Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have warned of
hackers exploiting webcams to spy on children as a man pleads
guilty to blackmailing schoolgirls.
Adrian Ringland, from the British town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire,
has admitted forcing schoolgirls to send him explicit pictures
after he infected their computers with a Trojan horse.
36-year-old Ringland posed as a teenager called "Ant Jones" in a
chatroom, in order to plant the malware onto girls' PCs. Victims
believed they were opening a picture of their new online friend,
but the attached file was really a Trojan horse that allowed
Ringland to take over computers. Unemployed Ringland used
information he stole from the childrens' PCs, and his ability to
control their computers (using tricks such as opening their CD tray
remotely), to blackmail them into sending more and more explicit
pictures.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police traced Ringland to his home
address in the United Kingdom, where he was arrested and bailed.
This did not stop Ringland's activities who was later discovered
having sex with a 14-year-old girl he had groomed over the
internet.
"Pedophiles are able to use the internet in a variety of ways
when hunting for children to abuse. That they are also using modern
technology such as webcams to spy and take photos and movies of
their victims will be a worry for any parent whose children have
computers in their bedroom," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Childrens' PCs must be protected
by the latest anti-virus software, security patches and firewalls.
Young people also need to be given guidance as to how to behave
safely online, to reduce the chances of being exploited by sick
hackers."
In late August, Ringland pleaded guilty to two counts of
indecency with a child, four counts of blackmail, 10 counts of
making indecent photos and five counts of unauthorized modification
of computers. Ringland's victims included a 14-year-old schoolgirl
from Manitoba, Canada and three British girls - two aged 14 and one
who was 13 years old. Charges of near identical offences in respect
of two other Canadian girls aged 14 and 15 and a 15-year-old
British girl were ordered to remain on file.
Ringland's sentencing has been scheduled for a later date.
"The Canadian and British authorities should be congratulated
for bringing this case to a conclusion, especially as initially
Ringland tried to blame his partner's teenage son," continued
Cluley. "Sadly this isn't the first time we have heard of internet
voyeurs taking over innocent peoples' webcams for their own
perverted ends, and it's unlikely to be the last."
Sophos reported on a similar
case last year of a Cypriot man who took compromising pictures
of a teenager via her webcam, and threatened to send the pictures
to her friends unless she posed naked. In February 2005, a Spanish
student was fined
for a similar offence.
Sophos recommends that companies protect their email gateways
with a consolidated solution to defend
against viruses, spyware and spam, as well as secure their desktop
and servers with automatically updated protection.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.