TRUMP ASKS RUSSIA TO DIG UP HILLARY’S EMAILS IN UNPRECEDE REMARKS
Donald Trump speaking at the 117th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States at the Charlotte Convention Center on July 26, 2016 in Charlotte, NC. SARA D. DAVIS/GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump’s schadenfreude in the DNC’s embarrassing email leak is standard practice in America’s messy electoral politics. Today, though, his casual request that Russian hackers dig up Hillary Clinton’s emails—sent while she was U.S. Secretary of State—for his own political gain has sparked a new level of outrage among cybersecurity experts.
As the controversy continues to swirl around a likely-Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee, Trump responded to a reporter’s question at a press conference Wednesday by inviting Russia to do him another favor: collect and leak the emails that Clinton deleted from the private server she ran during her time as Secretary of State. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you’ll be rewarded mightily by our press,” he said. He later circled back to the same theme, telling reporters that “If Russia or China or any other country has those emails, to be honest with you, I’d love to see them.”
Some have dismissed the comment as a joke, though his repetition of the request seemed sincere. Either way, Trump’s comments represent a dangerous first, according to amazed members of the cybersecurity community: A politician actively soliciting political help from foreign government hackers.
“Basically what we have here is a presidential nominee inviting a foreign agency to hack his opponent,” says Thomas Rid, a professor in security studies at King’s College of London and the author of Rise of the Machines. “It’s certainly unprecedented. And it’s irresponsible.”
To apply some nuance to candidate who typically does not engage in it, Trump may not have asked for Russia to hack Clinton’s emails, so much as to leak emails that they’d already compromised, points out Jeffrey Carr, a cybersecurity analyst at Taia Global and the author of
Inside Cyber Warfare. But “it’s still inappropriate and possibly illegal,” Carr notes. “Trump reaching out to Russia and China for help in obtaining hacked emails means that he has excluded himself from any serious international discussions about cyber norms.”
The Clinton campaign was quick to echo those responses in a statement responding to to Trump: “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” wrote Clinton campaign policy director Jake Sullivan. “This has gone from being a matter of curiosity and a matter of politics to being a matter of national security.”
On another day, Trump’s remarks might have been dismissed as his usual jabbing at Clinton over her controversial use of a private email server to send State Department emails. But the remarks come in the wake of a still-unfolding hack of the Democratic National Committee,
believed to have been perpetrated by Russian hackers with possible ties to that country’s intelligence agencies. A Wikileaks release of embarrassing emails from the DNC led to the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz earlier this week, and cybersecurity and political commentators have asked whether Trump is benefitting from active foreign government hackers meddling in the American electoral process on his behalf. In that context, calling on Russia (or China, or anyone) to facilitate further cyber espionage takes on a much grimmer tone, whatever its intent.
Trump’s running mate Mike Pence was quick to tamp down the notion that the GOP candidate’s comments Wednesday were intended to signal collaboration between Trump’s campaign and the DNC hackers. “The FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking,” Pence wrote in a statement. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences.”
Nonetheless, Trump’s glib celebration of foreign hackers’ potential breach of Clinton’s emails—not during her campaign, but during her far more sensitive work as Secretary of State—signals he’s missed the gravity of the sort of foreign hacking he’s condoning. “This is really about national security, not about the campaign,” says King’s College’s Rid.
It wouldn’t be the first time Trump has displayed an ignorance of global cybersecurity issues. Asked by the
New York Times earlier this month if he would use “cyberweapons” as an alternative to traditional military force, he responded vaguely that “Cyber is absolutely a thing of the future and the present” and that “I am a fan of the future, and cyber is the future.”
Clinton’s handling of State Department classified emails on her personal server, which FBI director James Comey recently called “negligent” and “extremely careless,” means she’s still ultimately responsible for whatever harm comes from them, says Dave Aitel, a former NSA scientist and founder of the security firm Immunity. He argues that her mishandling of those emails means any statement from Trump about their potential breach is fair game. “If you’ve had the FBI director say you’re extremely negligent with national security materials, having another candidate suggest they release that material is still your fault,” Aitel says.
But Aitel also notes that Trump’s comments suggest a dangerous path towards active collusion with foreign hackers to sway American political outcomes. “The hyperbole version of this is, ‘Russians, please hack the election machines and make me win,” Aitel says. “He hasn’t said that…but that next step is super dangerous.”
Wednesday 27 July 2016
TRUMP ASKS RUSSIA TO DIG UP HILLARY’S EMAILS IN UNPRECEDE REMARKS
Tuesday 26 July 2016
The Latest: FBI probing DNC cyberattack
The Latest: FBI probing DNC cyberattack
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Latest on the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia
The FBI has confirmed that agents are investigating a cyberattack involving the Democratic National Committee that resulted in the release this weekend in embarrassing emails.
In a statement Monday, the FBI said it was investigating a “cyber intrusion” affecting the DNC and was “working to determine the nature and scope of the matter.”
The FBI said it will “continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”
Emails arising from the hack were posted over the weekend to WikiLeaks. Their release led party chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce her resignation.
A cybersecurity firm that looked into the DNC breach found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on the Democrats’ network — both of which have ties to the Russian government.
___
11:31 a.m.
A delegate for Bernie Sanders says the yelling and chanting might not be over for outgoing Democratic chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Karen Bernal, a Sanders delegate from Sacramento, Calif., said Monday that she expected disruptions if Wasserman Schultz takes the stage as planned. The Florida congresswoman was booed and heckled as she tried to speak to her home state delegation Monday after emails by her staff revealed some DNC members sided with Sanders in the Democratic primaries. Wasserman Schultz said she will gavel open and close the convention and then resign.
Bernal appeared at a news conference on behalf of an independent network of Sanders delegates. The coordinator of that effort, Norman Solomon, from Point Reyes Station, California, questioned the timing of her departure, saying: “She’s resigning as of Friday? Why wait until Friday?”
Solomon, whose group communicates with 1,250 Sanders delegates, said Sanders delegates were weighing a number of floor protest actions this week. He said the Sanders campaign has not contacted his group to encourage them to not protest.
___
11:05 a.m.
Bernie Sanders’ delegates are waiting to see whether the Vermont senator frees them to vote for Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s roll call.
Nebraska delegate Jeff Leanna says the topic was a top discussion item at a breakfast meeting involving his state, Colorado and Nevada. He says regional members of the Clinton campaign were reaching out to some delegates to see if they would be willing to switch. Leanna says he’s willing to cross over if Sanders agrees to release them during a private meeting with delegates Monday.
Louise Edington of Utah says most in her delegation also were discussing but not revealing what they might do. Sanders won that state with nearly 80 percent of the vote.
Sanders won 1,846 pledged delegates from primaries and caucuses.
___
10:57 a.m.
Donald Trump will take questions from the public on a web forum during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
The Republican presidential nominee will participate in an “Ask Me Anything” event Wednesday night on Reddit. Users can begin asking questions at 6:30 p.m. and Trump will start responding at 7 p.m.
No topics are off limits on the forums, which have become a popular Internet staple.
___
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, is boasting there will be many differences between the Democratic convention now getting under way in Philadelphia and last week’s GOP convention in Cleveland.
Among them: the governor of Pennsylvania, Democrat Tom Wolf, has endorsed Clinton — unlike Ohio’s GOP Gov. John Kasich, who has not backed Donald Trump and was conspicuously absent last week.
Mook also points out that Sen. Bernie Sanders has endorsed Clinton, and will be “doubling down” on that endorsement in a speech later Monday. In Cleveland, on the other hand, Sen. Ted Cruz withheld his backing for Trump and encouraged Republicans to vote their conscience.
Mook says the overall message is going to be “optimistic” and “hopeful” — “a big contrast to what we saw in Cleveland last week.”
___
9:56 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager says there’s no comparison between the disunity at the Republican convention and the state of the Democratic Party.
Robby Mook is noting that no living Republican presidents attended the GOP convention, nor did the governor of Ohio, which hosted the gathering. He says in contrast, “Everybody is actually showing up at our convention and they’re endorsing Hillary Clinton.”
He sidestepped questions about the role of ousted Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s role at the convention. He says it was “her decision” to step down at the end of the convention.
Mook spoke to reporters at a Bloomberg breakfast.
___
9:54 a.m.
Vice President Joe Biden will hold his first campaign rally for Hillary Clinton next month in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Biden had planned to campaign for Clinton earlier this month but postponed the event after five police officers were killed in Dallas. That incident also led Clinton’s GOP rival Donald Trump to scrap events.
The White House says Biden will now travel to Scranton on August 15. The locale has dual significance — it’s also where Clinton’s father lived for years.
The rally will come nearly three weeks after Biden speaks Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention. Biden has endorsed Clinton and promised to campaign hard for her but was seen as a potential chief rival to her had he run for president. He opted out last year.
___
9:38 a.m.
Furious protesters nearly drowned out Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ speech to her home state delegation Monday, crowding the stage and screaming, “You’re ruining our democracy!”
A row of police officers stood between the stage and the protesters as the Florida congresswoman, who is up for re-election, finished her speech. Several of her supporters stood on chairs and waved T-shirts bearing her name, whole some yelled at the Sanders’ supporters to step back or sit down.
The Sanders’ supporters held paper signs that said “E-mails” on one side and “Thanks for the ‘help’ Debbie,” on the other.
Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday she would step down from the party chairmanship after the convention this week. She was pressured to resign after hacked emails revealed the DNC may have favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the party’s presidential primaries.
___
9:30 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman says Donald Trump and Russian leader Valdimir Putin have “a kind of bromance going on.”
John Podesta said he believes news reports that hacks of the Democratic National Committee’s emails were orchestrated by Russian military intelligence agencies.
Podesta said on MSNBC Monday that there’s, “a kind of bromance going on between Putin and Trump which is distinct from this leak.”
The Republican presidential nominee has done business in Russia. Trump has spoken favorably of Putin as someone he could negotiate with, producing better relations between the U.S. and its former Cold War adversary.
Podesta says, “maybe it’s simply just a mutual admiration society.”
___
9:22 a.m.
Outgoing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is being heckled at a breakfast of Florida delegates, with opponents shouting, “Shame!”
The Florida congresswoman announced Sunday that she would resign as the party’s chair at the end of this week’s Democratic National Convention.
Wasserman Schultz is telling the crowd during a raucous scene that “we have to make sure that we move together in a unified way.” But supporters of Bernie Sanders shouted at her during her brief remarks to the breakfast.
Her ouster came after a firestorm over hacked emails that suggested the DNC favored Hillary Clinton in the presidential primaries against Bernie Sanders.
___
9:20 a.m.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is downplaying turmoil in the Democratic Party, saying it “doesn’t really matter” who is the party chair.
Pelosi blames the Russians for the hack of Democratic National Committee emails that revealed that party officials strategized against Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Pelosi says the matter should be “scrutinized,” and “I do think there should be some examination of what happened at the DNC and action should be taken.”
The revelations led party chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce she would step down after the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.
Pelosi predicts that development will end up being “probably one of the most unimportant things that happened at the convention.”
She made her comments at a breakfast hosted by Bloomberg News Monday in Philadelphia.
___
9:17 a.m.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic Party, said Monday that “we’re done” with the controversy over hacked party emails.
“I think the good news now is we’re done,” McAuliffe said, after speaking to a delegate breakfast in Philadelphia on the first day of the Democratic National Convention. “We’ve dealt with the issue. Debbie has resigned and now we’ve got to go forward. She did the right thing. I used to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee. You should never tolerate anyone on your staff or allow people to write those kinds of things.”
McAuliffe said he hopes the delegates will treat Wasserman Schultz with respect, noting that “she wants to get up there” and participate this week. He added that she has worked hard and “it’s not an easy job.”
McAuliffe said he spoke to Wasserman Schultz last night and said the resignation “was very hard on her. You don’t like to see anyone have to go through this.”
___
8:36 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s spokesman says hacked emails in which Democratic party officials discuss how to undermine Bernie Sanders’ campaign don’t mean the nomination process was rigged.
But campaign spokesman Brian Fallon is not defending emails that discuss using Sanders’ religious beliefs against him. He calls those emai
Girls gang up on boys in new cyberbullin craze called 'roasting' expers warns
Girls gang up on boys in new cyberbullying craze called 'roasting', expert warns
'Roasting' involves vile abuse against peers on social media, a level up from banter, experts said
Girls are ganging up on boys in a new cyberbullying craze called “roasting”, a digital safety expert has warned.
The new bullying takes place via mobile apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook, where girls pick on a boy and vent the most offensive abuse until the victim “completely cracks”.
This form of cyberbullying can also involve boys ganging up on girls or turning against each other in “very nasty” ways, experts have warned.
Teachers and parents at leading private schools have been warned to be aware of this new form of cyberbullying, as it tends to happen outside adult oversight because teenagers regard it as just one level up from banter.
The warnings followed research by non-profit motivational organisation dosomething.com , which suggested that girls are almost twice as likely as boys to be both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying, as boys tend to be more involved in physical bullying.
Both boys and girls have killed themselves recently due to cyberbullying.
Charlotte Robertson, of online safety consultants Digital Awareness UK, said roasting was prominent among pupils of leading independent schools as well as in state schools across the country.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Ms Robertson, whose company provides advice to independent girls’ schools, including those in the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), said: “Roasting is done under the guise of good humour, which is why it is so dangerous because it is often done among friends.
“Someone would just lay into someone else and completely humiliate them but do it in a way that’s portrayed as humorous – a level up from banter.”
She added: “Girls will roast boys. They will create an online chat room about another boy.” Ms Robertson said girls join in because “they are trying to show bravado and competitiveness”.
Asked whether this is just a continuation of online bullying, she said: “It’s very severe and people will ride on the back of what’s trending in world news.
“They will use killings or any bad news by way of inspiration to create a nasty “meme” [photograph with humorous caption] about someone.”
Her firm has launched a video campaign for the GDST to highlight such issues “because parents feel so disempowered and so out of the loop with what young people
Friday 1 April 2016
Brussels attack: Encryption and Snowden to blame for intelligence failures claims William Hague
William Hague: 'The care taken by the Brussels murderers to leave no digital trail is a sign of strict and thorough training.'Reuters
Former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has claimed that recent terrorist atrocities in Brussels show 'the need to crack' terrorist communications, citing strong encryption and the Edward Snowden leaks as contributing factors to ongoing intelligence failures across the globe.
"Because the perpetrators left no digital trail, we must change our approach to legitimate surveillance or lose ground in the long war to come," he wrote in The Telegraph. "The mobile phones [the Brussels terrorists] carried had evidently not been used before and showed no record of texts, chat or emails. Whatever means of co-ordination they used, it was sufficiently private or encrypted that the authorities do not seem to have been aware of it," he said.
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According to Hague, terrorist groups like the so-called Islamic State (Isis) have become highly advanced at "communications discipline". This, he argues, helps to bolster coordinated attacks across Europe while staying under-the-radar of intelligence agencies.
"The care taken by the Brussels murderers to leave no digital trail is a sign of strict and thorough training, and one of many indications that the struggle against 'Islamist' terror will be the longest and most arduous of our modern battles with indiscriminate killing," he warned.
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Recent suicide bombing attacks in Brussels were targeted at a central airport and an underground metro station and resulted in over 30 fatalities. Meanwhile, an attack in Paris last November left over 130 people dead and hundreds wounded after gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a sport stadium and restaurants simultaneously.
In light of the escalating encryption argument between the FBI and Apple, strong cryptography quickly became one reason given as to why law enforcement was unable to foresee the incident. However, evidence has since emerged that showed how Isis-affiliated terrorists relied on pre-paid 'burner' phones over standard applications like WhatsApp or iMessage to stealthily communicate prior to the Paris attacks.
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However Hague remained silent on criticism of burner handsets. Instead, he argued that intelligence failures leading up to atrocities in Brussels and Paris were partly to blame on the Edward Snowden revelations three years ago.
Edward Snowden has been blamed on intelligence failures Getty Images
"Since Edward Snowden's leaks and allegations about Western intelligence-gathering in 2013, every mastermind of terrorism or organised crime has been alerted to the need to change or disguise their means of communication," he wrote. "All spy agencies hostile to democracies have been given a temporary advantage, including those in Russia, where Snowden now skulks." He added: "[UK intelligence agencies] have been hampered in recent years by the Snowden leaks, by the rise of widespread encryption by communications firms, and by developments in technology."
Former NSA-contractor Edward Snowden leaked a trove of classified documents that outlined a vast spying apparatus used by intelligences agencies including the NSA, FBI and GCHQ. Surveillance programmes such as Prism and Tempora were found to be scooping up communications and social media data on a massive scale.
Mass surveillance 'paranoia'
In any case, Hague dismissed accusations that governments in the US and UK conduct any form of 'mass surveillance'. Instead, he claimed, bulk collection is one sure-fire method of clamping down on terrorist activity. "[Data retention] is vital in order to see patterns in the behaviour of those who might join a cell such as the one in Brussels. And it can help us to spot them if they make a mistake," he asserted.
Referencing the ongoing scrutiny of the Investigatory Powers spying bill, Hague said: "Over the next few months, Parliament will engage in the centuries-old debate about how to balance privacy and security. It should recognise that collecting bulk data is not the same as mass surveillance, and learn a key lesson of Brussels: beating this terror will need every legitimate tool that a free society can employ."
Hague is not the first politician to publicly blame Snowden for failures of the intelligence agencies. Last November, London Mayer Boris Johnson said: "When the story of the Paris massacre is explained, I would like a better understanding of how so many operatives were able to conspire, and attack multiple locations, without some of their electronic chatter reaching the ears of the police. I want these people properly spied on, properly watched – and I bet you do, too."
Anonymous hacks into Angolan government websites after 17 activists jailed
The Portuguese branch of Anonymous brings down Angolan government websitesGetty Images
Anonymous has hacked into the Angolan government's websites, shutting down over 20 of them in retaliation for the government jailing 17 youth activists. Most of the websites targeted by the group were down for several hours after the hacktivist group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack.
Anonymous' Portuguese branch listed the names of the government websites that it targeted on its Facebook page. "The real criminals are outside, defended by the capitalist system that increasingly spreads in the minds of the weak," said the hacktivist collective. There has so far been no comment from the Angolan government regarding the breach by Anonymous.
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Among the jailed activists is well-known rapper Luaty Beirao. The group was charged with plotting a "rebellion" against Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and sentenced to serve between two and eight-and-a-half years in prison on 28 March by the Luanda Provincial Tribune.
Dos Santos has ruled Angola since 1979 and has been widely accused of being tyrannical. His government has also been charged with human rights abuses. In March, he announced his intention to retire in 2018, which triggered sceptical and cynical reactions from people, the Guardian reported.
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The regime has faced severe criticism from Amnesty International, which said the conviction of the activists was "an affront to justice". On 29 March, Amnesty posted a letter as part of a press release to protest against the decision. "The activists have been wrongly convicted in a deeply politicised trial. They are the victims of a government determined to intimidate anyone who dares to question its repressive policies," said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for Southern Africa. Muchena added that the organisation considers the 17 activists as "prisoners of conscience".
The activists, who were arrested in June 2015 in a book club, maintain that they are peaceful campaigners who are petitioning for Dos Santos to step down.
Saturday 5 March 2016
Should You Be Afraid of Cyber-Attacks on Nuclear Power Plants?
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Twenty countries with nuclear
weapon materials or nuclear
power plants "do not even
have basic requirements to
protect nuclear facilities from
cyber-attacks," according to a
new report from a
nonproliferation watchdog
group.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative's
finding comes in the wake of
reports from researchers that
a cyber-attack last month
caused a power outage in
Ukraine, raising new concerns
about the ability of the
industrial sector to prevent
digital attacks. And the stakes
are even higher in the nuclear
space because of the
potentially devastating results
of a malfunction - or the
possibility someone could
create an opportunity to steal
nuclear materials.
In preparing its latest global
ranking of nuclear security
risks, NTI for the first time
asked basic questions about
regulations addressing how to
protect nuclear facilities from
cyber-attacks. "What we have
observed is what I call
enormous unevenness on the
global stage to address this
issue," said Page Stoutland,
the group's vice president for
scientific and technical affairs
and one of the report's
authors. The United States and
other nations with developed
programs often had regulatory
safeguards, he said, while
countries now developing
nuclear programs were less
likely to have formal policies
in place.
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Wednesday 27 January 2016
Warning — People are Sharing a Link that will Crash and Reboot your iPhone
How does this Prank Work?
- A Header Title that you will never actually see because the browser crashes.
- A small piece of JavaScript that calls the HTML5 History API thousands of times in a loop, potentially causing Safari to freeze.
Android Users are Vulnerable Too
Desktop and Laptops Are Affected Too
Israeli Electrical Power Grid Suffers Massive Cyber Attack
"Yesterday we identified one of the largest cyber attacks that we have experienced," Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed at the CyberTech 2016 Conference at the Tel Aviv Trade Fair and Convention Center on Tuesday, according to an article published by The Times of Israel.
"The virus was already identified and the right software was already prepared to neutralize it," Steinitz added. "We'd to paralyze many of the computers of the Israeli Electricity Authority. We are handling the situation and I hope that soon, this very serious event will be over...but as of now, computer systems are still not working as they should."
Severe Cyber Attack on Israel Electricity Infrastructure
Previous Known Cyber Attacks on SCADA Systems
Monday 4 January 2016
THE TOP 6 UNFORGETABLE CYBERBULLING CASES
The truth behind 6 disturbing cyberbullying cases that turned into suicide stories…
What is Cyberbullying?
The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center estimates that nearly 30 percent of American youth are either a bully or a target of bullying. However, bullying is no longer a problem that is isolated to the playgrounds, hallways and lunch rooms of schools. Instead, advances in technology have now extended harassment to cell phones, social media websites and other online avenues that are contributing to an alarming number of cyberbullying cases leading to suicide.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people with approximately 4,400 deaths every year. The CDC estimates that there are at least 100 suicide attempts for every suicide among young people. More than 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide and nearly 7 percent have attempted it, that is why you will, sadly, read about cyberbullying cases in the media now more than ever.
Cyber Bullying Stories: The Ryan Halligan Case (1989 – 2003)
The Cyberbullying Story:the website operated by Ryan’s parents, John and Kelly Halligan, early concerns about Ryan’s speech, language and motor skills development led to him receiving special education services from pre-school through the fourth grade. Ryan’s academic and physical struggles made him the regular target of a particular bully at school between the fifth and seventh grade. In February 2003, a fight between Ryan and the bully not only ended the harassment at school, but led to a supposed friendship.However, after Ryan shared an embarrassing personal story, the newly found friend returned to being a bully and used the information to start a rumour that Ryan was gay. The taunting continued into the summer of 2003, although Ryan thought that he had struck a friendship with a pretty, popular girl through AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Instead, he later learned that the girl and her friends thought it would be funny to make Ryan think the girl liked him and use it to have him share more personally embarrassing material—which was copied and pasted into AIM exchanges with her friends. On October 7, 2003, Ryan hanged himself in the family bathroom. After his son’s death, John discovered a folder filled with IM exchanges throughout that summer that made him realize “that technology was being utilized as weapons far more effective and reaching [than] the simple ones we had as kids.”
Aftermath: There were no criminal charges filed following Ryan’s death because no criminal law applied to the circumstances. Seven months after Ryan’s death, Vermont’s Bully Prevention Law (ACT 117) was signed into law by Governor Jim Douglas. John Halligan also authored Vermont’s Suicide Prevention Law (ACT 114), which passed unchanged in April 2006.
More on cyberbullying cases related to slander.
Cyber Bullying Stories: The Megan Meier Case (1992 – 2006)
The Cyberbullying Story: In December 2007, Tina Meier founded the nonprofit Megan Meier Foundation. The non-profit was named in honour of Tina’s 13-year-old daughter who hanged herself in a bedroom closet in October 2006. Megan struggled with attention deficit disorder and depression in addition to issues with her weight. About five weeks before her death, a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans asked Megan to be friends on the social networking website MySpace. The two began communicating online regularly, although they never met in person or spoke on the phone. “Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem,” Tina said on the Foundation website. “And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty.”
In mid-October, Josh began saying he didn’t want to be friends anymore, and the messages became more cruel on October 16, 2006, when Josh concluded by telling Megan, “The world would be a better place without you.” The cyberbullying escalated when additional classmates and friends on MySpace began writing disturbing messages and bulletins. Tina said on the Foundation website that it was about 20 minutes after Megan went to her room after leaving the computer that the mother found her daughter had hanged herself in her bedroom closet. Megan died the following day, three weeks before what would have been her 14th birthday.
Aftermath: According to the Associated Press, it was later that fall when a neighbor informed Megan’s parents that Josh was not a real person. Instead, the account was created by another neighbor, Lori Drew, her 18-year-old temporary employee Ashley Grills, and Drew’s teenage daughter, who used to be friends with Megan. One year later, the case began receiving national attention. While the county prosecutor declined to file any criminal charges in the case, federal prosecuted charged her with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for accessing protected computers without authorization. A federal grand jury indicted Drew on all four counts in 2008, but U.S. District Judge George Wu acquitted Drew in August 2009 and vacated the conviction.
In addition to the Megan Meier Foundation, Tina also worked closely to help Missouri legislature pass Senate Bill 818, unofficially known as “Megan’s Law” in August 2008. In April 2009, U.S. Representative Linda Sánchez of California introduced the “Megan Meier Cyber bullying Prevention Act.“, which aimed to end the harassment of a cyberbully seriously – but unfortunately it was not enacted.
More on legislation related to Cyberbullying cases
Cyber Bullying Stories: The Cyberbullying Cases of Jessica Logan (1990 – 2008) and Hope Witsell (1996 – 2009)
The Cyberbullying Story: Jessica Logan was an 18-year-old Sycamore High School senior who sent nude photo of herself to her boyfriend, but the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the photo was sent to hundreds of teenagers in at least seven Cincinnati-area high schools after the couple broke up. According to the University of Alabama’s cyberbullying website, the cyber bullying continued through Facebook, MySpace and text messages. Jessica hanged herself after attending the funeral of another boy who had committed suicide.
A little more than one year later, 13-year-old Hope Sitwell hanged herself after a picture of her breasts that she “sexted” to her boyfriend was shared amongst students at six different schools in area of Ruskin, Florida, friends and family told CNN. Hope never told her parents about the “Hope Hater Page” that was started on MySpace that led to additional cyber bullying.
Aftermath: The Enquirer reported that Jessica’s parents, Albert and Cynthia Logan, filed a lawsuit against Sycamore High School and the Montgomery police for allegedly not doing enough to keep their daughter from being bullied and harassed following the nude photos of her being widely shared. In February 2012, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 116, also known as the Jessica Logan Act, into law. The legislation addresses cyber bullying and expands anti-harassment policies.
Reuters reported that Hope’s parents filed a lawsuit in April 2011 against Hillsborough County school officials for allegedly failing to take appropriate action after learning the teen had suicidal thoughts.
More on cyberbullying cases related to photographs
Cyber Bullying Stories: The Tyler Clementi Case (1991 – 2010)
The Cyberbullying Story: It was during the summer after his high school graduation that 18-year-old Tyler Clementi began sharing that he was gay. Clemenit’s room mate during his freshman year at Rutgers University, Dharun Ravi, used a webcam in September 2010 to stream footage of Clementi kissing another man. According to the Tyler Clementi Foundation, the teenager learned through his room mate’s Twitter feed that he had become “a topic of ridicule in his new social environment.” On September 22, 2010, Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge.Aftermath: Less than a week after Clementi’s death, Ravi and Molly Wei, the hallmate whose computer Ravi used to spy on Clementi, were charged with invasion of privacy. In May 2011, Reuters reported that Wei entered a plea deal requiring that she testify against Ravi. A jury convicted Ravi on 15 criminal charges, and he earned early release 20 days after beginning a 30-day jail sentence.
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act would require colleges and universities to have anti-harassment policies and expanded bullying prevention programs. In February 2013, the Star-Ledger reported that the bill was reintroduced in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Cyber Bullying Stories: The Amanda Todd Case (1996 – 2012)
The Cyberbullying Story: In October 2012, ABC News reported that the video Amanda Todd had posted to YouTube had been viewed more than 17 million times. In the video entitled “My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm,” the British Columbia teenager uses flash cards to tell about her experiences of being blackmailed and bullied. A little over a month after posting the video on September 7, 2012, Amanda hanged herself in her home on October 10, 2012.
Amanda began using video chat in the seventh grade to meet new people online, and one stranger convinced the teenager to bare her breasts on camera. However, the stranger attempted to use the photo to blackmail Amanda, and the picture began circulating on the internet, including a Facebook profile that used the topless photograph as the profile image. “The Internet stalker she flashed kept stalking her,” Amanda’s mother, Carol Todd, told the Vancouver Sun. “Every time she moved schools he would go undercover and become a Facebook friend.”
Aftermath: Less than a week after Amanda’s death, Canada’s CTV News reported that lawmakers would consider a motion seeking to lay the groundwork for a national bullying prevention strategy. The Amanda Todd Legacy, the official blog administered by the teenager’s family, strives to “serve as a bulletin board for all special events and initiatives to support anti-bullying education, help young people struggling with mental health issues and support educational programs that help people with learning disabilities.”
More on cyberbullying cases and Facebook
Unfortunately, these are only some of the stories that are occurring all around us on a daily basis. These cyber bullying cases demonstrate that there are actions that many members of the community can take to prevent additional harassment. Parents, educators and other school officials need to recognize signs of cyberbullying, and we must all make a more concerted effort to help cyberbully victims.
The cyberbully victim is not going to declare “I am a cyberbully victim”, instead they are going to assume no one can understand them and help them and resort to self harm or even suicide. It is up to parents and educators to remind each cyberbully victim that help is available and understanding is available if they feel victimized by a cyberbully. It is up to you to tell them that the cyberbully doesn’t control their lives.
It also feels appropriate and more than essential to mention the underlying danger of young teenage porn viewers. When there is young teenage porn involved, a teen’s idea of violence, sex and relationships changes drastically and influences his/her interactions with the community.
Although these are very sad cyberbullying stories, they serve as a reminder that bullying and cyberbullying are not to be taken lightly. If you or someone you know are being bullied or cyberbullied speak out now and get some help.
If you are not a victim, spread awareness about bullying and cyberbullying by sharing these tragic stories, you might be helping someone out!
At least 2 million sets of private data stolen in latest Japan cyber attacks
At least 2 million sets of private data stolen in latest Japan cyber attacks
The victims consist of 69 private companies, 49 government agencies and their affiliates, and 22 universities, the Japan Times reported. Among the remaining 65 organizations, 40 said they discovered on their own that they had been targeted. The Japan Pension Service, operator of the country’s public pension program, incurred the largest data theft – about 1.25 million sets of ID numbers, names, addresses and birthdates.
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Confectionery company Chateraise Co. in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, said some 210,000 personal data sets were possibly leaked, while model manufacturer Tamiya Inc. in the city of Shizuoka said 107,000 may have been stolen. Thirty-two organizations were confirmed to have come under DDoS attacks, or distributed denial of service, which are intended to paralyze a targeted website by overwhelming it with much higher than normal traffic from multiple sources.
The DDoS attacks are suspected to have been carried out against the official website of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by the Anonymous hacker group in a sign of protest at Japan’s plan to resume research whaling in Antarctica. The website became temporarily inaccessible last month.