Europol Predicts First Online Murder By End of This Year 155
An anonymous reader sends this story from The Stack:
The world's first "online murder" over an internet-connected device could happen by the end of this year, Europol has warned. Research carried out by the European Union's law enforcement agency has found that governments are not equipped to fight the growing threat of "online murder," as cyber criminals start to exploit internet technologies to target victims physically. The study, which was published last week, analyzed the possible physical dangers linked to cyber criminality and found that a rise in "injury and possible deaths" could be expected as computer hackers launch attacks on critical connected equipment. The assessment particularly referred to a report by IID, a U.S. security firm, which forecast that the world's first murder via a "hacked internet-connected device" would happen by the end of 2014.
Self fulfilling prophecy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Self fulfilling prophecy (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know why it needs "hacked".
many bombs have been detonated for almost two decades with network connected means.
USA routinely kills people via network connected flying devices that shoot missiles on network commands..
oh well I guess they're referring to only networked devices that weren't meant to kill in the first place..
Re:Self fulfilling prophecy (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod parent up. The first "online murder" happened the day they put weapons on a drone. TFA is just the usual news-that-try-to-scare-you bullshit.
Re:Self fulfilling prophecy (Score:5, Insightful)
This is talking about the premeditated killing of a civilian by another civilian ("murder") occurring as a cause of specific data transmissions on the public TCP/IP-based internet ("online").
If you're going to count radio-control systems and military systems then you can go back a LOT further than armed drones, but that's not what this story is about.
Re:Self fulfilling prophecy (Score:5, Insightful)
This is talking about the premeditated killing of a civilian by another civilian ("murder") occurring as a cause of specific data transmissions on the public TCP/IP-based internet ("online").
If you're going to count radio-control systems and military systems then you can go back a LOT further than armed drones, but that's not what this story is about.
Does "Swatting" count?
If so, then yeah I believe it could or has happened already. Skype is being used to call local police forces on the other side of the planet to send the cops to peoples' houses over trivial shit like rivalries in video games.
Given the nature of many police forces, it won't be long before (or has already occurred) someone gets shot by police over it, or police shot by home owners (if in some states. Not you Texas, your gun laws suck.)
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If police get shot by homeowners, it won't be long before someone gets shot by the police over it.
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As someone who lives in Texas, our gun laws are pretty good with one notable exception -- we need an Open Carry law for hand guns. Otherwise, we can own / carry just about any gun.
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but that's not what this story is about.
But that's what news stories should have been about when killing people using remote controlled devices was news and not normal.
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Discounting remote controlled robotic devices like drones, robots and such, I think compromised devices like google glass, iwatch and other wearable technologies can be very dangerous, if not fatal.
Think about driving over a bridge or 2 way traffic when random zombies start loading in google glass, or your phone transmits a virus over to your bluetooth connected car, etc. All plausible scenarios that can take place
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We're not talking radio-controlled. These drones use networking technology, and if their IP address is pingable from your location is not exactly the major point.
Given that many drone victims are civilians, in a conflict that is not officially a war, the only difference left seems to be that the murderers are not civilians. That's one of the flimsiest excuses ever to call something by a different name.
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Wrong, it's way older than that.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were murdered online. You're worried about the network being used against us, but hundreds of years ago, SciFi authors already went meta and had the network be used to murder a part of itself!
No, lying headline (Score:5, Informative)
The first link in the summary is to a news report with the headline "First online murder to happen by the end of 2014, warns Europol". When you read the story, what it actually claims is
And the reference that it mentions is right here [europa.eu] and says
No mention of 2014. No assertion that it will happen: just that it might.
TL;DR: Europol isn't predicting an online murder in 2014. That's just a subeditor who either didn't understand the plain English of the reporter or who chose to outright lie when writing the headline in order to sensationalise it.
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Re:No, lying headline (Score:5, Informative)
Informative? Not so much...
If you're going to go to all the effort to read the article, you might like to spend the extra 3 seconds to follow the linked reference [internetidentity.com] (quoted in your post as [188]).
IID ... today issued a midterm report on its cybersecurity predictions for 2014, revealing we are on our way to seeing many of these prognostications become a reality. Last year at this time, IID boldly envisioned that by the end of 2014:
We will witness the first ever public case of murder via hacked Internet-connected device.
The article goes on to say:
There has yet to be a proven case of murder via Internet. However, former Vice President Dick Cheney revealed in October 2013 that he underwent surgery to turn off the wireless function on his pacemaker, to prevent it from being hacked.
You end with:
TL;DR: Europol isn't predicting an online murder in 2014. That's just a subeditor who either didn't understand the plain English of the reporter or who chose to outright lie when writing the headline in order to sensationalise it.
A headline has to be short, and unfortunately in that shortening some information is lost. Sure, it would have been more accurate to say "Europol reports that a security firm predicts the first online murder by the end of this year", but removing the bolded part strikes me as an acceptable precis of (that small section of) the article. Complaining that editors sensationalise headlines in order to encourage people to read the full article is akin to complaining that advertisements are designed solely to get you to buy a product. Well, duh!
As for lying, you're as guilty as a lie by ommission as they are of any lie by commission.
Re:No, lying headline (Score:4, Informative)
I quoted the part of the article where the reporter states that the security firm made that forecast. But as often happens, the headline makes claims which don't match either the truth or the body of the article. It's far from unknown for reporters or opinion writers to get a nasty shock when they see the headline which the subeditor chose to put on their copy.
If the issue were the length of the headline, a 20% saving could be made and the accuracy improved by rewriting it to "Online attacks could lead to deaths, warns Europol".
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Drone strikes already murder people every day.
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Be good, leave the computer alone and go back play with your toys. The Internet is a dangerous place for a 10yo
Are they saying... (Score:5, Funny)
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That or unless there's some kind of internet connected medical equipment that has the ability to kill you, how the fuck is this supposed to happen? I think it would be equally feasible to induce a nuclear reactor into meltdown in the same vein as how Stuxnet destroyed all of that equipment while giving false readings on the indicators.
That is to say, not fucking likely.
If somebody had the kind of resources to pull such a thing off, I think their victim is already in a vulnerable enough state that they could
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The two likeliest methods, in a very general sense, are by medical device and by starting a fire. This is not including what some posters are speculating about - planting false data to trigger police SWAT raids and similar things, because that isn't really within the scope of what European Law enforcement is postulating. (and really, making a false police report by computer is not that distinct from making a false police report by other means).
Without going into detail which mig
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Oh yes it is!!! -- Amazon Patent Team
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Sounds like a good idea at the first thought. But it begs the question, why it is allowed for commercial airplanes...
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Nein. [google.com]
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that sort of thing done in the age of swords, spears and bows
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I suppose, but today you can probably do it with skype or something of that sort.
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I suppose, but today you can probably do it with skype or something of that sort.
There is no essential difference between calling the cops by skype, phone or anonymous postcard.
If you live in a society where householders react to a knock at the door by shooting blind, you are unsurprisingly going to have a higher than average murder rate.
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The whole reason swatting is likely to go wrong is because of no-knock entry.
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Bash.org (Score:3, Funny)
The day is near when we can finally stab people in the face over the internet.
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Slashdot moderation is finally going to be fun!
Mod parent up (Score:4, Interesting)
<Zybl0re> get up
<Zybl0re> get on up
<Zybl0re>get up
<Zybl0re>get on up
<phxl|paper>and DANCE
* nmp3bot dances
* nmp3bot dances
* nmp3bot dances
<[SA]HatfulOfHollow>i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet
Cheap Solution (Score:2)
Note to self: (Score:5, Funny)
Do NOT Internet-enable the wheeled stabbing machine I am currently working on...
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IOT (Score:1)
oh..that's what it's for!
Dear doc... (Score:4, Funny)
Please use TOR when fetching My ventilator's new firmware.
And while yer add it, pls remove the rootkit from the darn Dialysis machine. My granddaughter charged Her iPhone from it's usb port.
My blood salts have been through the roof ever since....
PS:
My wheelchair threatens to ran me off cliff, if the payment isn't complete in three days.
Bring back the WinNuke! (Score:3)
Give whole new meaning to the famous mid 90s exploit instantly blue screening all Windows and locking up Linux 2.0.30 and below kernels by popping port 139.
Make it literal :-P
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Indeed. Linux just sets devices aflame [wikipedia.org]. ;)
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I remember my Slackware 2.0.29 kernel would freeze in a winnuke I found that back then slack opened 139 by default for shared drives via samba
Samba was formed as it had exact bug windows did when a fragmented packet hit 139 both OS would crash.
I think it was 2.0.31 that fixed the problem letting those packets get ignored or something its been a long time.
Slackware was fixed fast, but widows was vulnerable for long long time.
Used to troll irc and winnuke channels watching all the timeouts.
Teardrop was fun, i
Honestly, I doubt a cyber criminal will be first (Score:2)
My gut tells me it's going to be a 14 or 15 year old boy who does it for the yuks, and doesn't really have a grasp on what a horrible thing it is.
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My gut tells me
When my gut speaks, it's usually with low, growling voice and a terrible halitosis.
It'll be a vehicle (Score:3)
More fear mongering. (Score:3, Interesting)
F.U.D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt
Anyone else getting a bit fed up with all this fear BS?
I'm I alone in feeling like our governments are treating us like a herd of sheep using fear to herd us and control us?
Only earlier today we had a post about giving up freedoms so we can be better protected.
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/10/07/0235241/brits-must-trade-digital-freedoms-for-safety-says-crime-agency-boss
Now another article where we are again being told that a free internet is a physical threat to us and we can be murdered online. ...."found that governments are not equipped to fight the growing threat of "online murder", ..".
The solution - give up our freedom online.
How long until a post like this is blacked out as "unsafe".
Who is it really unsafe for?
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It seems entirely reasonable to me to think about the potential problems caused by an "internet of things". Cheerleading progress for its own sake, with no regard to any downsides, is childish.
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Your freedom to do what you like (on the internet or elsewhere) certainly does not extend to the freedom to murder people.
Of course not. But thinking about the potential problems and violating a person's liberty on the basis that someone else might abuse it are two entirely different things. By all means, consider the problems—and find the solutions which preserve freedom for everyone.
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Someone just killed my dog, why? (Score:1)
Someone just killed my dog, why?
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For those who haven't read it, John Varley's "Press Enter" is what a series of internet murders could really look like. It reads like a blueprint or how-to.
cyber terrorist BS (Score:1)
Oh my! (Score:1)
The framers of the constitution could not possibly have anticipated a world with such a thing as this "murder".
Hackers can turn your computer into a BOMB (Score:1)
http://i.imgur.com/0BSZXxl.jpg [imgur.com]
I don't care of someone murders my account (Score:1)
Who cares if someone uses the internet to murder my Facebook account? On the other hand, if it's real world murder, then it's just as much murder regardless of how it was done.
Opcode for this has been around for long (Score:1)
http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm... [catb.org]
Or - of course, just including the control character "EOU" in any message sent:
http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm... [catb.org]
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Hackers can turn your home computer into a BOMB (Score:4, Funny)
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I was gonna say, this was being done by hackers decades ago. :-)
The obligatory drone comment (Score:2)
Ooh! Let Me Play! (Score:2)
FUBAR (Score:1)
Would smashing oneself over the head with a #@%& Comcast modem count?
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And the worst part is that their competitors, when they have any, suck almost as much.
Roomba Alert (Score:2)
So is that maybe what happened when the Roomba ate my parakeet ?
Yep, that's it...the bird was hacked!
You laugh, but... (Score:2)
Currently there are thousands of heart pacemakers which wirelessly connect to interrogator devices that sit next to the bed every night. Those devices check the device every night and check in with the company if there's any problem.
Is it impossible to reprogram those interrogators? The manufacturers say so. I guess we should believe them?
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Exactly! (Score:1)
That's what I tried to explain to my neighbour when my AirDrone 'inexplicably' went through his greenhouse, destroying his precious, award winning rose.
Really? (Score:2)
Hundred of Bombs have been exploded via cellphones, is it really that more 'modern' if it's done via SIP or Skype?
This was predicted ages ago. (Score:2)
I can't remember exactly which book, but the book pointed out how easy it could be.
Ignore messing around with firmware etc. The book foretold the story that someone would be using a online take out service/delivery service and they had setup all their allergies so that any restaurant saw a red flag and to be careful what goes in the meal. Someone hacks into just-eat or whomever the provider is. The customers Peanut allergy suddenly goes away on the notes and the dish is prepared as normal a week later. Inst
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... and the dish is prepared as normal a week later. Instant severe incident if not death.
I'm so glad I don't have food allergies.
Me, too, neither.
Although if I did have a potentially deadly aversion to some foods, I would have to be without food for some time before eating a meal prepared by strangers.
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Then send you free bacon cheeseburgers, cigarettes, venti coffee that's pure espresso shots. Whatever you have trouble saying no to the most.
It would kill you, eventually, unless you started exercising, eating right, and maybe a trip to a detox clinic.
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My plan, I would data mine you to figure out what fast food outlets you like and if you have any addictions.
Then send you free bacon cheeseburgers, cigarettes, venti coffee that's pure espresso shots. Whatever you have trouble saying no to the most.
It would kill you, eventually, unless you started exercising, eating right, and maybe a trip to a detox clinic.
Can I volunteer to be your enemy?
My death/wish-list:
Kobe beefburgers
That coffee that's made from cats shitting out beans, whatever it's called
Single malt scotch
Cuban cigars
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I can't remember exactly which book, but the book pointed out how easy it could be.
Ignore messing around with firmware etc. The book foretold the story that someone would be using a online take out service/delivery service and they had setup all their allergies so that any restaurant saw a red flag and to be careful what goes in the meal. Someone hacks into just-eat or whomever the provider is. The customers Peanut allergy suddenly goes away on the notes and the dish is prepared as normal a week later. Instant severe incident if not death.
I'm so glad I don't have food allergies.
That sounds more like some sort of "perfect crime" story than a serious threat.
I'm pretty sure that if I had a real, fatal food allergy I wouldn't be eating anything I hadn't seen prepared with my own eyes.
I definitely wouldn't be relying on Domino's Pizza or whoever to custom bake my pizza in a separate, sterile area.
Speaking of... (Score:3)
The book Daemon by Daniel Suarez was pretty good. Started out just the littlest bit cheesy -- someone was killed by the Internet! -- but I'm glad I stuck with it because it quickly became really good. The sequel, Freedom (TM), did nothing for me.
Get the fuck out. (Score:2)
I've got more important things to worry about.
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You hope you've got more important things to worry about. But when your router catches fire in the middle of the night before you were due to change your will...
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the night before you were due to change your will...
No way! It will be the night after you changed your will. To give everything to Google. Life insurance paid out by a wholly owned subsidiary of Google.
Patent worthy (Score:2)
That sounds like an innovative business method patent for assassins:
Claim 1: Murder, using a computing device consisting of a visual display and keyboard orchestrated using the internet.
Glass half full (Score:2)
Technological progress continues apace.
Hacker! (Score:1)
This has already happened ... (Score:1)
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It's a simple 3 step process: (Score:2)
Step 2. ???
Step 3. Online murder
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Step 1. Weaponize my "Laser" printer ...
Perhaps not as far fetched as one might expect.
Many Google Cloud Print laser printers are constantly connected to the cloud and have a software controlled heat element with the potential to start a fire. Anyone who can access the owner's Google account could send the printer malicious commands.
Another potential fire vector is smart devices with Li batteries. Charge a Li battery too long and it may burst into fire. Charging is typically software controlled and most people leave their smart phones and othe
Achewood's take on it (Score:2)
"FOOLS! I have invented a USB device which can collect votes from the Internet and drive a knife through your heart!"
http://achewood.com/index.php?... [achewood.com]
Mystery Writer Predicted it Years Ago (Score:1)
First? (Score:2)
Rule 34 by Charlie Stross (Score:2)
Published 2011.
Murder by hacking of internet-connected devices (such as an automated enema-delivering wank-bot which got loaded up with dietary additives that killed the wankee) was a major plot element.
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Murder is Haraam, so no true Muslim will be doing this.