http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Internet-Extortion-Ring-Smashed&story_id=25965&category=ecommerce By Beatrice Arnfield NewsFactor Network July 21, 2004 An extortion and money-laundering ring targeting UK sports-betting Web sites has been smashed by UK and Russian law enforcement agencies, assisted by government agencies and businesses from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Estonia. Three men were arrested in Russia on July 20th, accused of running a global protection racket and extracting hundreds of thousands of dollars from online sports-betting sites. DoS Attack In October 2003, the gang started launching denial of service (DoS) attacks on Web sites belonging to UK sports-betting companies. By overwhelming the servers with messages, they were able to close down the sites and cause millions of dollars in lost business. The gang then sent e-mail demands, asking for money to stop the attacks for one year. However, the gang said in the e-mails that at the end of that year, they would return for more money. Sports betting agencies in the UK have been subject to attacks and demands for money since October 2003, and officers from the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) have been working closely with their Russian counterparts to track down and arrest the criminals. Safe for Business "The success of this operation is built on the foundation of international partnerships between law enforcement and business," detective chief superintendent Len Hynds, head of the NHTCU, said in a statement. "The more we work together in the fight against organized crime, the safer the UK will be for business. "Thanks to the response of all the parties involved, we have helped to dismantle a determined group of organized criminals. The clear message we are sending is that if you attack firms based in the UK, we will find you and stop you." In Russia, the NHTCU worked closely over many months with the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the MVD's computer-crimes specialist department. "The trend of fraud being conducted online is growing rapidly, and it is really good news that several governments have cooperated on this case," Naftali Bennett, CEO of New York-based Internet security company Cyota, told NewsFactor. "The governments are sending the message that criminals face the risk of being caught, and this will act as a deterrent." The gang was using a number of legitimate money-transfer agencies to move their money around. The use of the agencies came to light when 10 members of the gang were arrested in Riga, Latvia in November 2003. The money-transfer agencies cooperated, with the NHTCU in tracking the money and identifying the remaining members of the gang. Application Gateway "This type of attack could have been prevented with appropriate software," Yankee Group analyst Phoebe Waterfield told NewsFactor. "Web application gateway software blocks messages going in or out that do not comply with the site's policy. "There is a growing market for this type of software and there are a number of vendors that sell effective software, including Top Layer Networks, based in Westboro, Massachusetts; Foster City, California-based Imperva; and NetContinuum, which is based in Santa Clara, California." _________________________________________ Help InfoSec News with a donation: http://www.c4i.org/donation.html
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