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[infowar.de] UN Report: Drogenhändler nutzen Internet
Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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Es geht um das erste Kapitel des Jahresberichtes des International
Narcotics Control Board (INCB), das überschrieben ist mit "Globalisation
and New Technologies". Scheint interessant zu sein, vor allem was die
Nutzung von IT für die Logistik angeht.
Typisch für die Medien ist wieder die Behauptung, dass die Drogenhändler
Cyberattacken auf Strafverfolger durchführen: "(drug dealers are)
protecting themselves by employing "IT warriors" to launch cyber attacks
on law enforcement agencies." In dem INCB-Bericht steht natürlich nichts
von "IT warriors", es werden lediglich ohne nähere Erläuterung "counter
attacks" erwähnt.
Den vollständigen Bericht gibt es unter
http://www.incb.org/e/ind_ar.htm.
RB
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4366315,00.html
Web drug dealers rattle cyber cops
Traffickers exploiting the internet for fast, secure communications
Steven Morris
Guardian
Saturday March 2, 2002
Drug gangs are making increasing use of the internet and exploiting the
lack of cooperation between international law enforcement agencies to
improve their operations, a new UN report claims.
The report from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) also
draws attention to the problem of smaller scale drug dealers using
chatrooms to sell their goods.
It highlights the ease with which internet users can find websites which
give step-by-step guides on how certain drugs, especially amphetamines,
can be manufactured.
The report, entitled Globalisation and New Technologies, says that drug
traders are discovering ever more sophisticated ways to use the
internet.
They are improving the efficiency of distribution networks by using the
secure, instant communication offered by the net and protecting
themselves by employing "IT warriors" to launch cyber attacks on law
enforcement agencies. The gangs are storing information such as bank
details, contact numbers, grid co-ordinates of landing strips and
recipes for the manufacture of drugs in encrypted form on computers and
pocket organisers.
Some of the problems being faced by law enforcement agencies emerged
after American and Colombian agents captured 30 suspected drug
traffickers.
Security experts were amazed at the technology the gang members were
using. The chat rooms they communicated in were protected by firewalls
which officials found impossible to penetrate.
The suspects also had access to highly sophisticated encryption
technology. One US official said it took some of their best computer
experts 24 hours to crack a 30-second transmission, making the exercise
largely pointless.
Significantly, the gang fed information about its daily activities into
a computer housed in a ship off the Mexico coast. Raiding the ship would
have caused all sorts of jurisdictional problems for prosecutors.
Even basic uses of services on the internet can help the traffickers. In
Australia, for example, traffickers have been known to have used the
facility offered by courier services which allows clients to track
shipments on a website. If there is a delay - which could indicate that
the shipment is being investigated - the gang can take appropriate
action.
Aggressive use of the internet is also becoming common. Colombian and
Mexican cartels have intercepted communications between investigators
and collected personal information about investigators.
The Chinese authorities reported a case in which criminals used hackers
to penetrate a customs database and alter the details of a freight
consignment containing drugs.
In Italy heroin smugglers managed to put the authorities off their scent
by setting up bogus websites which were difficult but not impossible to
penetrate. While the authorities wasted time collecting information from
the bogus sites, the smugglers continued their trade using genuine
sites.
The creation of global money markets and the introduction of "virtual
casinos" helps the gangs launder money quickly and with little fear of
detection. Narcotics police in Hong Kong say following drug money has
become much more difficult because of the advances in electronic
commerce and internet banking facilities.
The INCB report expresses concern that not enough is being done to
coordinate efforts to clamp down on drug traffickers.
While countries like the UK the US and Japan are taking the problem
seriously, many others are doing little to tackle internet crime.
A fear is that some less developed countries may become "data havens"
where gangs can base their IT system with little fear of being
prosecuted.
Alan McGauley, a senior lecturer in social policy at Sheffield Hallam
University, said: "A major problem all law enforcement agencies have is
that the cartels have so much money they can get the very best experts
who can help them stay a step ahead."
The way smaller scale dealers are finding customers using the internet
is also highlighted in the INCB report. Drugs paraphernalia and items
such as cannabis seeds have long been offered for sale on the web but
there is increasing evidence that dealers are offering drugs through
chatrooms.
A quick surf of the internet yields hundreds of chatrooms where drug
taking is being discussed. Some sites give users the chance to record
details of where they bought drugs, how much they paid and the quality.
One entry by a Luton user spotted on the web yesterday read: "Marijuana:
skunk crossed with haze: £20-25: Quality: mind blowing, especially
through a water or electric pipe. Availability: grown local, so only
available in season."
Another trend which is concerning the INCB is the proliferation of web
sites containing recipes for making drugs. While in the past recipes
were kept secret, they are now readily available to anyone with internet
access.
It is easy to find websites which give a step-by-step guide to making
drugs. Many carry warnings which claim the recipes are not meant to be a
practical guide but published for "informational purposes"only.
The INCB said the likely consequences of this trend were "alarming". It
led to the creation of "drugs clubs" whose members encourage and assist
one another.
David Wall, of the centre for criminal justice studies in Leeds and one
of Britain's foremost experts on cyber crime, said he found this trend
particularly worrying. He said: "People have always been able to find
out information if they really want to but the internet does make it
more easily accessible."
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