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An Orange County man suspected of hacking computers was arrested on federal charges related to demands for explicit videos from women and teenage girls.


A man, claiming to be affiliated with an underground gang of hackers, was arrested on federal extortion charges that allege he hacked into dozens of computers, obtained personal data about people using the computers, and then demanded explicit videos from female victims in exchange for keeping their personal information private.

Luis Mijangos was arrested after a six-month FBI investigation into his involvement in computer hacking, identity theft and video nosiness. Mijangos infected more than 100 computers which were used by about 230 individuals, at least 44 of whom were juveniles.

Mijangos used peer-to-peer networks to infect computers with malware that he made appear as popular songs. Once his victim was infected, Mijangos sent instant messages to people in the victims’ address books. The malicious code in the IMs gave Mijangos control of those computers too.

Once he had control of a computer, he would search for intimate images or videos of young women in various states of undress or engaged in naughty acts with their partners. Mijangos contacted the female victims and threatened to send the explicit photos or videos to everyone in their contact lists unless they made additional videos for him. He also told the victims that because he controlled their computers, he would know if they attempted to contact the authorities. He told one victim that she did not want to “mess” with a team of hackers.

The never ending war between content creators and alleged infringers has been heating up lately. UK recently passed the Digital Economy Act 2010, which covers various aspects of internet, televisions or other forms of digital media. One major area it overhauls is with respect to internet piracy. For example, the bill requires ISPs to suspend connections to alleged copyright infringers, which makes operating public WiFi connection at stores, libraries etc impossible.

Outraged by the passing of this bill and with questions, a concerned citizen wrote to his MP (Emily Thornberry). The MP forwarded the letter to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills, which is behind the passing of the bill.

In reply (addressed to Emily) the MP responsible for the Department for Business Innovation & Skills, Stephen Timms (Digital Britain’s chief) sent a letter which explains how a copyright owner would be able to track down the alleged infringer(s). Whether a conceptual error or a typo, the letter had a very contextually relevant mistake, making us think, if IP addresses should be traceable at all. Given below is the letter in its entirety.

Privacy has been a major issue with all Social Networks. While the networks do try to address the issues, most of the times – the solution provided is opting out of certain features. Researchers have tested a new privacy model, based on Bayesian Belief Networks – which creates a win-win situation for both the users and the network.

Everyday so many users join Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, MySpace etc, to keep up with friends, organize events with friends, make new friends, or flirt. One of the main features of SNSs is the”profile” where users post information about themselves. The profile can include real name, e-mail, physical address, phone number, academic classification, major, hometown, birthdates, sexual orientation, relationship status, interests, job history, favorite music/movies/books, etc. This revelation of personal information provides credibility to the profile and also helps match with other profiles. Users post personal information for a variety of reasons – 89% use it to keep up with friends, 57% use it make plans with friends, and 49% use it to make new friends. How much and what kind of information is revealed depend on users’ privacy concern and the trust on the SNS and its members.

Your right to privacy is shrinking, but it’s happening quietly without much publicity. Identity theft steals far more than your privacy.  So far in 2009, over 13 million records have been breached! Here are the top privacy breaches this year.

by Angie Porter
Cyberspace is the new Wild West frontier where sophisticated hacking is like having the fastest gun. Man-in-the-middle attacks are common place, while credit card PIN crackers lead the pack of cyber outlaws. Neither SSL websites nor the “smart” grid can be considered safe anymore. Lucifer, AKA a social engineer, may dwell on your friend’s list within instant messengers or social sites. Even if you manage to avoid tweeting your intentions, botnets, or clickjackers, the vast frontier of cyberspace is shrinking in regards to your privacy.