy. The Dis Guys lurk in chat rooms and send people instant messages trying to lure them into revealing personal information or their offline identity.
It is believed that Spyke9 plans most of their dastardly deeds and Mr.Floppy helps carry them out. They are the most dangerous Cyber Villains because they can harm more than just your computer. They can steal your identity or your money, or even find you offline.
To defend yourself, never give out your personal information in Cyberspace because you never know if The Dis Guys are watching! Check out Hint Sheet #02 and Betty's section on Personal Information for some examples of personal information.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
January 7 2008
Cyber Criminal Profile: Elvirus
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: Elvirus
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email attachments, downloaded files
Primary attack: Virus
Weakness: Anti-virus software and other security programs, the cold shoulder
Elvirus infects files all over Cyberspace with her sneaky viruses by tempting people into opening them and unleashing the malware. She flirts with you by sending email attachments promising cool games or funny pictures that secretly contain harmful malware. She can even hide viruses in music files, free software, or other downloadable files.
Elvirus' contaminated files look harmless, but her viruses can cause severe damage to your computer. She can be even more dangerous if she gains access to your computer. She can even use your computer to attack others!
To defend yourself, be very careful with files from Cyberspace and email attachments. Ask a trusted adult before downloading any files, download only from reliable sources, and scan everything with anti-virus software before you open it. Also, scan all email attachments before opening and don't open email attachments from people you don't know.
Elvirus is a dangerous Cyber Villain, but she can be defeated!
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
December 3 2007
Cyber Criminal Profile: Ms. Information
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: Ms. Information
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Web sites
Primary attack: Incorrect Information, Lies
Weakness: Reliable Web sites, the cold shoulder
Ms. Information is a bit of a know-it-all and will claim that she is always correct. She frequently creates Web sites that look real and useful but are really full of incorrect information, or misinformation. She frequently makes mistakes, and worse, she will even flat-out lie to you.
Ms. Information can trick you with her lies, and her fake Web sites can trip you up when doing Web research. To defend yourself, be suspicious of what you read online and make sure to use reliable sources for your Web research.
Check out Maya's Study Hall for tips on doing Web research and finding reliable sites.
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
November 5 2007
Cyber Criminal Profile: M.C. Spammer
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: M.C. Spammer
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email
Primary attack: Spam
Weakness: Spam filters, the cold shoulder
M.C. Spammer's cyber weapon of choice is spam, and he will try to send out as much of it as often as he can. His spam emails try to fool innocent people into opening them with free travel offers and fun I.Q. tests. He'll email you anything to get a quick buck, steal your personal information, or infest your computer with malware.
M.C. Spammer is very annoying but relatively harmless. To defend yourself, use a spam filter to prevent most of his attacks and learn how to recognize the ones that get through so you can delete them right away. Also, be careful to whom and what sites you give your real email address, as this can leave you open for his attacks.
Keep it up, Cyber Defenders! We'll catch him!
posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals
June 12 2007
New Detainee
Commander Omni brought me a new 'guest' for the Detention Center today. His name is Sparky and he's what we would call a "script kiddie," one of those kids who knows just enough about programming to get himself into a lot of trouble. He was caught using malicious programs to attack Internet websites.
He doesn't seem like a bad kid. Just made a few mistakes is all. He didn't even write the programs he was using. He found them on some hacker website.