On The Wire

What Is Cybercrime?

Cybercrime transcends national borders and includes a range of offences generally associated with a profit motive such as fraud, extortion and identity theft. Cybercrimes that involve at least one state actor are often referred to as cyberwarfare. Cybercrime not only impacts security of the person but also implicates the broader ...
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Former Taliban Commander Pleads Guilty to Hostage Taking

A former Taliban commander who once led a thousand militants has pleaded guilty in a New York court to hostage-taking and providing material support for terrorism. The guilty pleas came almost twenty years after the abduction of an American journalist and the killing of three U.S. soldiers during the bloody ...
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The Citizen Lab Report on Paragon Spyware

Spyware is installed on an electronic device remotely without the knowledge of the user. It functions as a silent intruder that covertly collects information and sends it to a third party without the consent of the user. Passwords, web browsing history and banking information are common targets. Spyware on mobile ...
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The Gun in the Glove Compartment

The doctrine of constructive possession is a legal fiction used to describe a situation where an individual has knowledge and control of an object without having physical custody of it. The doctrine came into play during a recent trial in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that stemmed from the ...
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Conviction of Former Uber Chief Security Officer Affirmed

The conviction of former Uber chief security officer Joe Sullivan on obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony charges has been upheld by by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, California. The charges related to his attempted cover up of a security breach ...
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Lazarus Group and the Bybit Hack

In one of the largest heists in the history of digital assets North Korean hackers exploited the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange and made off with $1.5 billion in cybercash. The incident occurred when a routine cold wallet to warm wallet transaction was manipulated through a sophisticated attack that masked the signing ...
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Assessing State Conduct Under the Grant Test

The admissibility of drugs and guns seized by the Vancouver police from a downtown eastside apartment was central to the conviction of a suspected drug dealer. A motion judge admitted the evidence although it was tainted by a police officer who attempted to influence the issuing judge to draw unsupported ...
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Charter Rights and Police Body-Worn Cameras

Canadian law enforcement agencies have been rolling out body-worn cameras requiring police officers to record all interactions with the public in the course of their duties with an exception that allows for deactivation when directed by a supervisor. A recent ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has highlighted ...
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The Rise and Fall of Do Kwon and Terraform Labs

Cryptocurrency magnate Do Kwon has landed in a New York court where he pleaded not guilty to allegations of a multi-billion dollar fraud stemming from the collapse of blockchain platform Terraform Labs. Mr. Kwon had been extradicted from Montenegro where he was arrested attempting to travel to Dubai on falsified ...
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Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Group Found Liable for Attacks on WhatsApp Users

The developer of the mercenary Pegasus spyware has been found liable by a California court for the infection of targeted devices belonging to 1,400 WhatsApp users. The ruling will have significant implications for an award of damages against the notorious NSO Group Technologies whose invasive surveillance software has been abused ...
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