Free Republic

resident Trump has signed legislation making it a federal crime to attempt to hack federal voting systems. The Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act was unanimously approved by the House last month, over a year after the Senate also unanimously passed the legislation. Trump signed the legislation on Tuesday, just two weeks before the election. The new law empowers the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue charges against anyone who attempts to hack a voting system under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, commonly used by the agency to pursue charges against malicious hackers. The bill’s original introduction was...

Comcast's attempt to expand WiFi hotspots around the country has been met with a class action lawsuit in San Francisco by customers who claim the cable giant is trying to use their wireless routers to let others access the Internet. According to the Courthouse News Service, the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by lead plaintiff Toyer Grear and it charges that Comcast gave unsuspecting customers across the country routers that would broadcast secondary signals allowing others to connect with the Internet without the customer's approval. ... The suit claims Comcast hoped to piggyback off its customers so it...

When future generations try to understand how the world got carried away around the end of the 20th century by the panic over global warming, few things will amaze them more than the part played in stoking up the scare by the fiddling of official temperature data. There was already much evidence of this seven years ago, when I was writing my history of the scare, The Real Global Warming Disaster. But now another damning example has been uncovered by Steven Goddard’s US blog Real Science, showing how shamelessly manipulated has been one of the world’s most influential climate records,...

A global fraud ring has been targeting high net-worth businesses and individuals has netted the criminals an estimated €60 million (£48 million). According to McAfee and Guardian Analytics which today issued a report on the fraud, "Dissecting Operation High Roller," the attacks, first identified this winter, have hit 60 or more institutions and the total amount stolen may in fact be may be much higher. The two security firms say they have tracked "at least a dozen groups" that are relying on "server-side components and heavy automation" with about 60 servers processing thousands of attempted thefts from commercial accounts and...

NOTE The following text SNIPPET is a quote: International Hacker Arraigned After Extradition Elaborate Scheme Stole over $9.4 Million from Credit Card Processor ATLANTA, GA—SERGEI TŠURIKOV, 26, of Tallinn, Estonia, has been extradited to the United States. TŠURIKOV appeared today and was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge E. Clayton Scofield III, on federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft. TŠURIKOV was indicted by a federal grand jury on these charges on November 10, 2010, along with VIKTOR PLESHCHUK, 29, of St. Petersburg, Russia; OLEG COVELIN,...

KNOXVILLE - Federal court jurors reported today they have reached a verdict on three of four charges against former University of Tennessee student David C. Kernell, accused of illegally accessing the private e-mail account of 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But they also reported they are deadlocked on the first count, a charge of identity theft. Without asking what their verdict is on the other counts, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips sent them back to the jury room to continue deliberating the first count. In their written communication to the judge this afternoon, the jurors said: "Some...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, February 5, 2010 Resident of India Pleads Guilty in International Online Brokerage “Hack, Pump and Dump” Scheme WASHINGTON - A resident of India pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges arising from an international fraud scheme to "hack" into online brokerage accounts in the United States and use those accounts to manipulate stock prices, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Deborah K.R. Gilg of the District of Nebraska. Jaisankar Marimuthu, 35, a native of Chennai, India, pleaded guilty...

The FBI on Wednesday announced that it had charged 53 defendants, the largest number ever charged in a cybercrime case, following a multinational investigation into a phishing scheme that operated in the United States and Egypt. Thirty-three of the 53 defendants named in the indictment have been arrested, the FBI said, and several others are being sought. The investigation, dubbed "Operation Phish Phry," began in 2007. Authorities in Egypt have charged 47 defendants linked to the phishing operation. Phishing is a form of social engineering that attempts to convince Internet users, via e-mail or other means, to provide online credentials...

WICHITA, KAN—Three Wichita women have been indicted on charges of computer fraud in connection with altering Wichita Municipal Court bond records, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Wichita Police Department announced today. “It is our duty to assure that citizens receive the honest services of their public employees,” said U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch. “In part because Municipal Court receives federal funds, our office and the FBI have worked with the Wichita Police Department on this investigation.” The indictment alleges that a Municipal Court employee, Kaylene Pottorff, 53, Wichita, took bribes to change court records for...

Recently a user, Lori Drew, was charged with a felony for the heinous crime of pretending to be someone else on the Internet. Using the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Lori was charged for signing up for MySpace using a fake name. "The access to MySpace was unauthorized because using a fake name violated the terms of service. The information from a "protected computer" was the profiles of other MySpace users. If this is found to be a valid interpretation of the law, it's really quite frightening. If you violate the Terms of Service of a website, you can...

Microsoft Award Team Your Ref: BTD/968/06 Your Batch: 409978E Dear Sir/Madam, The prestigious Microsoft and MSN have set out and successfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the beginning of the year anniversary, The Management rolled out over 100,000.000.00 (One Hundred Million Great Britain Pounds) Begining of the year lucky email selected draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which will be given the opportunity to benefit from year our patronage. Contact Your Fiduciary Agent Mr. George Hoyas Microsoft Promotion Award Team Head Winning Claims Dept. Email: ghoyas140@yahoo.dk Phone:+44-704-570-1444 Regards. DR. HAWKES...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned. Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation. The break-ins and the State Department's emergency response severely limited Internet access at many...

Hackers are trying to lure people to a malicious Web site using cell phone text messages, a security company has warned. The blended attack uses social engineering techniques in its attempt to trick people to the site, security vendor Websense said in an advisory. An SMS text message is sent to the targets' cell phones, thanking them for subscribing to a fictitious dating service. The message states that they will be automatically charged a fee of $2.00 per day via their phone bill, unless their subscription is cancelled online. The same message has also been sent multiple times to the...

Hacker Breaches T-Mobile Systems, Reads US Secret Service Email By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Published Wednesday 12th January 2005 09:47 GMT A sophisticated computer hacker had access to servers at wireless giant T-Mobile for at least a year, which he used to monitor US Secret Service email, obtain customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and download candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, SecurityFocus has learned. Twenty-one year-old Nicolas Jacobsen was quietly charged with the intrusions last October, after a Secret Service informant helped investigators link him to sensitive agency documents that were circulating in underground IRC chat rooms....

BC pick 6 inquiry launched By MATT HEGARTY The New York State Racing and Wagering Board has launched a formal inquiry into winning Breeders' Cup Pick 6 bets placed through Catskill Off-Track Betting Corporation, board officials said Monday. One bettor, making telephone wagers through Catskill OTB's account wagering service, bought all six winning tickets on the Breeders' Cup pick 6, according to board officials. Each winning ticket was worth $428,392 plus consolation payoffs for selecting five winners. The total value of the tickets is well more than $2.5 million. It was not immediately clear whether any of the tickets have...