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How Cyber Criminals Operate | Catching Cyber Criminals |Cyberspace's Most Wanted
Knowledge is the best weapon against cyber criminals. The more you know about cyber criminals the more you can help to defeat them.
Cyberspace's Most Wanted Cyber Criminals
The Master Hacker
Real Name: Ex-Commander Nils
Location: Cyberspace Detention Center
Primary attack: Hacking
Weakness: Protecting your Personal Information, Firewalls
Bio
Before he was The Master Hacker, Nils was Commander Nils of the Cyber Defense Force and Commander Omni's partner. A few years after graduating from the Carnegie Cyber Academy, Nils was on an undercover mission to infiltrate a league of hackers when he suddenly disappeared. When he finally resurfaced, he had joined with the criminals and become a Cyber Villain, The Master Hacker.
He began using his knowledge of Cyberspace to seek out riches and revenge rather than to protect the Internet, stealing money, identities, secrets, and personal information from people and causing terrible damage. He also masterminded the single largest attack on Cyberspace in the history of the Academy, trying to take it over completely. Nils committed many crimes and deceived many authorities before he was finally captured by a large team of Cyber Defenders, led by his former partner Commander Omni.
In January of 2008, Nils managed to escape from the Cyberspace Detention Center with the assistance of the Cyber Villains Elvirus, M. C. Spammer, Ms. Information, and the Dis Guys. The Cyber Defense Force was able to track him down again thanks to the reckless but heroic efforts of Carnegie Cadet Alan, who allowed himself to be kidnapped by the Cyber Villains in order to gain knowledge about their activities.
Nils escaped the Detention Center again during Captain Jack Plunder's attack on the Academy in July of 2010 and is still at large. However, Nils' motives are now in question since he handed the Dis Guys over to the Cyber Defenders in September of 2010. Is it possible that Ex-Commander Nils has changed his ways?
Elvirus
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email attachments, downloaded files
Primary attack: Virus
Weakness: Anti-malware software, the cold shoulder
Bio
Elvirus infects files all over Cyberspace with her sneaky viruses by tempting people into opening them and unleashing the malware. She flirts with you by sending email attachments promising cool games or free software that secretly contain harmful malware. She also hides viruses in music and other downloadable files.
Elvirus' contaminated files look harmless, but her viruses can cause severe damage to your computer. She can be even more dangerous if she gains access to your computer, using your computer to attack others!
To defend yourself, be very careful with files from Cyberspace and email attachments. Ask a trusted adult before downloading any files, download only from reliable sources, and scan everything with anti-malware software before you open it. Also, scan all email attachments before opening and don't open email attachments from people you don't know.
In March of 2009, Elvirus was captured by the Cyber Defenders while collaborating on a malicious website hoax with Ms. Information. The undercover operation, led by Officer Marshall and Officer Ward and assisted by Sparky, was able to put an end to the scheme before it could cause any damage to Cyberspace.
Elvirus escaped the Detention Center during Captain Jack Plunder's attack on the Academy in July of 2010 and is still at large.
Ms. Information
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Websites
Primary attack: Misinformation, Lies
Weakness: Reliable websites, the cold shoulder
Bio
Ms. Information is a bit of a know-it-all and will claim that she is always correct. She frequently creates websites that look real and useful but are really fake and full of incorrect information. She frequently makes mistakes, and will even flat-out lie to you.
Ms. Information can trick you with her lies, and her fake websites can trip you up when doing Web research. To defend yourself, be suspicious of what you read online and make sure to use reliable sources for your Web research.
In March of 2009, Ms. Information was captured by the Cyber Defenders while collaborating on a malicious website hoax with Elvirus. The undercover operation, led by Officer Marshall and Officer Ward and assisted by Sparky, was able to put an end to the scheme before it could cause any damage to Cyberspace.
Ms. Information escaped the Detention Center during Captain Jack Plunder's attack on the Academy in July of 2010 and is still at large.
M.C. Spammer
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email
Primary attack: Spam
Weakness: Spam filters, the cold shoulder
Bio
M.C. Spammer's cyber weapon of choice is spam, and he will try to send out as much of it as often as he can. His spam emails try to fool innocent people into opening them with free travel offers and fun I.Q. quizzes. He'll email you anything to get a quick buck, steal your personal information, or infest your computer with malware.
M.C. Spammer is very annoying but relatively harmless. To defend yourself, use a spam filter to prevent most of his attacks and learn how to recognize the ones that get through so you can delete them right away. Also, be careful to whom and what websites you give your real email address, as this can leave you open for his attacks.
The ID Bandit
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Email, websites, online communications
Primary attack: Identity Theft
Weakness: Protecting your personal information
Bio
The ID Bandit is the Cyber Villain responsible for creating the Master Hacker. Ex-Commander Nils was on an undercover operation to infiltrate the ID bandit's secret lair when he mysteriously disappeared. Preying on Nils' idealistic tendencies, the ID Bandit convinced him to use his computer skills to control the Internet rather than defend it. Together, they would hack directly into unprotected computers to use them for their own plans, stealing identities and wreaking havoc throughout Cyberspace.
With the capture of the Master Hacker, the ID Bandit was forced to scale down her operation. She now works with the Phisherman to steal credit card numbers and bank account information through phishing attacks. Up until their capture, she also employed the DisGuys to infiltrate chat rooms and other online communications, searching for personal information to steal. She even attacks offline, stealing computers for the information stored on them and even stealing people's mail.
The ID Bandit's identity theft attacks cost her victims thousands of dollars and ruin their reputations, so be especially wary of her!
The Phisherman
Real Name: Unknown
Location:Email, Websites
Primary attack: Phishing
Weakness:Phishing filters, reporting to authorities, the cold shoulder
Bio
The Phisherman trained under M.C. Spammer but quickly grew tired of his ineffective spam attacks that most people just learn to ignore or block with a spam filter. Wanting to steal more money faster, he turned to phishing attacks, using social engineering tactics to trick people into giving away their personal information.
His most common phishing scam is to send a victim an email claiming there is something wrong with their bank account. This email may include some of the victim’s personal information, like their name or social security number, to trick them into believing the email is truly from their bank. The email directs the victim to a website to enter their bank account information to “fix” the problem, but this fake website allows the Phisherman to steal their bank account information and their money.
His many other scams include pretending to be a network administrator, a PayPal or eBay employee, and even the IRS. He will use any Internet communication method, including email, chat rooms, social networking sites, and instant messenger, to try and trick people into giving him their personal information or passwords.
Captain Jack Plunder
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Peer-to-peer software, downloadable files
Primary attack: Cyber piracy
Weakness: Reporting to authorities, avoiding downloads
Bio
Captain Jack Plunder terrorizes Cyberspace with his cyber piracy, pillaging files and content and leaving masses of damage in his wake. Ignoring copyright law completely, he maliciously copies and distributes software, music, and movies throughout the Web. His ruthless theft hurts not only the creators of the software and music, but also everyone else because the more he steals, the more companies have to raise their prices to compensate for lost profits.
Captain Plunder's reckless cyber attacks are just as illegal as walking into the store and grabbing something off the shelf without paying, and he will try to tempt you into cyber piracy yourself by offering you free software, music, and movies to download. He has also been known to work with Elvirus to install malware into his pirated files. Lacking any sense of right and wrong, Captain Plunder will offer you his free software and music and then stab you in the back by infecting your computer.
Captain Jack Plunder masterminded a major attack on the Academy in July 2010, tasking the Bad Hatter with distracting the Cyber Defenders by transporting them back through time while he broke into the Detention Center and released all the detainees.
Currently in the Detention Center
The Dis Guys
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Chat rooms, Instant Messengers
Primary attack: Stealing personal information, Identity theft
Weakness: Reporting to Authorities, the cold shoulder
Bio
The Dis Guys are twin brothers who seek out victims in Cyberspace to steal their personal information and cause trouble. They work under several aliases but most common are the screen names Spyke9 and Mr.Floppy. The Dis Guys lurk in chat rooms and send people instant messages trying to lure them into revealing personal information or their offline identity.
It is believed that Spyke9 plans most of their dastardly deeds and Mr.Floppy helps carry them out. They are the most dangerous Cyber Villains because they can harm more than just your computer. They can steal your identity or your money, or even find you offline.
In September of 2010, Ex-Commander Nils unexpectedly showed up at the Academy and handed over the Dis Guys before disappearing again.
The Bad Hatter
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Cyberspace Detention Center
Primary attack: Hacking Reality
Weakness: Overconfidence
Bio
The Bad Hatter is a mysterious cyber villain, a living computer program capable of controlling reality. He assisted Captain Jack Plunder in the July 2010 attack on the Academy by using his reality hacking ability to transport the Cyber Defenders back into the past. The Cyber Defenders were able to trap him in an old PC, where he is currently detained. At this time too little is known about him to risk powering up the machine.
How Cyber Criminals Operate | Catching Cyber Criminals |Cyberspace's Most Wanted