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In This EditionStates Battle Rise in Copper Thefts Nobody Cares About Ethics, Says The Catch Me If You Can Man Cops learning how to extend beats online 15,000 want off the U.S. terror watch list
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States Battle Rise in Copper TheftsScrap companies are facing a tougher regulatory environment because of the surge in thefts involving copper. For example, dealers in Arizona now have to keep photocopies of the driver's licenses of people selling copper as a result of a new law that took effect in May. At least 16 states have proposed or passed new laws in an effort to discourage people from stealing copper and selling the popular metal, which is attracting higher prices due to the surge in worldwide demand. The price of copper has risen from 80 cents per pound in 2003 to about $3.50 in 2007. The increase in thefts has disrupted the flow of electricity, slowed construction projects, and knocked out irrigation networks. Theft of copper at Nevada Power has more than doubled since last year. "We're trying to do everything possible to fight this epidemic," says Nevada Power's Adam Grant. Businesses have lost about $1 billion due to copper thefts, and thieves have pocketed millions of dollars in cash from sales, according to state and federal officials. Source: USA Today (10/30/07) P. 1A ; Johnson, Kevin Nobody Cares About Ethics, Says The Catch Me If You Can ManAt Computerworld's Storage Networking World conference held October 17, Frank Abagnale gave a keynote presentation on his life as an imposter and fraudster, a story that was told in the book and subsequent Steven Spielberg movie, Catch Me If You Can. Prior to his presentation, Abagnale -- now a lecturer and consultant who works extensively with the FBI and other clients -- spoke with Computerworld about ethics, computer crime and security risks faced by IT professionals. The following is an excerpt from that interview: Is there anything we can do to make illicit computer-related activity a less attractive pursuit for young people? There are about four reasons why we have crime to begin with. One of them is, of course, that we live in an extremely unethical society. We live in a society that doesn't teach ethics at home, a society that doesn't teach ethics in school because the teacher would be accused of teaching morality. We live in a society where you can't find a four-year college course on ethics. I have three sons who went through graduate school; only the one who went to law school had a course even offered on ethics. So today you have a lot of young people who have no character, no ethics and they find no problem in defrauding somebody or stealing from somebody or cheating somebody. Until we change that, crime is just going to get easier, faster, more global, harder to detect. I've spent 32 years at the FBI, and I've witnessed crime only got a lot easier to do. Obviously, there's a lot less threat of being caught. When I was caught, I was just a teenager, and they sent me to prison for five years. Today, I'd probably get probation and community service; I might get 18 months and serve six months in jail. So there really is no threat of going to prison to keep somebody in line. Cops learning how to extend beats onlineRaise your hand if you've heard of "Second Life," police Lt. Charles Cohen asks a room of about 75 law enforcement officers from around the country. "Second Life," a sprawling online universe, has had technology circles abuzz for a while. But here, it might as well be a watch repair shop. Only a few hands go up. Cohen has some explaining to do. And so begins another session in the traveling classroom of this fast-talking Indiana state trooper at the forefront of the idea that cops need to be better at incorporating the online world into their patrols. Many police departments have computer crews that perform skillful forensic analysis on hard drives and specialize in nailing online predators. Cohen's lectures are not for them. Instead he's trying to reach everyone else in law enforcement: beat cops, homicide detectives and other investigators who might otherwise think monitoring the Internet is not their responsibility. More and more, such boundaries don't make sense. Whether it's on MySpace, Facebook, "Second Life" or other Web flavors of the moment, criminals and victims — especially young ones — are leaving clues in plain sight online, even for offline crimes. Things people once wrote in private diaries now cascade through Web sites that stimulate free expression — and are open to anyone who comes looking. 15,000 want off the U.S. terror watch listMore than 15,000 people have appealed to the government since February to have their names removed from the terrorist watch list that has delayed their travel at U.S. airports and border crossings, the Homeland Security Department (DHS) says. Among those who have been flagged at checkpoints were toddlers and senior citizens with the same names as suspected terrorists on the watch list. The DHS says it gets about 2,000 requests a month from people who want to have their names cleared. That number is so high that the department has been unable to meet its goal of resolving cases in 30 days, says the spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, which handles the appeals. He says the TSA takes about 44 days to process a complaint. The official also stated that many names will be cleared when the government begins requiring air travelers to provide their birth date next year. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-06-watchlist_N.htm |
