Illegal gambling over the Internet 2011/2012: William Lisle, 57, and Kenneth B. Lovett, 72 of Joplin, Missouri Sentenced

Was Dürer a Gambler...?

William Lisle, 57, of Joplin, MISSOURI, was sentenced on October 31st, 2012, by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to two years of probation (including six months of home detention) and ordered to pay a fine of 2.000 USD. As a condition of his probation, Lisle may not enter any gambling establishment or engage in any type of gambling, including off-shore or Internet gambling. Lisle must forfeit to the government almost 100.000 USD (98.263 USD) that was seized from his residence by law enforcement, which was the proceeds of gambling activity.

Judge Dorr

Co-defendant Kenneth B. Lovett, 72, also of Joplin, received the same sentence on October 18th, 2012.

Lisle and Lovett each pleaded guilty to using the Internet to transmit wagering information, including placing bets on sporting events, as part of their gambling business from January 1st, 2003, until to February 8th, 2011. Lovett, who was primarily engaged in wagering on National Football League events, took on Lisle as a partner in 2006. Lisle and Lovett shared income and expenses equally until 2010, when Lisle’s share of income and expenses increased to 60 percent.

Lisle and Lovett utilized two Internet websites, with servers located in Costa Rica, to administer the bookmaking operation. Their gambling operation flourished when they began using the off shore gambling Web sites in 2006. The number of their customers and the amounts they wagered increased. For example, according to the plea agreement, one gambler would wager as much as 35.000 USD on a single weekend during the American football season.

Lisle also pleaded guilty to money laundering. Lisle sent cashier’s checks, payable to a false name in an effort to conceal the transfer, to the Costa Rican company that operated the websites. Lisle’s plea agreement cites 15 instances in which he sent cashier’s checks (totaling 72.000 USD) to Costa Rica via Federal Express as part of his scheme to launder money obtained from the gambling enterprise.

SOURCE: http://www.highbeam.com/

St. Louis & San Diego: Jonathan Cowden sentenced to 15 Months Prison on Hacking Charges

A man formerly from St. Louis now living in San Diego was behind the series of online attacks against an Israeli organization.

Jonathan Cowden, 27, used hacking tools to attack Nefesh B’Nefesh, an Israeli organization that assists immigrants to that country, between November 2011 and January 17th, 2012 . Cowden stole data, damaged computers and boasted about his exploits on Twitter as “_AnonymouSTL_” and elsewhere.

Cowden was indicted on January 9th 2012 on a charge of accessing a protected computer without authorization, but the indictment was sealed until Cowden’s arrest January 18th 2012 in San Diego, where he moved to in the summer of 2011. There he pleaded not guilty in the U.S. District Court in San Diego.

In court documents, Cowden told court officials that he earns 4.000 USD a month working for a company that advertises its ability to keep companies’ online data safe. In at least one online profile, he billed himself as a “White Hat” hacker, someone who helps organizations identify security vulnerabilities.

According to a cyber attack timeline on Hackmageddon.com, the Nefesh incident was part of a series of attacks against Israeli targets. The total cost of the breach was estimated at 180.000 USDollar, and Nefesh had 594 names, addresses and encrypted passwords stolen, the site notes.

On March 27th 2014 Jonathan Cowden was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment resulting from his conviction for hacking a website associated with an Israeli-based business. Cowden was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims of his hacking crimes.

Beware of PASSWORD STEAM-PHISHING from POLAND: 8 SITES hosted on the same Server carding.pl staemcommnity.com steamcommunity.com.kz steamcommunly.com steamcomnuinity.com steamcomnunitu.com steamcomnuntly.com stearncommynity.com

THE FOLLOWING DOMAINS ARE SETUP TO PHISH 
YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION LIKE PASSWORDS, E-MAIL ADRESS ETC from Steam:
DOMAINS ARE BLUE:

http://carding.pl

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/cf559f3de9bbc8ec910a0c82b1219d7a73f1a180f48d36f61140c91b2891e943/analysis/

http://staemcommnity.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/b71eae1b48b15e40c77ed5313f2ba168001e789bf22751e7bc66d4bfa5f02541/analysis/

http://steamcommunity.com.kz

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/b703e98a91925b20103dfdee789405b1f6b7b06a7dafd522563dff3cf8871207/analysis/

http://steamcommunly.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/a417baa1ba043ad0858ee2e5499763e373bdcf58fbe5a43cbfc089374059857e/analysis/

http://steamcomnuinity.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/b40ad3922e0de4658aaac818f7bf6d867c224d65840af60b9711f70d442351fe/analysis/

http://steamcomnunitu.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/ea9455325003675be1977842cd1b0e8c858762dcb0d3824227e9d13cdd2c1c07/analysis/

http://steamcomnuntly.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/68b58963666dbb66f5501c091abff270551b66fc56175fd123802b3655e4d00c/analysis/

http://stearncommynity.com

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/530e45299fce01a963c2e57182ae6e5f6ded4f76ad313662a9ea9a21b833b138/analysis/

IP =

http://91.188.124.157

• https://www.virustotal.com/de/url/5c57e04dde30362f07ca72a10e36cbae0d475336197138e26ef986bf5f570612/analysis/1394729002/

ONLINE CHILD PREDATORS 2011: Retired Florida Teacher Dale Chisena, Sentenced to 30 Years for Traveling to Kentucky for Sexual Relations with Two Juveniles

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell sentenced 60-year-old Dale Chisena for interstate travel to engage in sex with a person under 12 years of age. "I'm pleased to say that my Cybercrimes Investigators working with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have taken another child predator off of the streets," General Conway said.

Chisena admitted that in July of 2011 he engaged in numerous online chats with a person he thought was the mother of nine and 11-year-old daughters. In reality, Chisena was talking to one of General Conway's cybercrimes investigators working undercover. Chisena was indicted on federal charges in April of 2011. According to his plea agreement, Chisena explained in detail his intentions to engage in sexual acts with the mother and her two daughters.

Dale Chisena

"Mr. Chisena had every intention of sexually exploiting young children," said U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey. "We were fortunate that he was chatting with an undercover officer and not vulnerable children."

On February 4, 2011, Chisena flew from Florida to Lexington. He was arrested shortly after arriving at Bluegrass Airport by investigators from General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit. Chisena had brought gifts for the girls and other items that indicated his intention to perform sexual acts on the girls.

The investigation was conducted by the Attorney General's office and the FBI. The U.S. Attorney's Office was represented in the case by its Fort Mitchel Branch Office.

Since its creation in June of 2008, General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit has launched more than 270 child pornography investigations and seized more than 300.000 child pornographic images and videos from the Internet.

Source: http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/ag/chisenasentenced.htm

MARYLAND Online Child Predators 1995 - 2012: Matthew David Sluss sentenced to 33 years in prison (Guildsolutions)

Matthew David Sluss aka "guildsolutions" had some time in his life, where he never thought he could be gay, until he endeavoured into the World-Wide-Web when knew for sure he was (gay) - when he has received a picture of a 14 year old boy - right there he was obsessed. He went on collecting these kind of photographes, by encrypting his CPU so that he would never be found. Disastrously for him, he was negligent in his attitude of login information, so finally his pictures were cought.

Matthew David Sluss

In 1995, Sluss was charged in Maryland for possession of child pornography. He was shocked to learn that he gets into trouble by possessing old photographs of naked and molested children that he never had contact with nor didn't even know them. Additionally he was also charged with intent to deliver child pornography as with fourth degree sexual assault. Having reached a plea deal with the prosecutors at the time, he received 18 months on probation and was ordered to obtain counseling and stay away from children.

Eric C. Hagen

Later in his life, Sluss moved to the state of Arkansas (possibly to leave behind his shock and prisonal past) and stayed with some other like-minded pedophile buddy. His dream about starting a new life with the old behaviour, has not turned out as the way he thought it would. But something in some moment provided him with the opportunity to befriend some neighborhood children who were being severely neglected, some common pedophile rationalization. Trying to establish the best he could in Arkansas, he decided to returned home to his native Maryland. Back home he learned, that he was wanted by Law Enforcement in Arkansas for the sexual abuse of those neighborhood children he had befriended, and was arrested and put to jail.

Meantime, Sluss continued to interact with children, even though it was expressly against the conditions of his Maryland conviction for child pornography. Upto that very day, Sluss continued to interact with children, having taken a trip with at least two of them and some other adult pedophile, Eric C. Hagen, aka "Stewedsquirrel" from Aurora, Colorado, in July of 2006, as evidenced by the photo gallery on his former blog - (blog.guildsolutions.com - Site is down). It is believed that Sluss and Hagen were roommates in Colorado at the time.

Jim Finn

Matthew Sluss also had another interesting connection to the pedophile world. In addition to the above, he also used to be a friend-of-a-friend of Jim Finn, aka Jimf3. Finn has been arrested for possession of child pornography.

Sluss had been working in the IT profession (he holds an associates degree in computer science from Allegany College of Maryland), he owned an internet hosting service at www.guildsolutions.com.

Besides the child pornography charges, Sluss was formerly been charged with unlawful possession of a credit card number, being in receipt of a stolen credit card, receipt of a credit card unlawfully, being a fugitive from justice (the Arkansas incident), child abuse by custodian, battery and theft.

On March 12th, 2012, U.S. District Judge Ellen B. Hollander sentenced Matthew Sluss, age 36, of Rawlings, Maryland, to 33 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for advertising child pornography through an Internet file sharing program. The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

Ellen L. Hollander

“Two prior convictions for sexually abusing children did not deter Matthew Sluss from using the Internet to contact other pedophiles and produce child pornography, so now he will spend most of his remaining years in federal prison where he will pose no danger to children,” said Rosenstein.

According to his plea agreement, Sluss had previously been convicted of two offenses related to the sexual abuse of two minor boys and was required to register as a sex offender.

Sluss was a widespread Internet user of a publicly available peer-to-peer file sharing network and was involved in the advertising and distribution of child pornography. According to his plea, in 2009, the FBI Philadelphia Division began an undercover investigation into a user of a file sharing program, later identified as Sluss, who was sharing more than 115.000 files.

Rod J. Rosenstein

The FBI browsed through the content of the shared files and observed child pornography images and hundreds of videos with titles symbolic to child pornography.

During November and December 2009, the FBI downloaded 108 images and one video that contained visual illustrations of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. At that time, Sluss was residing in Denver, Colorado and a search warrant was executed at his home.

Law enforcement seized multiple computers and hard drives from the residence. Sluss advised the agents that he was previously employed as a network administrator, and that he hosted his own mail server and website, so, according to Sluss (seems like a make-believe), all of the data on his computers and hard drives was encrypted to protect the “documents” and prevent anyone without the appropriate password from viewing the files. A forensic review of the computers and hard drives revealed that much of the data was encrypted.

By February 2010, Sluss had moved to his parents’ home in Rawlings, Maryland, and on February 8th, 2010, registered as a sex offender with Maryland’s Sex Offender Registry, as required due to his previous convictions.

In spring and summer 2010, five separate law enforcement officers working in an undercover sting, determined that Sluss was downloading and sharing large amounts of child pornography over a publicly available file sharing program. The FBI’s Baltimore, Buffalo, Miami, and Sacramento Divisions, as well as the Toronto, Canada Police Service, all downloaded child pornography being shared by Sluss over the Internet. Video surveillance was conducted at Sluss’s residence in August and September 2010, during which Sluss was observed sitting at his computer in his bedroom, using the file sharing program and downloading images and videos of child pornography.

On September 15th, 2010, the FBI executed a next warrant at the Sluss home. Just prior to the execution of the warrant, Sluss was observed sitting at his computer in his bedroom using the file sharing program. As agents entered the residence, Sluss attempted to block the agents’ entrance at the kitchen door. As the agents began to enter, Sluss ran towards his bedroom (like a little child), where he was stopped by an agent who entered the residence through Sluss’ bedroom window.

When law enforcement agents viewed Sluss’s computer, the computer was logged onto the file sharing program and investigators were able to view the recent chat history between Sluss and his pedophile socalled “friends” on the file sharing program, as well as to access much of the data on Sluss’s various PCs.

One of the computers wired to Sluss’ bedroom was located in the rear of the crawl space under the first floor of the residence. Investigators were able to view and copy most of the data contained on this computer, which revealed over 25.000 files containing images and video of child pornography. One of the computers in Sluss’s bedroom contained much encrypted volumes.

According to the plea agreement, the file sharing program used by Sluss contains a “chat” feature that allows the user to communicate with others who use the program either through “private” or “public” chats. A review of Sluss’ computer revealed numerous chats from Sluss using the file sharing program in which he encourages the production, transportation, and distribution of child pornography. Specifically, Sluss encouraged his pedophile “friends” to make videos of boys engaged in sexually explicit activity by webcam, and share those videos with Sluss.

For example, in early September 2010, Sluss posted the following messages:

• “I don’t want teens... But I’m not giving out the private shares unless I get similar back... preteen...”

• “And again, im looking for stuff that is very recent. im spending HOURS each day... getting boys to go private for me i want the same.”

SOURCES: 
FBI
http://www.baltimoresun.com/
http://www.thebaynet.com/
http://evil-unveiled.com/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/

Who is Who ? The Next Election Hack ! Matthew Weaver, the arrogant and unteachable wannabe "Hacker", Sentenced to one Year Federal Prison for Rigging Campus Elections

Matthew Weaver, 22, resident of Huntington Beach, California, and a former candidate for student council president at California State University San Marcos, hoped to guarantee himself victory by rigging the 2012 Associated Students, Inc. election through cyber fraud, but, he ended up winning a year in prison instead. (ROFL)

Weaver was using a Keylogger to steal passwords and identities of nearly 750 fellow students. Then he cast votes for himself (as well of some supporters of him on the ballot) using those stolen names. He was caught during the final hour of the election in March 2012 when network administrators noticed unusual voting activity associated with one single CPU on the campus. A California State Police officer sent to investigate the suspicions, found Weaver working on that particular machine. He had casted more than 600 votes for himself using the stolen identities.

Matthew Weaver

“Some people wanted to paint this as a college prank gone bad, but he took the identities of almost 750 people, and that’s a serious thing,” said Special Agent Charles Chabalko, who worked the investigation out of the FBI San Diego Field Division after being contacted by California State Police authorities. “He had access to these students’ e-mails, financial information, and their social networks. He had access to everything.”
Weaver installed keyloggers (inexpensive devices easily purchased on the Internet) on 19 different campus computers. Those who used the machines were unaware that Weaver later retrieved every keystroke they made, enabling him to obtain their usernames and passwords and then gain access to all their information.

California State University San Marcos

When cyber investigator Chabalko and his partner, Special Agent Nick Arico, analyzed Weaver’s laptop after his arrest, they found a spreadsheet that included the names of all the people whose identities he had stolen. “He kept a detailed indept accounting,” Chabalko said. And that’s not all investigators found.

Weaver had made online searches that included topics such as “jail time for keylogger” and “how to rig an election.”

“He knew what he did was wrong,” Chabalko said. “And even after he was caught, he didn’t want to stand in to what he did. He tried to cover up his actions and blame his crime on other fellow students.”

The evidence against Weaver was simply overwhelming, however, he finally pled guilty in March 2013. At his sentencing, the federal judge who sent Weaver to prison noted that Weaver trying to frame others for his crime is “the phenomenal misjudgment I just can’t get around. That’s what bothers me more than the original rigging of the election.”

The investigators agreed, noting that while it was wrong for Weaver to try and steal the election, “what we were really concerned about was the privacy of those students whose identities he stole” Chabalko said. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office felt the same way, writing in their sentencing memorandum, “Weaver determinedly and repeatedly spied on his classmates, stole their passwords, read their secrets, and usurped their votes—and he did it with his eyes wide open.” (like a child that does not want to acknowledge his wrongdoing ! If someone like that would come to power, then: GOD (PLEASE) BLESS AMERICA !)

Source: FBI, dailymail.co.uk, 10news.com

MARYLAND Online Child Predators 2014: Daniel Burton "Snoop" got sentenced to 262 months in prison for Prostituting a 13-Year-Old Girl through the Internet on Craigslist

Judge Chasanow

On January 2nd (Yesterday), 2014, Daniel Burton (a/k/a "Snoop"), 30, of Capitol Heights, Maryland was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, to 262 months in prison followed by a lifetime supervised release. Judge Chasanow ordered that upon his release from prison, Burton must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he might be a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

Rosenstein stated: “This is an egregious case because the 'prostitute' was a 13-year old child, the lengthy sentence should send a powerful message that sex trafficking of children will not be tolerated in Maryland.” (Or elsewhere, no ?)

United States Attorney Rosenstein

According to his plea agreement in March 2008, Burton asked a 13-year-old girl walking near her home for her phone number, which she provided. Burton began calling the girl and eventually recruited her to work as a prostitute. Burton drove her to hotels, photographed her in lingerie, and advertised her on Craigslist for sexual services (Who knows, maybe he the Craigslist Ripper ?). The girl had sex with many clients that responded to the ads and Burton kept all the money she earned. Burton provided the girl with alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy.

Craigslist Logo

On April 1st, 2008, police responded to a complaint at a hotel, where Burton was found with the girl in a room. Burton claimed the girl was a relative and police arranged for the girl to return home. Burton subsequently picked the girl up at her home and continued prostituting her.

On April 8th, 2008, law enforcement saw a Craigslist ad for the girl’s sexual services and arranged a “date”. Law enforcement arrived at the scene and arrested Burton who was sitting outside the hotel.

The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with members from 10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Task Force coordinates with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit to identify missing children being advertised online for prostitution.

MCETF partners with the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, formed in 2007 to discover and rescue victims of human trafficking while identifying and prosecuting offenders. Members include federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as victim service providers and local community members.

For more information about the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force, visit: http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/priorities_human.html

Hazardous to Your Health: Internets Fake and Toxic Cosmetics

The Federal Bureau of Investigation lately sent a warning out about Fake Cosmetics bought & sought on the Internet. Beside Rogue Medications and Rogue AV-Programs, the market of toxic and fake cosmetics & perfumes, is up to this day unaware to most (naive) consumers.

First you see what appears to be your favorite brand name eye shadow, eye liner, or fragrance for sale at a flea market or on an to you unfamiliar website. Then, you notice the price is reasonable and cheaper than what you normally pay at your casual retail store or through an trusted online dealer, like i.e. Amazon.

Before you hand over your hard-earned money, though, keep the following in mind:

It could be counterfeit, and - in addition to buying something that’s not the real deal - you are also risking your health, your life, by buying and using products that may contain substandard or even dangerous ingredients. Besides that, you are, by purchasing those counterfeits, supporting Criminals who dont care about YOU, nor your wellbeing !

The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Center - of which the FBI is a partner - wants you to know that the volume of all sorts of counterfeit cosmetics and fragrances coming into the United States, is definitely on the rise. This is according to the industry partners as well as law enforcement.

The biggest Question remains: Why is this happening ?

Some reason is that the World Wide Web has given counterfeiters a boundless path to customers. Another answer may be, because criminals increasingly view dealing in counterfeit personal care products - as well as other knock-off consumer goods as well, like Viagra, Valium etc. for instance - as a relatively low-risk crime (since many of the perpetrators are located outside of the U.S.), and for them, a high lucrative earning, no matter how risky those goods can harm you, your family and friends.

Arsenic

Government and industry studies and testing have discovered that some of the ingredients that make up counterfeit cosmetics and fragrances are definitely dangerous:

• Phony cosmetics often contain things such as arsenic, beryllium, and cadmium (all known carcinogens) along with high levels of aluminum and dangerous levels of bacteria. Some of these products have caused conditions like acne, psoriasis, rashes, and eye infections.

• Counterfeit fragrances have been found to contain something called DEHP, classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen. These phony perfumes and colognes, which sometimes contain urine as well, have been known to cause serious skin rashes.

There is no typical profile being observed, of the individuals or groups trafficking in these kinds of counterfeit products. It could be your own neighbor. Additionally this might just be one of their many illegal activities - often times, the illicit earnings are used or shared to fund other types of criminal activities. If you would get a victim of a terror act, you may have not the chance anymore asking yourself, if that money that financed the attack, wasn`t the one you spent for last weeks cheap online cosmetic...

Law enforcement has also observed people selling counterfeit products through online auction sites (like Ebay etc.) and other websites, just to make a little extra cash, where some may not even realized their merchandise is fake.

Fake or Real ?

Because of the dangers to the public, law enforcement is mobilizing against counterfeit cosmetics and fragrances and other goods more and more. For example, the nearly two dozen U.S. and foreign agencies that make up the National IPR Center are working on the matter, sharing intelligence with one another, coordinating with state and local law enforcement, and developing international relationships with industry representatives around the world.

Some Indicating Facts of Counterfeits

- The packaging differs slightly from the authentic brand (might be a different color or different lettering on the product), and/or the product’s wrapping appears haphazard.

- The product is being advertised as a “limited edition” even though the authentic manufacturer doesn’t offer it as a limited edition.

- The price is either slightly or drastically lower.

- For cosmetics, the product’s consistency or texture just doesn’t feel or look like the authentic brand.

- For fragrances, there’s something a little off about the scent, and the color of the fluid in the bottle might be different than the original.

- For both products, they’re being sold at non-authorized retailers, including flea markets, mall kiosks, and over the Internet.

But most important in protecting citizens health: Law enforcement needs the public’s help !

For that, you first have to educate yourself about some of the common indicators of counterfeit cosmetics and fragrances so that you don’t become a victim (see box above). If you’re not sure about the authenticity of a product, just don’t buy it !

Adulterated cosmetics from a fake Cosmetics Factory in Chakbazar, India (2010)

Secondly, if you think you or someone you know may have purchased counterfeit cosmetics or fragrances, or if you suspect someone of selling counterfeit items, submit a tip to the National IPR Center or to your nearest Law enforcement agency. Remember: The more information law enforcement has, the more effective they can be. With the proliferation of counterfeit goods increasing at an alarming rate, the National IPR Center focuses on keeping these bogus and very often unsafe and toxic products out off U.S. hands (& bodys), meanwhile dismantling the criminal organizations behind these illegal activities. Keep Safe and be Cautious !

Additional Information on this subject can be found at the following Links:

- More on the National IPR Center
- It’s an age-old crime: Stealing
- How to spot counterfeit cosmetics

Cyberstalking December 2013: James Howard Wheeler, 46, sentenced to 30 months’ federal imprisonment for Facebook Stalking

James Howard Wheeler,  was arrested on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013, at his San Diego residence in Imperial Beach, California, in the 1200 block of Downing Street, by FBI agents and Deputies of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for violating federal interstate stalking laws, specifically with violating:

• Title 18, United States Code, Section(s) 2261A (2) (B), interstate stalking.

The stalking was involved in the divorce with his wife who moved from San Diego to Columbus, Georgia. Among several threats, Wheeler sent his wife pictures of a gun and an e-mail with the subject line:  "I hope you are dead!".

According to a affidavit, Wheeler told his wife in voicemails that if the FBI tried to arrest him he wouldn't go without a fight. One of the voicemails "states in part that if officers' return or try to remove him from the residence they should bring a 'lot of ammo.' Mr. Wheeler also verbalizes his intent to not be removed from his residence unless in a 'body bag," the document said.

Wheeler also threatened her mother and son, his wife said. A sheriff's deputy and a FBI agent interviewed Wheeler at his Imperial Beach residence in August 2012 and he admitted to posting threatening communications on Facebook. Although he was told to cease the threatening behavior, Wheeler continued to make threats of violence involving physical injury toward his estranged wife.

Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Michael J. Moore

 At that point, the FBI's Atlanta Field Office sought and obtained a federal arrest warrant charging Wheeler with interstate stalking. His threats included statements like:

• "Planning my trip to Georgia. Gonna teach a few people some manners!"
• "What are the odds that one family has 2 Lifetime movies made after their story?"
• "People can run but they can't hide. See you soon." 
• "Stay tuned to WRBL In Columbus. Wheeler is going to be famous."

The mention of a Lifetime movie was because a member of her family was in fact part of a made for TV movie. "Per Ms. Wheeler, the reference to a 'Lifetime movie' is in regards to the fact that a television movie was in fact produced regarding a member of her family who attempted to solicit a contract for the murder of her father," the affidavit said. Following his arrest, Wheeler was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego.

Judge Clay D. Land

All in all, over 37 threatening voicemails were left on the victim’s phone in a three-month period, as well as numerous Facebook and other public Internet postings.

On December 20th then (2013), the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Michael J. Moore, announced Wheeler has been sentenced by Clay D. Land, United States District Court Judge in Columbus, Georgia, to 30 months’ imprisonment for interstate stalking.

Underground Drug Website “Silk Road”: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Three Individuals for Their Roles in Running Silk Road Website

On December 20th, 2013, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Brian R. Crowell, the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the unsealing of an indictment against Andrew Michael Jones, a/k/a “Inigo,” Gary Davis, a/k/a “Libertas,” and Peter Philipp Nash, a/k/a “Samesamebutdifferent,” a/k/a “Batman73,” a/k/a “Symmetry,” a/k/a “Anonymousasshit,” in connection with their alleged roles in operating
“Silk Road,”, a hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement.

Jones was arrested in Charles City, Virginia, on December 19th, 2013, and was presented in Richmond, Virginia in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia a day later.

Davis is believed to be in Ireland.

Nash was arrested in Australia on December 20th, 2013, by the Australian Federal Police in Brisbane, Australia.

All three individuals are alleged to have conspired to run the Silk Road website with Ross William Ulbricht, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road,” the alleged owner and operator of Silk Road, who was previously arrested in San Francisco, California, on October 1st, 2013, pursuant to a Complaint filed in a Manhattan federal court.

According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court, and the Complaint previously filed against Ulbricht:

From about January 2011 until October 2nd, 2013, the “Silk Road” website hosted a sprawling black-market bazaar on the internet, where illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services were regularly bought and sold by the site’s users. 

During its more than two-and-a-half years in operation, Silk Road was used by several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services to well over a hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions.

Ulbricht, the owner and operator of Silk Road, ran the website with the assistance of a small support staff, including both site administrators and forum moderators. The site administrators were responsible for, among other things, monitoring user activity on Silk Road for problems, responding to customer service inquiries, and resolving disputes between buyers and vendors. 

The forum moderators were responsible for, among other things, monitoring user activity on discussion forums associated with the site, providing guidance to forum users concerning how to conduct business on Silk Road, and reporting any significant problems discussed on the forums to the site administrators and to Ulbricht. Ulbricht paid the site administrators and forum moderators salaries ranging from approximately $50,000 to approximately $75,000 per year for their services.

Jones and Davis worked as site administrators on Silk Road. 

Nash worked as the primary moderator on the Silk Road discussion forums. JONES, DAVIS, and NASH were each paid salaries by Ulbricht for their roles in connection with Silk Road.

JONES, 24, of Charles City, Virginia, DAVIS, 25, of Wicklow, Ireland, and NASH, 40, of Brisbane, Australia, are each charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The official Indictment PDF can be found here: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2013/12/Jones-Andrew-et-al-Silk-Road-Indictment.pdf

MARYLAND Online Child Predators 2012: Leo Aragon Evans Sentenced to Over 24 Years in Prison for Producing and Possessing Child Pornography

On June 15th, 2012, Leo Aragon Evans, 56, of Cockeysville, Maryland, got sentenced 292 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander. Following his sentence is a by lifetime supervised release, for producing and possessing child pornography. Judge Hollander also ordered that upon his release from prison, Evans must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander

According to Evans’ plea agreement, from January 10th, 2011, a 9-year-old child reported to Baltimore County Police that Evans had repeatedly sexually abused her over the past year. These acts occurred while the victim and another 10-year-old girl were under Evans’ care, sometimes at his home.

The next day, Baltimore County Police searched Evans’ residence and seized a video camcorder and two tapes. The Review of those tapes revealed that both depicted images of the 9- and 10-year-old girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In the first video, Evans is heard directing one of the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he videotapes the abuse. In the second video, Evans filmed the girls in the bathtub, telling them to stand up so he can film their naked bodies.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein

Further investigation revealed that Evans had been the subject of three prior investigations involving the sexual abuse of three other minor girls.

On January 19th, 2011, a woman reported to the Baltimore County Police that she had used the key she had to Evans’ apartment to retrieve her personal belongings and had discovered two “massagers,” (or sexual devices), that matched the description provided to police by one of the minor victims.

On April 16th and 17th, 2011, a family member entered Evans’ apartment, with his permission, to search for family photos and other items of sentimental value, while Evans was detained at the Baltimore County Detention Center. The family member found a baggie containing photos of three of the prepubescent girls, including photos of the victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The photographs of one of the victims matched the description of the photographs that she reported to police in 2003, which had been taken of her seven years earlier.

CALIFORNIA Online Child Predators 2013: Cruise Ship Entertainer Amado Nicholas Hernandez Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison after child porn found on garage sale computer

On December 20th, 2013, Amado N. Hernandez, 34, a former resident of Chico, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr. to eight years in prison for receipt of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

In the summer of 2010 in Glenn County, California, a concerned citizen reported to law enforcement that he had found child pornography on a computer he had gotten for free at a garage sale. The computer initially appeared to be inoperable, but the citizen repaired it and discovered images of child pornography on the hard drive.

Hernandez

Judge Garland E. Burrell

The FBI conducted a forensic review of the computer, which showed that the Microsoft Windows software loaded on the computer was registered to the defendant. The computer also contained photographs of Hernandez.

The forensic review revealed that there were approximately 450 still images of child pornography and approximately 250 videos of child pornography on the abandoned computer. Many were downloaded by Hernandez using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.

On January 2, 2011, the defendant was contacted in San Diego on the cruise ship where he worked. Law enforcement agents found child pornography on the laptop he had in his possession at that time.

Benjamin B. Wagner

Hernandez admitted that he had abandoned the other computer in Chico in 2009 before he left to work on the cruise ship. Hernandez, a pedophile who was employed by Celebrity Cruises as an audiovisual manager and provided onboard guest-entertainment services aboard the Constellation cruise ship.

TEXAS Online Child Predators 2013: Joshua Matthew Miranda, 29, sentenced to 20 Years Federal Prison to one count of receiving child pornography ! Hi, I´m Chris Hansen. Wont you take a seat...

Lubbock Active Jail Roster

On December 20th, 2013, Joshua Matthew Miranda, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 240 months in Prison following his guilty plea in September 2013 to one count of receiving child pornography. This announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Miranda has been in custody since his arrest in the parking lot of a church in Lubbock, Texas, in early May 2013, after arranging to meet an undercover law enforcement officer who had posed as a 15-year-old girl with whom Miranda had exchanged e-mails of a sexual nature.

Judge Sam R. Cummings

According to the complaint filed in the case, at the time of his arrest, Miranda had a box in his vehicle that contained numerous sex toys, ropes, gags, a blind fold, duct tape, and condoms. A federal grand jury later charged Miranda with attempted enticement of a child, production of child pornography, and receipt and possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the receipt count and received the statutory maximum for that offense.

Searches of his mobile phone and computer turned up images of child pornography including a prepubescent girl. Lubbock police investigated and found the girl. Court records said, “The juvenile female said that she and Miranda had a sexual relationship from sometime around October 2011 through June 2012.”

U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña

After his arrest, a state search warrant was executed at his residence in Lubbock, and law enforcement located several images and videos of child pornography on Miranda’s computer. Miranda admitted that he downloaded from the Internet numerous child pornography images and videos, including videos of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Even after Miranda has served his prison term, he will remain under federal supervision for the rest of his life.

ILLINOIS Online Child Predators 2012: David Murch, 20, of Schaumburg, Illinois, sentenced to six years in prison for Traveling Interstate to Engage in Sexual Contact with a Minor

In June 2012, David Murch, 20, of Schaumburg, Illinois, was sentenced to six years in prison by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, for Traveling Interstate to Engage in Sexual Contact with a Minor and receipt of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant met the minor victim online and developed a relationship through the Internet and telephone. In 2010, Murch traveled to Western New York from Illinois for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with the minor and transported the minor back to his home in Illinois. At the defendant’s request, the minor victim sent the defendant personal lewd images via text messaging.

U.S. Attorney William Hochul

 “This case began with an online chat between a predator and a child,” 

“Parents are once again reminded to monitor the computer usage of their children and to talk to them about the dangers lurking online.”

said U.S. Attorney William Hochul.

Cybercrime Review Who is Who: Skylar Ian Feurstein Pleads Guilty to Attempted Computer Hacking

In October 2010, Skylar Ian Feurstein began communicating online with a young woman living in London, United Kingdom. The two kept contact by email, social networking sites, and webcam. By the end of 2011, the woman tried to end the communication, but Feurstein, however, continued to email her and threatened to harm her, her family and friends.

Skylar Ian Feurstein

In January 2012, the victim contacted the Metropolitan Police in London to complain of the defendant’s continued threats to her, her family, and her coworkers. British authorities asked the FBI for assistance in Florida.

In February, 2012, FBI special agents visited the defendant at his home in Port St. Lucie, and advised him to stop. He did not, instead he still continued to send email threats to the victim into March 2012. Some of the emails contained death threats with subject titles such as “I will kill you” or “I will kill you and your family.” During the course of his conduct, defendant attempted electronically to access the victim’s email accounts on both the computer servers of her internet service provider, located in California, and on her personal computer, located in the United Kingdom.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer

On April 12th, Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced the indictment of defendant Skylar Ian Feurstein on charges of making threatening communications in interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of:

• 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), and making extortionate messages in interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(d). 

The defendant appeared in federal court in Fort Pierce on April 13th, 2012 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank J. Lynch, Jr. and was ordered detained pending trial.

On September 7th 2012, Skylar Ian Feurstein, pled guilty to charges of attempting to access a protected computer in interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of:

• 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2) and (b).

On his sentencing date, that was set for December 17th, 2012, Feurstein faced a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of five years on the charges of making threatening messages and not more than two years on the extortion count.

Cybercrime Review Who is Who:Kaleb Harper Ketchens El Paso Independent School District Computer System (EPISD) Hacker

On April 5th 2012, Kaleb Harper Ketchens, 20, from Meridian, Mississippi was arrested under federal charges from the FBI El Paso Division, in connection with an unauthorized access of the El Paso Independent School District computer system.

Kaleb Ketchens (Photo courtesy: KVIA-TV)

On March 28th, 2012, Ketchens got charged with two counts of computer fraud and one count of fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information.

Around August 29th, 2011, Ketchens illegally hacked into the EPISD System (El Paso Independent School District Computer System) to get students' identification numbers and posted them later on a hacker underground website. The computer security breach was discovered when a computer security company noticed a hacker bragging on a website about breaking into the EPISD system. The hacker, using the name "Host Bustorz," claimed that he broke into the EPISD network but would not post Social Security numbers online.


EPISD officials had said the hacker broke into the district's internal network and gained access to information such as names, birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers of district employees and students.

The computer hacking caused the school district to warn parents to take precautionary measures to protect their children's identity with online identity fraud alerts.

After his Court appearence, Ketchens was released on a 10.000 USD unsecured bond and was ordered to appear on April 19th, 2012 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert Garney in El Paso for his arraignment.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert Garney

In September 2012 Ketchens plead guilty and the federal judge in El Paso accepted the fraud pleas. On his sentencing date December 12th, 2012, Ketchens was facing up to five years in prison on each count.

Other INFO-LINKS:

• http://www.fbi.gov/elpaso/press-releases/2012/el-paso-fbi-agents-arrest-mississippi-man-for-unauthorized-access-of-el-paso-independent-school-district-computer-system

After TARGET Data Breach: There is a Need to target on Web Security

As multinational banks as other financial institutes struggle to protect clients after a massive data breach at retail giant Target, small service companies also should be concerned about their Online Security. Its just not tough enough to be protected in a secure way, as Online Fraud is increasing every year in a more and more faster way.

Between November 27th and December 15th, cybercriminals hurried off with data from 40 million credit and debit card accounts of people who shopped regulary at Target’s 1.924 stores in the United States and in Canada.

So far, at least three class-action lawsuits have been filed.

The U.S. Small Business Administration says cyber threats are an issue for everyone, and small businesses are becoming more common targets for such threats and crimes because they often have fewer preventive or responsive resources, as being or getting protected in a competent way also increases the costs. But Security start with yourself.

USSBA Seal

The USSBA though offers in its latest online training course some of the Basics in: “What is cybersecurity?”. (See Link at the end of this post beneath)

With the help of technology and best practices, cybersecurity is the effort to pro-tect computers, programs, networks and data from fraudulent Attacks. Or to ask in other words:

Why is cybersecurity important ?

 

Consider all the information you have that needs to be secure, like personal information for employees, Businesspartner information, sensitive information for consumers, and also sensitive and secret business information.

It’s essential to do your part to keep these details safe and out of the hands of those who could use your data to compromise you and everything surrounding your business.

CNN reported, that nearly half of the data breaches that Verizon has recorded in 2012, took place in companies Staff with less than one thousand. Symantec reports show that 31 % of all Cyberattacks in 2012 happened to businesses that had less than 250 employees. In 2011 Attacks were rising up to 81 percent.

The Methods

 

The Range of ways getting compromised is Vast. This Range might vary between Web site tampering, data breach, DoS up to Malware and Trojans.

Website tampering is a form of Web-based attack in which certain parameters in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Web page form field data entered by a user are changed without the Webmasters authorization. This finally directs the browser to a link, page or site other than the one the user intended (although it may look exactly the same to the usual client).

Parameter tampering can be employed by Cybercriminals and identity thieves to stealthily obtain personal or business information about the user. Countermeasures specific to the prevention of parameter tampering involve the validation of all parameters to ensure that they conform to standards concerning minimum and maximum allowable length, allowable numeric range, allowable character sequences and patterns, whether or not the parameter is actually required to conduct the transaction in question, and whether or not null is allowed.

A denial-of-service attack DoS happens on a CPU or Web site and locks the computer and/or crashes the system, resulting in stopped or slowed work flow.

Malware code and/or viruses are sent over the Internet and aim to find and send your files, find and delete critical data, or block your computer or system. They can hide in programs or documents and make copies of themselves  without your knowledge.

What Prevention measures YOU should take

The main first step secureing the critical information of your business, is to create a far-reaching firm security policy. Second Step: keep them up-to-date. Third Step: convincing your employees to keep the proprieties according to the policies.

• Be ensured that your computer hardware and software are updated regularly. 
• Change passwords periodically and use firewalls to protect your systems. 
• You should back up your data on a regular basis so that if something is compromised, you have a secure copy.

If interested, the following Link brings you to the Small Business Learning Center at www.sba.gov and will take 30 Minutes:

Click to Start Your Course now !