Officer Ward

Officer Ward
Cyber Defender & Detention Center Security Officer

Officer Ward believes that most people who disrespect the privelages of Cyberspace are more ignorant than criminal, and that most cyber criminals can be rehabilitated into faithful cyber citizens through education about the dangers of delinquency in Cyberspace.

Working closely with Commander Omni and the Cyber Defense Academy, Officer Ward hopes to secure Cyberspace for everyone.

Favorite Quote:

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do
- John Baptiste Moliere

Favorite Food:

Cupcakes

Interests:

Coaching softball, fishing, catching cyber criminals

October 28 2009

Cyber Criminals –Vladimir Levin, Citibank Fraud

Back in 1994, when I was at the youthful age of...15 years younger than I am now...there was a famous case of fraud involving Citibank. Wow, I feel old now.

Back then Vladimir Levin used Citibank's dialup wire transferring service to steal $10.7 million dollars! Of course, Levin was caught in less than a year, the bank got almost all of its money back, and Levin went to prison. Talk about a waste of time!

The interesting thing about this case is that originally, the media said Levin was a mathematician and graduate of Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology. After all, this would explain how he could hack into their system so easily, right? Well, as it turns out, Levin had no such skills. Instead of hacking into Citibank’s wire transfer service, Levin simply paid $100 to someone in the company to give him access to the systems.

Does this make Levin less of a cyber criminal? Not at all. Though he might not have had the smarts to break in himself, he did have $100 and a plan to steal millions via technology.  So watch out! It doesn’t take genius to be a notorious cyber criminal, just a regular person with evil in their heart and $100 in their pocket!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

October 23 2009

Here’s the Plan

Before I do anything else, I just want to say how impressed I am with Jax and Sparky. Not only did they encourage Erika to come forward, but they also came up with a fantastic plan to catch the cyber pirate Captain Jack. Here’s what they came up with. Since Erika hadn’t responded to Captain Jack’s email yet, we had her write back to him saying that she did want to join his crew. We also had her invite the pilfering pirate to a Halloween party at the Academy. By the way, Dana, can you throw a Halloween party together for this Friday? Thanks.

Anyway, once Captain Jack shows up, we’ll nab him and make him walk the plank! I mean, we’ll arrest him. Sorry, I got carried away with the pirate theme…

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Miscellaneous

October 21 2009

Cyber Crimes: Cyber Squatting

Last night I decided to create a Webpage so I could brag about all the huge fish I caught last spring. I went to register www.officerward.com, but someone had already taken it! Worst of all, they weren’t even using the Web site! I contacted the person that owned the Web site and they said they’d be willing to sell me the name…FOR $2,000! Then it hit me. I was dealing with rotten cybersquatters.

Cybersquatting is when someone registers a domain name so they can make a profit off it later by selling it for a high price. Some cybersquatters will even make a Web site with a name similar to a popular existing site to fool people into checking it out. When companies first started using the Internet to advertise their products, many of them found that the Web addresses they wanted to register were already taken. Luckily for them, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) protected their trademark and the owner of the domain name had to give them.

Since you probably don’t own a company, you really shouldn’t run into any problems with cybersquatters. I decided not to sue the person who owned www.officerward.com since it wouldn’t be worth the effort. In fact, I decided not to do a Web site at all! Instead, I’ll just carry pictures of all my amazing catches in my wallet so I can show people wherever I go!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

September 16 2009

Cyber Crimes: Publishing Forbidden Content

Forbidden content is a really tough term to define exactly. Really, it is used to describe anything on the Internet that someone might find offensive or is downright illegal. Some common examples of forbidden content are gross pictures, foul language and plagiarism. Not to get too far off subject here, but I think I ought to define plagiarism. Plagiarism is basically the theft of someone else’s ideas or works and passing them off as your own. It’s lying. It’s bad. Don’t do it. Moving on.

Like I said earlier, forbidden content is hard to describe. A great list of forbidden content can be found at this Web site. As they say on the Web site, almost all forbidden content falls under two major categories. Forbidden content is either a. offensive or b. unlawful. The offensive stuff is pretty easy to figure out – hateful speech, foul language and other words and pictures that just make you cringe. Remember, some people are easier to offend than others, so do your best to be nice!

Unlawful describes, well, anything against the law. Something that encourages or helps someone to commit a crime or anything that violates copyright laws can be considered unlawful, so be careful!

If you ever see anything you think might be forbidden content, let a trusted adult know right away. You need to do your part in keeping the Internet clean and safe, Cadet!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

September 14 2009

Cyber Criminals – Jonathan James, Hacker

Alright readers, I’ll try to keep this short since Carlo and I are gearing up for the new semester. A few years ago, 16-year-old Jonathan James of Miami was sent to prison for hacking. His conviction earned him the . . . eh, distinction . . . of being the first juvenile to be sent to prison for this sort of cyber crime. It’ll be a long time before he has any fun.

Apparently, the young man decided it would be a great idea to hack into the computer systems of both the US Defense Department and NASA. Seriously. On what planet does that seem like a good idea? Granted, all hacking is bad, but hacking into important government computers? For such a smart guy, that was a really bad idea. If James had been an adult, his sentence would have been at least 10 years and would have included several felony charges.

What a waste of a great mind! To think, if he had used his talents to help us here at the academy, he’d be a hero instead of a villain!

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals

August 25 2009

Cyber Crimes: Extortion

Hey everybody! Tell me if this has ever happened to you – You’ve got a note to give to a friend, but before you can give it to them, somebody takes it! They say that they won’t give it back to you unless you do something for them, like giving them your lunch or doing their homework. Depending on what that note says, you might be willing to do whatever it takes to get it back!

Well, in the business world, this is called “extortion,” and it is a problem many companies face. Companies will often put a lot of very confidential information on their servers, assuming that this information is safe. Of course, any Carnegie Cadet worth their badge could tell them that information on computers is never really safe.

This is what happens – the cyber criminal will either get access to the secret information or will prevent the company from accessing its own information. The criminal will then demand money from the company, and if the company doesn’t give them what they want, they will destroy the information. As you can imagine, this sort of thing could destroy most companies, and it is with that in mind that many companies work hard to stop this sort of attack. So how do they prevent extortion attacks? The same way you prevent most other cyber crimes. Internet security software, such as McAfee, Symantec, and Spybot Search and Destroy will definitely help in stopping incoming attacks, and, of course, something as simple as having a strong password is always a good idea.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Crimes

August 6 2009

Cyber Criminals: Lowe’s Computer Intrusion

Ever hear of something called “wardriving”? If you have, then you know it’s when someone drives around searching for unprotected Wi-Fi spots to sneak access to the Internet. If you don’t know what it is, well, you should re-read the last sentence.

Recently, a Michigan man pleaded guilty to illegally accessing computers at a Lowe’s home improvement store. He didn’t realize it was a protected computer until after he tried to visit a Web site but kept getting forced back to a Lowe’s corporate site. As soon as he realized what he had done, he signed off immediately. The man’s roommate, however, decided to use the unprotected Wi-Fi to steal credit card numbers from the store’s customers. They were both caught and are now facing federal charges, which brings me to my next point: don’t steal Internet access!

Just because someone left their Wi-Fi access point unprotected doesn’t give anyone the right to use it without their permission. That’s like saying if you forget to chain up your bike one day, it is ok if someone comes along and takes it! So remember, always keep your Wi-Fi protected, and never use someone else’s Wi-Fi unless they give you permission.

posted by Officer Ward
topic: Cyber Criminals