(TELEGRAPH) There was growing speculation on Sunday that hackers working for the Russian secret service were responsible for the theft of controversial emails in the ‘Climategate’ scandal.

Thousands of emails, from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) were first published on a small server in the city of Tomsk in Siberia.
So-called ‘patriot hackers’ from Tomsk have been used in the past by the Russian secret service, the FSB, to attack websites disliked by the Kremlin, such as the “denial of service” campaign launched against the Kavkaz-Tsentr website, over its reports about the war in Chechnya, in 2002.
Russia, a major oil exporter, may be trying to undermine calls to reduce carbon emissions ahead of the Copenhagen summit on global warming. The CRU emails included remarks which some claim show scientists had manipulated the figures to make them fit the theory that humans are causing global warming.
Achim Steiner, the director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said the theft of emails from CRU, which is a world-renowned centre for climate research, had similarities with the Watergate scandal which brought down US President Richard Nixon.
But he said: “This is not climategate, it’s hackergate. Let’s not forget the word ‘gate’ refers to a place [the Watergate building] where data was stolen by people who were paid to do so.
“So the media should direct its investigations into that.”
Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said he believed the theft of the emails was not the work of amateur climate sceptics.
“It’s very common for hackers in Russia to be paid for their services,” he told The Times.
“If you look at that mass of emails a lot of work was done, not only to download the data but it’s a carefully made selection of emails and documents that’s not random at all.
“This is 13 years of data and it’s not a job of amateurs.”
Mr van Ypersele said the expose was making it more difficult to persuade the 192 countries going to Copenhagen of the need to cut carbon emissions.
“One effect of this is to make scientists lose lots of time checking things. We are spending a lot of useless time discussing this rather than spending time preparing information for the negotiators,” he said.
However he insisted the emails did not change the science. “It doesn’t change anything in the IPCC’s conclusions. It’s only one line of evidence out of dozens of lines of evidence,” he said.
A Russian hacking specialist told the Mail on Sunday: “There is no hard evidence that the hacking was done from Tomsk, though it might have been. There has been speculation the hackers were Russian.
“It appears to have been a sophisticated and well-run operation, that had a political motive given the timing in relation to Copenhagen.”

Original Story

Check http://www.cytalk.com/cytalk_how_it_works.php for our video tutorials

(Fedex.com) Unauthorized use of FedEx® Business Names, Service Marks and Logos

FedEx has been alerted to the unauthorized use of its business names, service marks and logos by persons or companies fraudulently representing themselves as FedEx or as representatives of FedEx.

Millions of fraudulent e-mails are deployed daily. They claim to come from a wide variety of sources, and some claim to be from FedEx or representing FedEx. Fraudulent e-mail messages, often referred to as “phishing” or brand “spoofing,” are becoming increasingly common. These types of e-mails often use corporate logos, colors and legal disclaimers to make it appear as though they are real. They are sent in an attempt to trick people into sending money and providing personal information such as usernames, passwords and/or credit card details, and for the purpose of committing theft, identity theft and/or other crimes.

Recognizing Phishing Scam E-mails
Recognizing phishing scam e-mails is key to protecting yourself against such theft and other crimes. Indicators that an e-mail might be fraudulent include:

* Unexpected requests for money in return for delivery of a package or other item, personal and/or financial information, such as your Social Security number, bank account number, or other identification.
* Links to misspelled or slightly altered Web-site addresses. For example, variations on the correct Web-site address fedex.com, such as fedx.com or fed-ex.com.
* Alarming messages and requests for immediate action, such as “Your account will be suspended within 24 hours if you don’t respond” or claims that you’ve won the lottery or a prize.
* Spelling and grammatical errors and excessive use of exclamation points (!).

FedEx does not request, via unsolicited mail or e-mail, payment or personal information in return for goods in transit or in FedEx custody. If you have received a fraudulent e-mail that claims to be from FedEx, you can report it by forwarding it to abuse@fedex.com.

If you have any questions or concerns about services provided by FedEx, please review our services at FedEx Services or contact FedEx Customer Service.

The Internet is an important channel connecting FedEx to its customers. While there is no foolproof method to prevent the unauthorized use of the FedEx name, we continuously watch for such activity in order to help safeguard our customers’ interests.

Original Story

Check http://www.cytalk.com/cytalk_how_it_works.php for our video tutorials

(Cellular-news.com) France Telecom has been ordered to repay around EUR 1 billion (US$1.5 billion) of illegal state aid back to the French government. The actual ruling is for between EUR798 million and EUR 1.14 billion, but also includes interest charges since the state aid was offered.

France Telecom benefited from advantageous tax arrangements between 1994-2002 where France Telecom was excepted from direct local taxes (including business tax). With respect to those direct local taxes, special conditions were laid down regarding the rate, the base and the taxation arrangements.

The Commission’s Competition Commission ruled in 2004 that the tax arrangements were illegal, and in 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled that the government had failed to reclaim the monies as required.

The latest ruling comes from the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice within two months.

Original Story

Check http://www.cytalk.com/cytalk_how_it_works.php for our video tutorials

MADRID (AP) – Many Spanish Internet users are furious over a government proposal that could lead to the shutting down of Web sites offering peer-to-peer file sharing of music and films without a court order. A meeting Thursday between their representatives and the culture minister failed to calm them down.

Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde insists the legislation – to be brought into effect in 2010 if approved by Parliament – will not target individual Internet users who download material and in no case would anyone’s Internet connection be cut off.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the proposed legislation would not threaten freedom of expression.

Speaking after talks with 14 bloggers and Web site directors, Sinde said the bill is directed against Web sites that illegally offer the possibility of downloading copyright-protected material.

Zapatero said Spain, like many other nations around the world, had to find a means of safeguarding the intellectual property of the country’s creative sectors.

“If we don’t, we run the risk losing it, of being left without intellectual power and creativity,” Zapatero said at a news conference.

Under the bill, an intellectual property commission would investigate complaints about Web sites offering the possibility of P2P downloading, and if they are deemed to be making money from other people’s work they could be closed.

“It’s like a shop that sells goods stolen from the manufacturer’s warehouse,” said Sinde.

She stressed that if the commission found that in any way the Web site owners’ basic rights were likely to be affected by such a closure, a judge would have to handle the case.

But while industry groups see the anti-piracy proposal unveiled this week as insufficient, opponents of the bill accused the minister of playing Big Brother and trying to establish a “culture police” that would curtail civil liberties.

“The page with most links to copyright-protected content is Google. Are we going to close Google without a judicial order?” asked Victor Domingo, president of the Spanish Association of Internet Users.

Zapatero later said it was not his government’s intention to shut down any Web site.

Spanish National Television and Radio, whose Web site director Rosalia Lloret was at the meeting, said “the meeting concluded without any progress and showed the vast differences of opinion between both sides.”

Hundreds of entertainment industry employees, including several musicians, staged a noisy protest outside the ministry Tuesday to demand tougher legislation. Simultaneously, opponents posted a manifesto slamming the bill on the Internet, and it was picked up by tens of thousand of Web sites.

“The Internet must function freely and without political interference spurred by interested sectors trying to perpetuate an obsolete business model and to prevent human knowledge from continuing to be free,” the manifesto said.

Downloading copyrighted material is illegal in Spain but not a criminal offense, and courts consistently throw out cases on grounds that it is an infringement only if used for commercial profit.

This stance has infuriated music companies and also the U.S. government and that country’s powerful entertainment lobby.

Spain’s plans are more moderate those of some other European countries. Britain recently announced it planned to follow France’s lead to cut off Internet access to people who download illegally.

Spanish record label association Promusicae says the industry in Spain lost $1.6 billion in revenue in 2007 and 2008 because of piracy. Promusicae says the industry’s work force has declined by 70 percent over the last few years.

Original Story

Check http://www.cytalk.com/cytalk_how_it_works.php for our video tutorials