Fighting Cyber Crime: New Approach Described by FBI
March 6, 2020
DarkCyber noted a report from ABC News called “FBI Working to ‘Burn Down’ Cyber Criminals’ Infrastructure.” The report states that “law enforcement agents are working to take out the tools that allow increasingly dangerous cyber criminals to carry out their devastating attacks.”
Some factoids appeared in the write up:
- A 40 percent increase in ransomware attacks between 2018 and 2019
- Ransomware has emerged as a major bad actor method
- Foreign actors are using cyber attacks to steal information from certain vendors in the US.
As DarkCyber points out in the forthcoming March 10, 2020, video program many of the hacker tools are available as open source software. Programming languages widely taught in schools and online courses provide the equivalent of a tabula rasa for bad actors. An often overlooked source of “how to” information are instructional information, code snippets, and technical road maps distributed via online discussion groups. Dark Web resources exist, but there are bad actors advertising their software and expertise available via a standard Web browser. Will the infrastructure focus result in stepped up investigations of hosting providers?
This new approach illustrates a shift in response to the escalating risks associated with online connectivity.
Stephen E Arnold, March 6, 2020
Africa: Booming Intelware and Policeware Markets?
February 20, 2020
DarkCyber has a difficult time determining what information is on the money and what information is on the floor of the data casino. We read “Inside Africa’s Increasingly Lucrative Surveillance Market.” The write up is chock full of details. Some of the allegedly accurate information was interesting.
Here’s a sampling of factoids to evaluate:
Market size, but it is not clear what “market” means, just Africa, the world, or developed countries: The cybersecurity market was worth $118.78bn in 2018. By 2024, this figure is expected to hit $267.73bn.
Name of Gabonese Republic’s enforcement unit: SILAM which is allegedly run by French national Jean-Charles Solon. The write up states: “Solon previously worked for the General Directorate for External Security (Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure – DGSE), France’s intelligence agency.” Allegedly Solor is familiar with the ins and outs of wire tapping. The write up asserts without providing a specific source: “According to our sources, Solon is well equipped and handles everything from wiretap transcripts, text message and WhatsApp conversation interceptions, and email and social media surveillance.” Solon is likely to find the write up in This Is GCN worth some special attention, but that’s just DarkCyber hunch.
Entities (governmental and commercial) linked to the Gabonese Republic include: Amesys and its Cerebro tool, SDECE/DGSE, AMES, Nexa Technologies, and Suneris Solutions (Thales).
Current market leaders: The write up reports, “Ercom and Suneris Solutions have a leading position in the African market, especially in the sub-Saharan region.” These two companies are owned by Thales.
What sells and where to buy: The write up notes, ““Clients want to buy something that has a proven track record. They’re not looking for an experimental gadget.” For Africa, the two must-see events are Milipol Paris, held in November, and ISS World Middle East and Africa, held in March in Dubai.”
Israeli companies selling or trying to sell in Africa: The write up identifies these firms as eyeing the African markets –—Thales (includes Ercom and Suneris Solutions), Mer Group and its unit Athena GS3 (Mer Group (Congo, Guinea, Nigeria and DRC), Verint Systems and Elbit Systems (South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria, etc.), AD Consultants, and NSO Group. The write up asserts, “The Israelis are everywhere. They even managed to equip Saudi Arabia! It’s pretty much impossible to bypass them.”
Other companies trying to sell to African markets include: BAE Systems, Gamma Group, Trovicor (now a unit of Nexa), Hacking Team, VasTech, Protei (a Russian firm), Huawei, and ZTE Corporation (described in the article as a compatriot of Huawei).
DarkCyber will leave it to you, gentle reader, to figure out if the write up in This is GCN is fact or fluff. What is known is that most of the named entities in this write up work overtime to avoid big time news coverage, traditional marketing, and noisy public relations. DarkCyber believes that firms providing specialized services should remain low profile.
In closing, if you want information about Sudanese intelligence activities, you may find this thesis by Muhammad Bathily helpful. Its title is “Reform of Senegalese Gendarmerie Intelligence Services.” You can locate the document at this url https://t.co/0cp1CCqiKy. (Verified at 1049 am US Eastern time, 2 20 20)
Stephen E Arnold, February 20, 2020
India: A New Front in the War Against Obfuscation
February 19, 2020
DarkCyber noted “Indian Police Open Case against Hundreds in Kashmir for Using VPN.” VPNs are perceived as a secure way to access certain Internet content. VPNs sit in the middle, and many vendors insist that their approach deletes logs of user activity. Be that as it may, under specific condition, the VPN transfer point can be monitored. For some enforcement agencies, getting customer data and other information is a hassle.
A short cut is sometimes discussed. India may have found a shortcut appropriate for its needs in contentious Kashmir. The write up reports:
Local authorities in India-controlled Kashmir have opened a case against hundreds of people who used virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent a social media ban in the disputed Himalayan region in a move that has been denounced by human rights and privacy activists.
Arresting VPN users complements other tools in the Indian government’s kit; for example, blocking Internet service and capping access speeds.
DarkCyber believes that other governments may examine India’s approach. If these countries’ assessment is positive, the “Indian method” may be used by other countries struggling to deal with online information and services.
The flow of digital content often erodes existing processes. Bits, like some rivers, become more tractable when blocked by a dam in order to reduce the destructive power of floods. India’s action block data streams in an effort to prevent a torrent of bits that will erode institutions and other artifacts of a social construct.
Stephen E Arnold, February 19, 2020
Venntel: Some Details
February 18, 2020
Venntel in Virginia has the unwanted attention of journalists. The company provides mobile location data and services. Like many of the firms providing specialized services to the US government, Venntel makes an effort to communicate with potential government customers via trade shows, informal gatherings, and referrals.
Venntel’s secret sauce is cleaner mobile data. The company says:
Over 50% of location data is flawed. Venntel’s proprietary platform efficiently distinguishes between erroneous data and data of value. The platform delivers 100% validated data, allowing your team to focus on results – not data quality.
NextGov reported in “Senator Questions DHS’ Use of Cellphone Location Data for Immigration Enforcement” some information about the company; for example:
- Customers include DHS and CBP
- Mobile and other sources of location data are available from the company
- The firm offers software
- Venntel, like Oracle and other data aggregators, obtains information from third-party sources; for example, marketing companies brokering mobile phone app data
Senator. Ed Markey, a democrat from Massachusetts, has posed questions to the low profile company and has requested answers by March 3, 2020.
A similar issued surfaced for other mobile data specialists. Other geo-analytic specialists work overtime to have zero public facing profile. Example, you ask. Try to chase down information about Geogence. (Bing and Google try their darnedest to change “Geogence” to “geofence.” This is a tribute to the name choice the stakeholders of Geogence have selected, and a clever exploitation of Bing’s and Google’s inept attempts to “help” its users find information.
If you want to get a sense of what can be done with location data, check out this video which provides information about the capabilities of Maltego, a go-to system to analyze cell phone records and geolocate actions. The video is two years old, but it is representative of the basic functions. Some specialist companies wrap more user friendly interfaces and point-and-click templates for analysts and investigators to use. There are hybrid systems which combine Analyst Notebook type functions with access to email and mobile phone data. Unlike the Watson marketing, IBM keeps these important services in the background because the company wants to focus on the needs of its customers, not on the needs of “real” journalists chasing “real news.”
DarkCyber laments the fact that special services companies which try to maintain a low profile and serve a narrow range of customers is in the news.
Stephen E Arnold, February 18, 2020
Facebook: Chock Full of Good Ideas
December 31, 2019
Investigators are not a priority for Facebook. How does DarkCyber know this? “WhatsApp to Add ‘Disappearing Messages’ Feature Soon” explained a function that may make those managing interesting groups to have more control over content.
Here’s the statement which caught the attention of our alert service:
With the ‘Delete Messages’ feature, group admins will able to select a specific duration for messages on the group and once a message crosses the duration, it will be automatically deleted, news portal GSMArena reported recently. Initially, the new feature was expected to be available for both individual chats and group chats, but now the report claims that the feature will be limited to group chats only. The ‘Delete Messages’ feature for group chats will make it easy for the admins to manage old messages and chats.
How many coordinators will find this new feature helpful? Too many.
Stephen E Arnold, December 31, 2019
Amazon: What Does the S Team Do without a Policeware Leader?
December 9, 2019
GeekWire published the members of Jeff Bezos’ S Team. The idea is that the TV show A Team has been upgraded by 17 letters. There is an S Team member for fashion and for Alexa, but none for policeware. You can get the list of S Team members in “Amazon Expands Bezos’ Elite ‘S-Team,’ Adding 6 Execs from Emerging Branches of the Company.” Perhaps the omission of a public sector Amazon manager signals that the company is not interested in government contracts, work for law enforcement departments, and countries interested in using Amazon’s blockchain technology? That is a possibility. DarkCyber believes that there is a commitment at Amazon for policeware and developing services to assist authorities in determining if tax returns are on the up and up. The apparent exclusion of a designated policeware “owner” suggests that the company wants to continue its low profile approach to this high potential revenue sector.
Stephen E Arnold, December 9, 2019
Europol Crackdown Factoids
November 28, 2019
“Europol Goes After IS Propaganda Online” contained several interesting items:
Telegram was the online service provider “that contained the most extremism related material.”
Companies cooperating with Europol were Dropbox, Files.fm, Instagram, Google, Telegram.
Crackdowns force content elsewhere.
Is there a solution for encrypted messaging and online channels for activities such as grooming and recruitment?
Yes. The write up states that one approach is to mount “an effort to limit the space for extremist groups to recruit people online.”
Stephen E Arnold, November 28, 2019
Blockchains: A Role in Human Trafficking Investigations?
October 25, 2019
Human trafficking is one of the greatest evils in history as well as modern day. The Internet facilitates easy communication human traffickers, but they do not conduct their business in plain sight. They use the dark web to cover their sadistic business tracks. The Next Web explains that human traffickers might be easier to find than before in, “How A Blockchain-Based Digital ID System Could Help Tackle Human Trafficking.”
It is estimated that 20-40 million people are human trafficked, bringing in profits of $150 billion a year. Those are outrageous numbers! Emerging technologies such as data sharing and blockchain are becoming the favorable way to traffic people, but these technologies could also save the victims.
Digital IDs would be the key to blockchain technology. Human trafficking victims are denied resources that could help them escape, such as phones, computers, and other mobile technology. The victims are also stripped of any physical identification like passports or driver’s licenses. What if victims had a digital ID, made unique due to a fingerprint or eye scan, that cannot be stolen and would be easy to track?
“Once this is saved on a blockchain, the information is immutable and as such can not be forged, meaning traffickers wouldn’t be able to tamper it or change a victim’s identity. A strategy often used by traffickers to get their victims across border controls.
Importantly, blockchain technology is also decentralized, meaning that the embedded data is far more secure than it would be on a centralized server.
As a borderless technology, blockchain ID documentation and tracking can take place anywhere — so long as the parties involved are able to cooperate and collaborate while pledging to input the correct data.”
In other words, it is still the work of science fiction, but the possibility to make it a reality is not that far off.
Whitney Grace, October 25, 2019
MIT Thinks the Ideas of US Attorney General Are Not Good
October 4, 2019
Let’s put this article “Facebook Is Being Asked to Give Access to Encrypted Messages. It’s a Bad Idea” is perspective. First, a number of countries have taken steps to deal with the unexpected consequences of encrypted real time messages. Example? Australia. The issues range from the application of a non slick coating to routine criminal misbehavior to larger-scale actions. Example: Paris night club bombing.
MIT, as you may recall, tried to push under a mattress in Baker House, some interesting information; specifically:
- Gifts from Jeffrey Epstein. You can read the MIT president’s explanation in “Preliminary Fact Finding about MIT and Jeffrey Epstein”
- The Boston Globe’s characterization of the MIT Epstein tie up as sordid
- The alleged cover up the esteemed institution used to disconnect MIT from the interesting person Jeffrey Epstein.
As a result, I am not sure I am convinced that the arguments set forth in the “Facebook Is Being Asked” write up is in alignment of with my 76 year old ethical compass.
There are some involved in law enforcement and intelligence activities seeking ways to deal with the threats — yes, threats — from bright-as-a-button engineers’ innovation machines.
The problem is that when an institution aligned with Jeffrey Epstein suggests that the US Attorney General has a bad idea, why not focus on the processes which created the MIT-Epstein tie up. Once that’s fixed, maybe — just maybe — I will view MIT’s and its instruments’ pronouncements as objective, credible, and in the best interests of dealing with certain problems certain bright-as-a-button innovators have created.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2019
Roy Cohn Documents Released by FBI
September 30, 2019
If you are interested in Roy Cohn, a New York attorney, new information is available. Released by the FBI, the documents contain about 700 pages of information. You can access the data at this link. The documents are redacted. Mr. Cohn interacted with a number of individuals with a high profile. Mr. Cohn died in 1986, that’s 33 years ago. The New York Post ran a photo of Mr. Cohn with a youthful President Trump and mentioned some of Mr. Cohn’s high profile activities.
Stephen E Arnold, September 30, 2019
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