Crime News Insider

Ransomware and Internet Scams

Episode Summary

Laurie and Jorge speak with cybercrime expert Deputy DA Ryan Karkenny about ransomware attacks, internet scams, the dark web, and how to protect yourself using digital hygiene.

Episode Notes

Ransomware attacks crippled Scripps Health and Colonial Pipeline. Learn why Colonial Pipeline was able to recover quickly and Scripps Health in San Diego has not. San Diego Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny, a member of the Computer and Technology Crime Hight-Tech Task Force (CATCH) joins the podcast to discuss ransomware attacks, internet scams, the dark web, cryptocurrency, and how to protect yourself using digital hygiene. 

Read this article by DA Summer Stephan for more information: Ransomware: Don’t let bad digital hygiene paralyze your computer

Each episode we examine the laws on the books; three are real, one is fake. Can you guess which court ruling is the fake?

  1. In Michigan, an appellate court upheld the trial court’s admission of Facebook posts in a gang murder case, saying “there is nothing on the face of the posts that would suggest that they were faked or hacked.”
  2. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FBI’s monitoring of a dark web child porn website called “Playpen”, saying “the notion that innocent users would be on Playpen is hardly plausible.”
  3. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the child pornography conviction of the defendant and said although the agent’s laptop was infected with malware, the defendant “presented no evidence in support of his theory that ransomware on the agent’s laptop planted child pornography on the defendant’s laptop.”
  4. In Washington, an appellate court ruled that Bitcoin is a financial asset for purposes of state tax law, saying “Although virtual currencies such as Bitcoin do not generate cash flow for those who hold it, they are no different than other currencies which are considered financial assets."

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this podcast are solely of the speakers and do not reflect the views of the Deputy DA's Association nor the District Attorney. 

Questions and comments can be emailed to crimenewsinsider@gmail.com.

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Image by: Pixabay user Michael Gaida.