More shutdowns as law enforcement swoops in. Kevin Rawlinson reports:
Three men have been arrested and 36 criminal websites selling credit card information and other personal data shut down as part of a two-year international anti-fraud operation, police have confirmed.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), working with the FBI and US Department of Justice, as well as authorities in Germany; the Netherlands; Ukraine; Australia and Romania, swooped after identifying the sites as specialising in selling card and bank details in bulk.
Read more on The Independent.
The authorities are being way too soft here. They need to start closing down all websites that are selling credit card information and charging Internet Service Providers fines for hosting such sites. Once they begin doing that, the ISPs will start policing their customers for us. If the ISP is located in a shady jurisdiction and refuses to comply, block all of its websites. There won’t be many people who would want their websites to be hosted by an ISP whose servers are blocked in the Western world and eventually many other countries, who will feel compelled to join the blockade and not be seen as aiding and abetting cyber criminals.
sorry doesn’t work that way; it’s easy to say do that, but what would YOU do if it was the only ISP in YOUR local area? Blocking ISP’s is not the answer. Shutting down the websites is not the answer, since it is soooo easy for a company to switch providers or simply move a website from one domain service to another. The only REAL way to turn the tap off is to remove the issue. These people hopefully will spend ALOT of time behind bars as an example. IF theyare guilty and spend time behind bars, it will definately make others think about doing the same thing.
Blocking ISP’s can take the bottom dollar away from legitimate websites who try to do it as honestly as they can. The courts (and defense) would probably consider that a bit rash and civilians who pay the ISP could potentially sue the ISP and the entities that block their freedom of speech. Its more complicated than most people think.
Its about building cases and making sure things stick in courts. In the past Law enforcement has had a hard time convincing the jury that the evidence in hand is enought to convict. Now, they ensure there is enough data, and that the case is pretty solid and the law wnforce agencies get a well deserved conviction and pat on the back.
You can either blindly shoot and hope you dont miss or you can take a steady aim and take the big ones down. Remember, the buck doesn’t stop here – If they had warrants and seize capabilities, the websites or forums that WERE up are now in the hands of the authorities. You can bet that they are going through the list of visitors in the forums and ANY person that visited the forum casually just looking around. It builds a list of potential users and will ensure people who have, or are wanting to do this sort of illegal behavior constantly look over thier shoulders for at least a little while.