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Europol Predicts First Online Murder By End of This Year

Posted by Soulskill on from the need-a-sherlock-to-go-with-watson dept.

An anonymous reader sends this story from The Stack: The world's first "online murder" over an internet-connected device could happen by the end of this year, Europol has warned. Research carried out by the European Union's law enforcement agency has found that governments are not equipped to fight the growing threat of "online murder," as cyber criminals start to exploit internet technologies to target victims physically. The study, which was published last week, analyzed the possible physical dangers linked to cyber criminality and found that a rise in "injury and possible deaths" could be expected as computer hackers launch attacks on critical connected equipment. The assessment particularly referred to a report by IID, a U.S. security firm, which forecast that the world's first murder via a "hacked internet-connected device" would happen by the end of 2014.

5 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Self fulfilling prophecy by GigaplexNZ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Challenge accepted?

    1. Re:Self fulfilling prophecy by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know why it needs "hacked".

      many bombs have been detonated for almost two decades with network connected means.

      USA routinely kills people via network connected flying devices that shoot missiles on network commands..

      oh well I guess they're referring to only networked devices that weren't meant to kill in the first place..

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Self fulfilling prophecy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is talking about the premeditated killing of a civilian by another civilian ("murder") occurring as a cause of specific data transmissions on the public TCP/IP-based internet ("online").

      If you're going to count radio-control systems and military systems then you can go back a LOT further than armed drones, but that's not what this story is about.

  2. Are they saying... by flu1d · · Score: 5, Funny

    That monitor mounted, usb powered (web) gun wasn't the best purchase?

  3. No, lying headline by pjt33 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The first link in the summary is to a news report with the headline "First online murder to happen by the end of 2014, warns Europol". When you read the story, what it actually claims is

    The study, which was published last week, analysed the possible physical dangers linked to cyber criminality and found that a rise in ‘injury and possible deaths’ could be expected as computer hackers launch attacks on critical connected equipment.

    The assessment particularly referred to a report by IID, a US security firm, which forecast that the world’s first murder via a ‘hacked internet-connected device’ would happen by the end of 2014.

    And the reference that it mentions is right here and says

    With more objects being connected to the Internet and the creation of new types of critical infrastructure, we can expect to see (more) targeted attacks on existing and emerging infrastructures, including new forms of blackmailing and extortion schemes (e.g. ransomware for smart cars or smart homes), data theft, physical injury and possible death [188], and new types of botnets.

    No mention of 2014. No assertion that it will happen: just that it might.

    TL;DR: Europol isn't predicting an online murder in 2014. That's just a subeditor who either didn't understand the plain English of the reporter or who chose to outright lie when writing the headline in order to sensationalise it.