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Joint US-Spain cybercrime operation a success
19 Jan 2006
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The Spanish Civil Guard has revealed that it has detained one person and
is questioning four others as a result of an investigation into a hacker
attack on a US Navy computer.
The operation, named "Navy" by the Spanish investigators,
was started after a computer belonging to the Port Loma navy base in San
Diego California was breached. This seriously compromised the security
of the nuclear submarine dry dock, where the affected computer was
located. Information security personnel at the base detected the attack
and immediately informed the Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
Preliminary investigation showed that the hacker was operating from
Spain. The Spanish authorities were informed through diplomatic
channels, and the Cyberterrorism Unit of the Spanish Civil Guard took up
the investigation.
Clues led the cyberterrorism unit to an organised hacker community which
had participated in a large number of hacking incidents in Spain and
across the world. The main aim of the group was to break into computers
and steal data. The investigation focused on a 19 year old member of the
group, a student who was resident in Malaga. According to the Civil
Guard, he was responsible for hacking into the US Navy computer. Sources
close to the investigation state that the student was able to evade
security measures by simply scanning for IPs and open ports. It is
estimated that the group caused damages of over $500,000.
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