Medical Records Are the Hot New Dark Web Commodity
January 10, 2017
From emails to Netflix and Uber account information to other personally identifiable information has long been for sale on the Dark Web. A recent article from Fast Company, On The Dark Web, Medical Records Are A Hot Commodity, shares that medical records are the latest offerings for sale on the Dark Web. Medical records sold in these marketplaces usually include an individual’s name, birthdate, social security number and medical information. They fetch the relatively high price of $60 a piece, in comparison to social security numbers at $15. The article explains more,
On the dark web, medical records draw a far higher price than credit cards. Hackers are well aware that it’s simple enough to cancel a credit card, but to change a social security number is no easy feat. Banks have taken some major steps to crack down on identity theft. But hospitals, which have only transitioned en masse from paper-based to digital systems in the past decade, have far fewer security protections in place.
Cybercrime of medical records is potentially life-threatening because oftentimes during the theft of medical records, data showing allergies and other vital information is erased or swapped. Hopefully, the amount of time it took the medical industry to transition from paper to electronic health records is not representative of the time it will take the industry to increase security measures.
Megan Feil, January 10, 2017
Malicious Tor Relays on over a Hundred Computers
January 4, 2017
For all the effort enterprises go to in securing data through technological solutions, there are also other variables to consider: employees. Ars Technica released an article, Malicious computers caught snooping on Tor-anonymized Dark Web sites, which explained malicious relays were found on over 110 machines around the world. Computer scientists at Northeastern University tracked these computers using honeypot.onion addresses, calling them “honions.” The article continues,
The research is only the latest indication that Tor can’t automatically guarantee the anonymity of hidden services or the people visiting them. Last year, FBI agents cracked open a Tor-hidden child pornography website using a technique that remains undisclosed to this day. In 2014, researchers canceled a security conference talk demonstrating a low-cost way to de-anonymize Tor users following requests by attorneys from Carnegie Mellon, where the researchers were employed. Tor developers have since fixed the weakness that made the exploit possible. More than 70 percent of the snooping hidden services directories were hosted on cloud services, making it hard for most outsiders to identify the operators.
While some may wonder if the snooping is a result of a technical glitch or other error, the article suggests this is not the case. Researchers found that in order for a directory to misbehave in this way, an operator has to change the code from Tor and add logging capabilities. It appears the impact this will have is yet to be fully revealed.
Megan Feil, January 4, 2017
Is Your Data up for Sale on Dark Web?
January 4, 2017
A new service has been launched in UK that enables users to find out if their confidential information is up for sale over the Dark Web.
As reported by Hacked in an article This Tool Lets You Scan the Dark Web for Your (Stolen) Personal Data, it says:
The service is called OwlDetect and is available for £3,5 a month. It allows users to scan the dark web in search for their own leaked information. This includes email addresses, credit card information and bank details.
The service uses a supposedly sophisticated algorithm that has alleged capabilities to penetrate up to 95% of content on the Dark Web. The inability of Open Web search engines to index and penetrate Dark Web has led to mushrooming of Dark Web search engines.
OwlDetect works very similar to early stage Google, as it becomes apparent here in the article:
This new service has a database of stolen data. This database was created over the past 10 years, presumably with the help of their software and team. A real deep web search engine does exist, however.
This means the search is not real time and is as good as searching your local hard drive. Most of the data might be outdated and companies that owned this data might have migrated to secure platforms. Moreover, the user might also have deleted the old data. Thus, the service just tells you that were you ever hacked or was your data was even stolen?
Vishal Ingole, January 4, 2017
Norwegian Investigators Bust Child Pornography Racket over Dark Web
January 3, 2017
A yearlong investigation has busted a huge child pornography racket and resulted in a seizure of 150 Terabytes of pornographic material. Out of 51 accused, 20 so far have been arrested.
New Nationalist in a news piece titled – 150 Terabytes! Norway Busts Largest Dark Web, Child Porn Networks in History — US, UK Media Ignore Story says:
It’s one of the largest child sex abuse cases in history. A year-long special investigation called “Operation Darkroom” resulted in the seizure of 150 terabytes of data material in the form of photos, movies and chat logs containing atrocities against children as young as infancy, Norwegian police announced at a news conference in late November.
The investigation has opened a Pandora’s box of pedophiles. The accused list mostly comprises of educated individuals like politicians, lawyers, teachers, and a police officer too. Most accused are yet to be apprehended by the investigators.
Despite the bust happening in November followed by a press conference, US and UK based media has turned a blind eye towards this happening. The news report further states:
The Library of Congress holds about 600 terabytes of Web data. Its online archive grows at a rate of about 5 terabytes per month. Also note the horrifically sadistic nature of the material seized. And note that police are investigating the reach as worldwide, which means it involves a massive scale of evil filth. But nobody in the criminally compliant mainstream media thinks its newsworthy.
It might be possible that the world media was busy with US Presidential elections, thus its reporting was very low key. An interesting take away from this entire sad episode – the Dark Web is not a hideout of hackers, terrorists, drug dealers, and hitmen – seemingly upright citizens lurk on Dark Web too.
Vishal Ingole, January 3, 2017
Internet Watch Fund Teams with Blockchain Forensics Startup
December 29, 2016
A British charity is teaming up with an online intelligence startup specializing in Bitcoin. The Register reports on this in their piece called, Bitcoin child abuse image pervs will be hunted down by the IWF. The Internet Watch Foundation, with the help of a UK blockchain forensics start-up, Elliptic, aims to identify individuals who use Bitcoin to purchase child abuse images online. The IWF will provide Elliptic with a database of Bitcoin addresses and Elliptic takes care of the rest. We learned,
The IWF has identified more than 68,000 URLs containing child sexual abuse images. UNICEF Malaysia estimates two million children across the globe are affected by sexual exploitation every year. Susie Hargreaves, IWF CEO, said, “Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing amount of Bitcoin activity connected to purchasing child sexual abuse material online. Our new partnership with Elliptic is imperative to helping us tackle this criminal use of Bitcoin.” The collaboration means Elliptic’s clients will be able to automatically monitor transactions they handle for any connection to proceeds of child sex abuse.
Machine learning and data analytics technologies are used by Elliptic to collect actionable evidence for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The interesting piece of this technology, and others like it, is that it runs perhaps as surreptitiously in the background as those who use the Dark Web and Bitcoin for criminal activity believe they do.
Megan Feil, December 29, 2016
For Sale: Government Web Sites at a Bargain
December 21, 2016
We trust that government Web sites are safe and secure with our information as well as the data that keeps our countries running. We also expect that government Web sites have top of the line security software and if they did get hacked, they would be able to rectify the situation in minutes. Sadly, this is not the case says Computer World, because they posted an article entitled, “A Black Market Is Selling Access To Hacked Government Servers For $6.”
If you want to access a government server or Web site, all you need to do is download the Tor browser, access the xDedic marketplace on the Dark Web, and browse their catalog of endless government resources for sale. What is alarming is that some of these Web sites are being sold for as little as six dollars!
How did the xDedic “merchants” get access to these supposed secure government sites? It was through basic trial and error using different passwords until they scored a hit. Security firm Kaspersky Lab weighs in:
It is a hacker’s dream, simplifying access to victims, making it cheaper and faster, and opening up new possibilities for both cybercriminals and advanced threat actors,’ Kaspersky said.
Criminal hackers can use the servers to send spam, steal data such as credit card information, and launch other types of attack…Once buyers have done their work, the merchants put the server back up for sale. The inventory is constantly evolving.
It is believed that the people who built the xDedic are Russian-speakers, possibly from a country with that as a language. The Web site is selling mostly government site info from the Europe, Asia, and South America. The majority of the Web sites are marked as “other”, however. Kaspersky track down some of the victims and notified them of the stolen information.
The damage is already done. Governments should be investing in secure Web software and testing to see if they can hack into them to prevent future attacks. The Dark Web scores again.
Whitney Grace, December 21, 2016
Healthcare Technology as a Target for Cyberthreats
December 20, 2016
Will the healthcare industry become the target of cyber threats? Security Affairs released a story, Data breaches in the healthcare sector are fueling the dark web, which explains medical records are among the most challenging data sources to secure. One hacker reportedly announced on the Dark Web he had over one million medical records for sale. The going rate is about $60 per record. According to the Brookings Institute, more than 155 medical records have been hacked since 2009. We learned,
The healthcare sector is a labyrinth of governance and compliance with risk mitigations squarely focused on the privacy of patient data. We in the industry have accepted the norm that “security is not convenient” but for those in the healthcare industry, inconvenience can have a catastrophic impact on a hospital, including the loss of a patient’s life. Besides patient records, there’s a multitude of other services critical to patient health and wellbeing wrapped by an intricate web of cutting-edge and legacy technologies making it perhaps the most challenging environment to secure. This may explain the rise in attacks against healthcare providers in the last six months.
When it comes to prioritizing secure healthcare technology projects in healthcare organizations, many other more immediate and short-term projects are likely to take precedence. Besides that barrier, a shortage of healthcare technology talent poses another potential problem.
Megan Feil, December 20, 2016
Ricochet Software Empowers Whistleblowers to Message Journalists Securely and Anonymously
December 18, 2016
The article titled Ricochet Uses Power of the Dark Web to Help Journalists, Sources Dodge Metadata Laws on The Age announces the completion of a formal security audit that gives would-be users of the software the go-ahead. Ricochet is secure messaging resource intended to enable whistleblowers and human rights activists to communicate with journalists without fear of being exposed. The article explains,
Ricochet… would be able to deliver a level of security and anonymity that isn’t possible with current messaging software, including Wickr — the self-destructing message platform… “The key difference between Ricochet and anything else that’s out there is that it does not use a server. It uses the same technology that ran Silk Road, it uses dark web technology,” Mr Gray said, referring to the notorious online black on which drug dealers thrived until the FBI shut it down in November 2014.
The article does address concerns that software such as this might be useful to terrorist operations in addition to its stated purpose. The makers point out that Ricochet is designed for one-on-one communication, which is not very appealing to the terrorists who have been more focused on reaching many people to coordinate their activities. At the same time, they accept that it might be used by a criminal element and state that such uses don’t negate the positive potential of the software.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 18, 2016
UN Addresses Dark Web Drug Trade
December 16, 2016
Because individual nations are having spotty success fighting dark-web-based crime, the United Nations is stepping up. DeepDotWeb reports, “UN Trying to Find Methods to Stop the Dark Web Drug Trade.” The brief write-up cites the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC’s) latest annual report, which reveals new approaches to tackling drugs on the dark web. The article explains why law-enforcement agencies around the world have been having trouble fighting the hidden trade. Though part of the problem is technical, another is one of politics and jurisdiction. We learn:
Since most of the users use Tor and encryption technologies to remain hidden while accessing dark net marketplaces and forums, law enforcement authorities have trouble to identify and locate their IP addresses. …
Police often finds itself trapped within legal boundaries. The most common legal issues authorities are facing in these cases are which jurisdiction should they use, especially when the suspect’s location is unknown. There are problems regarding national sovereignties too. When agencies are hacking a dark net user’s account, they do not really know which country the malware will land to. For this reason, the UNODC sees a major issue when sharing intelligence when it’s not clear where in the world that intelligence would be best used.
The write-up notes that the FBI has been using tricks like hacking Dark Net users and tapping into DOD research. That agency is also calling for laws that would force suspects to decrypt their devices upon being charged. In the meantime, the UNODC supports the development of tools that will enhance each member state’s ability to “collect and exploit digital evidence.” To see the report itself, navigate here, where you will find an overview and a link to the PDF.
Cynthia Murrell, December 16, 2016
Nobody Really Knows What Goes on over Dark Web
December 16, 2016
While the mainstream media believes that the Dark Web is full of dark actors, research by digital security firms says that most content is legal. It only says one thing; the Dark Web is still a mystery.
The SC Magazine in an article titled Technology Helping Malicious Business on the Dark Web Grow says:
The Dark Web has long had an ominous appeal to Netizens with more illicit leanings and interests. But given a broadening reach and new technologies to access this part of the web and obfuscate dealings here, the base of dark web buyers and sellers is likely growing.
On the other hand, the article also says:
But despite its obvious and well-earned reputation for its more sinister side, at least one researcher says that as the dark web expands, the majority of what’s there is actually legal. In its recent study, intelligence firm Terbium Labs found that nearly 55 percent of all the content on the dark web is legal in nature, meaning that it may be legal pornography, or controversial discussions, but it’s not explicitly illegal by U.S. law.
The truth might be entirely different. The Open Web is equally utilized by criminals for carrying out their illegal activities. The Dark Web, accessible only through Tor Browser allows anyone to surf the web anonymously. We may never fully know if the Dark Web is the mainstay of criminals or of individuals who want to do their work under the cloak of anonymity. Till then, it’s just a guessing game.
Vishal Ingole, December 16, 2016
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