Future Crimes

by Marc Goodman

  Chapter 6: Big Data, Big Risk

  1 The hackers funneled their millions: Associated Press, “Filipino Police Arrest 4 Suspected AT&T Hackers,” CBS News, Nov. 27, 2010; Somini Sengupta, “Phone Hacking Tied to Terrorists,” New York Times, Nov. 26, 2011; Marc Goodman, “What Business Can Learn from Organized Crime,” Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2011.

  2 As a result, children born today: Lauren Indvik, “92% of U.S. Toddlers Have Online Presence,” Mashable, Oct. 7, 2010.

  3 Our data creation cycle: Allegra Tepper, “How Much Data Is Created Every Minute?,” Mashable, June 22, 2012; Kristin Burnham, “Facebook’s WhatsApp Buy: 10 Staggering Stats,” InformationWeek, Feb. 21, 2014.

  4 Put another way, every ten minutes: Verlyn Klinkenborg, “Trying to Measure the Amount of Information That Humans Create,” New York Times, Nov. 12, 2003.

  5 The cost of storing: McKinsey Global Institute, Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation, Competition, and Productivity, May 2011; Kevin Kelly speaking at the Web 2.0 conference in 2011, http://​blip.​tv/​web2expo/​web-​2-​0-​expo-​sf-​2011-​kevin-​kelly-​4980011.

  6 Across all industries: World Economic Forum, Personal Data: The Emergence of a New Asset Class, Jan. 2011.

  7 Eventually, your personal details: Cory Doctorow, “Personal Data Is as Hot as Nuclear Waste,” Guardian, Jan. 15, 2008.

  8 That’s one account: Emma Barnett, “Hackers Go After Facebook Sites 600,000 Times Every Day,” Telegraph, Oct. 29, 2011; Mike Jaccarino, “Facebook Hack Attacks Strike 600,000 Times per Day, Security Firm Reports,” New York Daily News, Oct. 29, 2011.

  9 Because 75 percent of people: “Digital Security Firm Says Most People Use One Password for Multiple Websites,” GMA News Online, Aug. 9, 2013.

  10 Many social media companies: “LinkedIn Hack,” Wikipedia; Jose Pagliery, “2 Million Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter Passwords Stolen in Massive Hack,” CNNMoney, Dec. 4, 2013.

  11 Transnational organized crime groups: Elinor Mills, “Report: Most Data Breaches Tied to Organized Crime,” CNET, July 27, 2010.

  12 Such was the case: Jason Kincaid, “Dropbox Security Bug Made Passwords Optional for Four Hours,” TeckCrunch, June 20, 2011.

  13 Later, however, it was revealed: John Markoff, “Cyberattack on Google Said to Hit Password System,” New York Times, April 19, 2010; Kim Zetter, “Report: Google Hackers Stole Source Code of Global Password System,” Wired, April 20, 2010.

  14 According to court documents: John Leyden, “Acxiom Database Hacker Jailed for 8 Years,” Register, Feb. 23, 2006; Damien Scott and Alex Bracetti, “The 11 Worst Online Security Breaches,” Complex.​com, May 9, 2012.

  15 More recently, in 2013, the data broker Experian: Brian Krebs, “Experian Sold Customer Data to ID Theft Service,” Krebs on Security, Oct. 20, 2013.

  16 Experian learned of the compromise: Byron Acohido, “Scammer Dupes Experian into Selling Social Security Nos,” USA Today, Oct. 21, 2013; Matthew J. Schwartz, “Experian Sold Data to Vietnamese ID Theft Ring,” Dark Reading, Oct. 21, 2013.

  17 In the course of the investigation: Jim Finkle and Karen Freifeld, “Exclusive: U.S. States Probing Security Breach at Experian Unit,” Reuters, April 3, 2014.

  18 Those who fell prey: Kashmir Hill, “Celebs’ Financial Details Leaked, Including Credit Reports for Jay-Z and FBI Director Robert Mueller,” Forbes, March 11, 2013.

  19 The credit reports of those affected: Matthew J. Schwartz, “Exposed Website Reboots, Reveals Celeb Credit Reports,” InformationWeek, April 4, 2013.

  20 Though data brokers would disagree: Yasha Levine, “Surveillance Valley Scammers! Why Hack Our Data When You Can Just Buy It?,” Pando Daily, Jan. 8, 2014.

  21 At least 40 percent of social media: Graeme McMillan, “40% of Social Network Users Attacked by Malware,” Time, March 23, 2011.

  22 When Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Farooqui Adnan, “MH370 Links on Social Networks Spreading Malware,” Ubergizmo, March 18, 2014.

  23 One of the best-known pieces: Riva Richmond, “Koobface Gang That Spread Worm on Facebook Operates in the Open,” New York Times, Jan. 16, 2012.

  24 The malware was designed: Christopher Williams, “Facebook Versus Russia’s Koobface Gang,” Telegraph, Jan. 19, 2012.

  25 With this, for example, if you checked: Joseph L. Flatley, “Firesheep Makes Stealing Your Cookies, Accessing Your Facebook Account Laughably Easy,” Engadget, Oct. 25, 2010; Gary LosHuertos, “Herding Firesheep in Starbucks,” CNNMoney, Dec. 16, 2010.

  26 It was only when the boy’s: Lara Naaman, Jen Pereira, and Emily Yacus, “Online Games Can Lead to Identity Theft,” ABC News, July 16, 2008. 93 According to the Congressional Research Service: Kristin Finklea, “Identity Theft: Trends and Issues,” Congressional Research Service, Jan. 16, 2014; Regina Lewis, “Money Quick Tips, Protect Yourself from Identity Theft,” USA Today, April 5, 2014.

  27 That works out to about: Blake Ellis, “Identity Fraud Hits New Victim Every Two Seconds,” CNNMoney, Feb. 6, 2014.

  28 In the United States alone: Daniel Bortz, “Identity Theft: Why Your Child May Be in Danger,” U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 5, 2013.

  29 According to a study of 40,000 children: Richard Power, “Child Identity Theft,” Carnegie Mellon CyLab, 2011.

  30 According to the National Crime Prevention Council: Edudemic Staff, “The 21 Best Resources for 2014 to Prevent Cyberbullying,” Edudemic, Oct. 17, 2014. For more information, visit http://​www.​ncpc.​org/​cyberbullying.

  31 It was there, in the deserted outskirts: “Shock at Woman’s ‘Facebook Murder,’ ” BBC, May 17, 2010; Amy Dale Court, “Christopher Dannevig’s in Court for Nona Belomesoff Murder After Meeting on a Dating Website, a Court Heard,” Daily Telegraph, Aug. 4, 2012.

  32 For instance, Paul Bristol: “Jealous Lover Flew 4,000 Miles to Stab Ex-Girlfriend to Death after Seeing Her on Facebook with Another Man,” Daily Mail, Mar. 10, 2010.

  33 Sexting, or the sharing: Raquel Delevi and Robert S. Weisskirch, “Personality Factors as Predictors of Sexting,” Computers in Human Behavior 29 (2013): 2589–94, citing a study by Michelle Drouin and Carly Landgraff, “Texting, Sexting, and Attachment in College Students’ Romantic Relationships,” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 444–49.

  34 Another wildly popular site: Sam Biddle, “Here’s Where the Naked Pics You Sexted Will End Up,” Gizmodo, Nov. 28, 2012.

  35 Every naked photograph: Camille Dodero, “Hunter Moore Makes a Living Screwing You,” Village Voice, April 4, 2012.

  36 According to the Pew Research Center: Mary Madden et al., “Teens and Technology 2013,” Pew Research Center, March 13, 2013.

  37 Moreover, 95 percent of young people: McAfee, “McAfee Digital Deception Study 2013: Exploring the Online Disconnect Between Parents & Pre-teens, Teens, and Young Adults,” May 28, 2013.

  38 The challenge for children: Lancaster University, “Software Developers Tackle Child Grooming on the Net,” ScienceDaily, June 2, 2010.

  39 Pedophiles make it their business: Sonia Elks, “Xbox Paedophile Predators ‘Move in on Prey Within Two Minutes of Contact,’ ” Metro, April 17, 2012; Bill Singer, “Child Pornography Hid Behind XBox LIVE ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,’ ” Forbes, Nov. 4, 2011.

  40 Lest you think the demand: Nicholas Kristof, “He Was Supposed to Take a Photo,” New York Times, March 22, 2014.

  41 Such was the case with Amanda: Kevin Morris “BlogTV and the Sad, Avoidable Path to Amanda Todd’s Suicide,” Daily Dot, Oct. 15, 2012.

  42 To prove he was serious: Gillian Shaw, “Amanda Todd’s Mother Speaks Out About Her Daughter, Bullying,” Vancouver Sun, March 13, 2013.

  43 In response, on September 7: Video is available at http://​www.​youtube.​com/​watch?v=vOHXGNx-​E7E. It is deeply touching and powerful and tells Amanda Todd’s story in her own words. A compelling and must-see testament to a young life cut way too short.

  44 Worse, the pedophiles: Patrick McGuire, “The Suspicious Return of the Da
ily Capper,” VICE, Nov. 12, 2012.

  45 In 2011, police in Melbourne: “Paedophiles Trawl Dating Sites to Get at Kids of Lonely Mums,” News.​com.​au, Dec. 12, 2011.

  46 After arranging a rendezvous: David Ferguson, “Texas Teen Viciously Beats and Abducts Gay Man After Targeting Him on Dating Website,” Raw Story, Feb. 26, 2014.

  47 In a one-hour documentary: The program looks at antigay vigilante gangs in Russia and the overall Russian religious right antigay movement. “Gay and Russian: ‘It’s Hunting Season, We Are the Hunted,’ ” Channel 4 News, Feb. 5, 2014.

  48 The attackers fear no retribution: Dan Savage, “Anti-gay Russian Neo-Nazis Using Instagram and Facebook to Organize, Publicize Attacks,” Stranger, Feb. 11, 2014; “Welcome to the Gay-Hating Olympics: Footage of Horrific Beatings Suffered by Gays in Russia,” Daily Mail, Feb. 4, 2014.

  49 To highlight this threat: Andrew Hough, “Please Rob Me Website Causes Fury for ‘Telling Burglars When Twitter Users Are Not Home,’ ” Telegraph, Feb. 19, 2010.

  50 Nashua police discovered: Nick Bilton, “Burglars Said to Have Picked Houses Based on Facebook Updates,” Bits (blog), New York Times, Sept. 12, 2010.

  51 They also admitted using: Matt Liebowitz, “Social Media Status Updates Tip Off Burglars, Study Shows,” MSNBC, Nov. 7, 2011.

  52 This information allows: Gerald Friedland and Robin Sommer, “Cybercasing the Joint: On the Privacy Implications of Geo-tagging,” International Computer Science Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; “Featured Research: Geo-tagging,” International Computer Science Institute, accessed March 30, 2014; Niraj Chokshi, “How Tech-Savvy Thieves Could ‘Cybercase’ Your House,” Atlantic, July 22, 2010.

  53 A few days later: Brendan Keefe, “Exif Data Hiding in Your Photos Targeted by Thieves and Criminal Investigators,” YouTube, Nov. 5, 2013, http://​www.​youtube.​com/​watch?v=mdoD7X8n46Q.

  54 Hundreds of victims: Richard Burnett, “Scammers Use Social Networking Info to Target Vacationers’ Relatives: Scams Using Social-Networking Vacation,” Orlando Sentinel, June 22, 2013.

  55 In September 2011: Robert Beckhusen, “Mexican Cartels Hang, Disembowel ‘Internet Snitches,’ ” Danger Room (blog), Wired, Sept. 15, 2011.

  56 These cartels are equally savvy: Ibid.

  57 For example, when two Maricopa County: Mike Levine, “Officials Warn Facebook and Twitter Increase Police Vulnerability,” FoxNews.​com, May 10, 2011.

  58 “the on-going investigations”: Josh Halliday and Charles Arthur, “Anonymous’s Release of Met and FBI Call Puts Hacker Group Back Centre Stage,” The Guardian, Feb. 2, 2012.

  59 The call was even recorded: Bob Christie, “Ariz. Police Confirm 2nd Hack on Officers’ Email,” MSNBC.​com, June 29, 2011; Mohit Kumar, “77 Law Enforcement Websites Hit in Mass Attack by #Antisec Anonymous,” The Hacker News, July 30, 2011.

  60 For instance, in late 2010: “CyberCriminals Use Facebook to Steal Identity of Interpol Chief,” Daily Mail, Sept. 20, 2010.

  61 Industrial espionage too has found: Geoff Nairn, “Your Wall Has Ears,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 19, 2011.

  62 we learned about the Massachusetts windturbine: Michael Riley and Ashlee Vance, “Inside the Chinese Boom in Corporate Espionage,” BusinessWeek, Mar. 15, 2012.

  63 Armed with all of this information: Joan Lappin, “American Superconductor and Its Rogue Employee Both Duped by Sinovel,” Forbes, Sept. 27, 2011.

  64 In one note Karabasevic: Carl Sears and Michael Isikoff, “Chinese Firm Paid Insider ‘to Kill My Company,’ American CEO Says,” NBCNews.​com, Aug. 6, 2013.

  Chapter 7: I.T. Phones Home

  1 On March 21, 2002: “Massive Search for Missing Girl,” BBC, March 25, 2002.

  2 By the following evening: “TV Appeal for Missing Amanda,” BBC, March 28, 2002.

  3 As part of their investigation: Nick Davies, “Phone-Hacking Trial Failed to Clear Up Mystery of Milly Dowler’s Voicemail,” Guardian, June 26, 2014.

  4 Sadly for the Dowlers: “Milly’s Body Found,” BBC, Sept. 21, 2002.

  5 Shamefully, they had also hacked: “Phone Hacking,” Guardian, Feb. 7, 2011; CNN Library, “UK Phone Hacking Scandal Fast Facts,” CNN, July 5, 2014; “News International Phone Hacking Scandal,” Wikipedia.

  6 Dozens of employees and contractors: Nick Davies, “Phone-Hacking Trial Failed to Clear Up Mystery of Milly Dowler’s Voicemail,” The Guardian, June 26, 2014.

  7 Of course for two grieving parents: “Milly Dowler’s Phone Was Hacked by News of the World,” Telegraph, July 4, 2011.

  8 By 2014, McAfee: McAfee, “Mobile Malware in 2014,” March 25, 2014, http://​blogs.​mcafee.​com/; Juniper Networks, “Trusted Mobility Index,” May 2012, http://​www.​juniper.​net/.

  9 Moreover, according to a study: Cisco, Cisco 2014 Annual Security Report; Jordan Kahn, “Apple SVP Phil Schiller Shares Report Showing Android Had 99% of Mobile Malware Last Year,” 9 to 5Google, Jan. 21, 2014.

  10 The findings are deeply troubling: Rolfe Winkler, “Android Market Share Hits New Record,” Digits (blog), Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2014; Canalys, “Over 1 Billion Android-Based Smart Phones to Ship in 2017,” June 4, 2013.

  11 Worse, according to several studies: Rachel Metz, “Phone Makers’ Android Tweaks Cause Security Problems,” Technology Review, Nov. 5, 2013; Liam Tung, “What’s Making Your Android Insecure? Blame Those Free Apps You Never Asked For,” ZDNet, Nov. 6, 2013.

  12 Only about 4 percent: Daisuke Wakabayashi, “Cook Raises, Dashes Hopes for Excitement at Apple Annual Meeting,” Digits (blog), Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28, 2014.

  13 What is deeply frustrating: Juniper Networks, Juniper Networks Third Annual Mobile Threats Report—March 2012 Through March 2013.

  14 Instead, computer-automated algorithms: Mike Isaac, “Google Beefs Up Android Market Security,” Wired, Feb. 2, 2012.

  15 By 2013, more than forty-two thousand apps: “Report: Malware-Infected Android Apps Spike in the Google Play Store,” PCWorld, Feb. 19, 2014.

  16 Cyber criminals have retooled: Joe Krishnan, “Mobile Malware Is Growing and Targeting Android Users, Warn Kaspersky,” Independent, Feb. 26, 2014; Larry Barrett, “Banking Trojans Emerge as Dominant Mobile Malware Threat,” ZDNet, Feb. 24, 2014.

  17 To date, mobile malware: Brian Krebs, “Mobile Malcoders Pay to (Google) Play,” Krebs on Security, March 6, 2013.

  18 As a result, more than five hundred: Juniper Networks, Third Annual Mobile Threats Report, 4.

  19 While much less common, malicious apps: Luke Westaway, “Apple iOS App Store Hit by First Malware App,” CNET, July 6, 2012.

  20 Nearly ten million iOS devices: Andy Greenberg, “Evasion Is the Most Popular Jail-break Ever: Nearly Seven Million iOS Devices Hacked in Four Days,” Forbes, Feb. 8, 2013; Juniper Networks, Third Annual Mobile Threats Report.

  21 As it turns out: Alice Truong, “This Popular Flashlight App Has Been Secretly Sharing Your Location and Device ID,” Fast Company, Dec. 5, 2013; Janel Torkington, “A Flashlight Can Steal from You: How to Stay Safe from Scam Apps,” AppsZoom, Feb. 3, 2014; Aaron Gingrich, “The Mother of All Android Malware Has Arrived: Stolen Apps Released to the Market That Root Your Phone, Steal Your Data, and Open Backdoor,” Android Police, March 6, 2011.

  22 Multiplied by hundreds: Juniper Networks, Third Annual Mobile Threats Report.

  23 In just a few hours: Matt Warman, “Fake Android Apps Scam Costs £28,000,” Telegraph, May 24, 2012.

  24 Hijacked mobile phones: Rich Trenholm, “Android Spam Scam Is First Smart Phone Botnet,” CNET, July 6, 2012.

  25 While botnets were previously: “China Mobile Users Warned About Large Botnet Threat,” BBC, Jan. 15, 2013; Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, “First Case of Android Trojan Spreading via Mobile Botnets Discovered,” ZDNet, Sept. 5, 2013.

  26 As such, criminals: “Gartner Says Worldwide PC, Tablet, and Mobile Phone Shipments to Grow 5.9 Percent in 2013 as Anytime-Anywhere-Computing Drives Buyer Behavior,” Gartner News
room, June 24, 2013.

  27 The vulnerability meant: Salvador Rodriguez, “Hackers Can Use Snapchat to Disable iPhones, Researcher Says,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 7, 2014.

  28 Moreover, hackers were also: Selena Larson, “Snapchat Responds to Massive Hack,” ReadWrite, Jan. 3, 2014.

  29 Worse, it was revealed: Kashmir Hill, “Snapchats Don’t Disappear: Forensics Firm Has Pulled Dozens of Supposedly Deleted Photos from Android Phones,” Forbes, May 9, 2013.

  30 As a result, tens of thousands: Tyler Kingkade, “Ohio University Student Accused of Using Nude Snapchat Photos to Extort Sex,” Huffington Post, Dec. 30, 2013.

  31 Today 89 percent of employees: Juniper Networks, “Trusted Mobility Index,” May 2012.

  32 For just a few hundred dollars: Brian Montopoli, “For Criminals, Smartphones Becoming Prime Targets,” CBS News, Aug. 7, 2013; Dan Nosowitz, “A Hacked Mobile Antenna in a Backpack Could Spy on Cell Phone Conversations,” Popular Science, July 16, 2013.

  33 In Kenya, for example: “Why Does Kenya Lead the World in Mobile Money?,” Economist, May 27, 2013.

  34 Mobile money payment: Claire Pénicaud, “State of the Industry: Results from the 2012 Global Mobile Money Adoption Survey,” GSMA, Feb. 2013.

  35 The Google Wallet system: Keith Wagstaff, “Google Wallet Hack Shows NFC Payments Still Aren’t Secure,” Time, Feb. 10, 2012. 113 Moreover, if and when a user loses: Sarah Clark, “Google Wallet Faces Its Second Hack of the Week,” NFC World, Feb. 10, 2012.

  36 Given the volumes: Anthony Wing Kosner, “Tinder Dating App Users Are Playing with Privacy Fire,” Forbes, Feb. 18, 2014.

  37 In fact, in 2012 police in South Australia: Miles Kemp, “Police Warn Photos of Kids with Geo-tagging Being Used by Paedophiles,” Herald Sun (Melbourne), April 18, 2012.

  38 In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed: Shannon Catalano, “Stalking Victims in the United States—Revised,” U.S. Department of Justice Special Report, Sept. 2012; Sean Gallagher, “A Spurned Techie’s Revenge: Locking Down His Ex’s Digital Life,” Ars Technica, Nov. 22, 2013; Justin Scheck, “Stalkers Exploit Cellphone GPS,” Wall Street Journal, Aug. 3, 2010.