Carleton University students, staff urged to change passwords after key-logging devices found

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/carleton-university-students-staff-urged-to-change-passwords-after-key-logging-devices-found-1.3344577

The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, March 28, 2017 4:24PM EDT 

OTTAWA -- Carleton University is urging caution among staff and students after discovering potential hacking tools on a handful of classroom computers.

The university says it discovered USB key-logging devices on six classroom computers across three university buildings.

Carleton says staff discovered the devices last week during what it called a routine classroom inspection, but did not indicate how long they had been in place.

Keystroke-loggers capture information typed into a computer and can record usernames and passwords people use to log into various websites and programs.

The university says it will inspect classroom computers every morning and throughout the day, adding it's taking additional steps to strengthen classroom security.

Carleton says it's not aware of anyone having their personal information breached because of the devices, but urges people to change passwords all the same.

"These computers are used solely for instructional purposes in classrooms and do not store any university, personal or confidential information," Carleton said in an internal note to staff. "We have no evidence that any information was retrieved from these devices or that any university data were compromised."

Carleton also urged people who may have used classroom computers to log on to external sites such as Google or Dropbox to change the passwords they use for those services as well.

The university said the key-logging device could have posed a serious risk to users not only because of the information they captured, but because of the inherent difficulty in discovering them.

Antivirus or anti-malware programs cannot detect them, as they are pieces of hardware rather than malicious software. Carleton said someone would have had to physically retrieve the devices to make use of the contents they collected.

This is not the first time this school year that Carleton has dealt with a security breach.

The university was the victim of a ransomeware attack in November when an unknown hacker locked down the bulk of the network requesting a bitcoin payment to have it released.

The university said it was eventually able to unlock the network without making any payments.

Suspect to be identified in an Identity Fraud

http://crimestoppers.ca/2017/03/22/suspect-to-be-identified-in-an-identity-fraud/

Ottawa Police Organized Fraud Unit and Crime Stoppers are seeking the public’s help in identifying a male responsible for an identity fraud.

On February 13, 2017, an unknown male attended the Canada Post Office located in the 3000 block of Carling Avenue and, using someone else’s information,  re-directed the mail to another address.

Please see the pictures below from a video provided by the investigator.

If you know the identity of the individual call The Ottawa Police Organized Fraud Unit (613) 236-1222 Ext 5433 or Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Remember Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display, we will not ask your name or record your call and you are not required to testify in court. If your information leads to their identity, you could qualify for a cash reward of up to $2000. You can follow us on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Suspect to be identified in fraud

http://crimestoppers.ca/2017/03/24/suspect-to-be-identified-in-fraud/

Ottawa Police East District Investigation Unit and Crime Stoppers are seeking the public’s help in identifying a male responsible for a fraud.

On the 23rd of February 2017, an unknown male fraudulently used a debit card at a business located in the 2300 block of Tenth Line Rd.

Please see the photos below provided by the investigator.

If you know the identity of the individual call the Ottawa Police East District Investigations unit (613) 236-1222 Ext 3566 or Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Remember Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display, we will not ask your name or record your call and you are not required to testify in court. If your information leads to their identity, you could qualify for a cash reward of up to $2000. You can follow us on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

'It all went up his nose': DND employee who stole nearly $1M in computers off to prison

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/it-all-went-up-his-nose-dnd-employee-who-stole-nearly-1m-in-computers-off-to-prison

ANDREW SEYMOUR, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Published on: March 17, 2017 | Last Updated: March 17, 2017 7:01 PM EDT

Andrew Heggaton, a former DND employee and soldier, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison Friday after stealing nearly $1 million in computer parts from the Canadian government.

A former DND employee and Canadian Forces soldier whose $400-a-day cocaine addiction led to the theft of nearly $1 million in computer parts from the federal government was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Friday.

And if 33-year-old Andrew Heggaton doesn’t pay back the $966,933.82 the Intel core processors, hard drives, motherboards, and graphics cards were worth within the next eight years, he could be sentenced to another three years of prison time.

Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said the fraud had a “significant impact” on the Canadian Forces Crypto Support Unit where Heggaton once worked, leaving its IT network on the verge of collapsing and seriously affecting the unit’s capacity to function.

“This is not a victimless crime,” Perkins-McVey told Heggaton during the sentencing. “This is the type of offence that erodes the public trust.”

Heggaton pleaded guilty to fraud, trafficking in property obtained by crime and breach of trust by a public officer after stealing the computer parts over a four-year period between 2011 and March 2015. Some of the computer parts were sold by Heggaton on the Internet classified site Kijiji.

Heggaton told a probation officer who prepared a pre-sentence report for the court that drug addiction fuelled the thefts. Heggaton, who had been a soldier in the Canadian Forces for eight years between 2001 and 2009, had begun using illicit drugs during a seven-month tour in Afghanistan in 2003.

The drug use began spiralling out of control once he returned to Canada, and he started using magic mushrooms, ecstasy, speed and cocaine. Heggaton has since attended some Narcotics Anonymous meetings, but has made no effort to attend formal drug addiction counselling, the judge said.

Andrew Heggaton, a former DND employee and soldier, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison Friday after stealing nearly $1 million in computer parts from the Canadian government.

“He has nothing to show for it,” Heggaton’s lawyer Michael Smith of the fraud during a sentencing hearing earlier in the week. “It all went up his nose.”

Heggaton was arrested after suppliers started contacting DND in 2014 looking for payment for outstanding invoices for computer equipment that had been ordered but could not be located. Heggaton was listed on the invoices and would have received the items, many of which were ordered with authorization forms that didn’t have any recognizable signature or were missing an additional level of certification.

When challenged by his superiors, Heggaton gave nonsensical answers or tried to pass off older model computers as the missing merchandise.

An internal investigation was launched to ensure any deliveries sent to Heggaton were authorized, and on March 6, 2015, a package addressed to Heggaton containing a large number of Intel Core i7 processors was intercepted.

The CFCSU verified the processors were not required, the parcel was put out for delivery and Heggaton was placed under surveillance. Heggaton was stopped as he left work, and 15 of the processors and four hard drives were recovered from his bag. A search of his work space uncovered additional suspicious invoices and orders along with brand new hi-tech computer parts that were not used by the unit.

During his sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Bruce Lee-Shanok said Heggaton’s greed left his co-workers under the lens of suspicion before his arrest. In a victim impact statement, a major said that morale in the unit had reached an all-time low, according to Lee-Shanok.

Court heard Heggaton grew up in a military family. He was born on a military base in Germany. His father was in the British forces, and the family relocated often to bases across the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

His arrest has strained his relationship with his family, court heard.

Heggaton has since attempted suicide and was admitted to hospital for his depression, Perkins-McVey said. He is now on public assistance, although he earns some extra money fixing laptop computers.

During a hearing earlier in the week, Heggaton told the judge he intends to use his time behind bars on redemption.

“I truly understand the actions betrayed the trust that had been placed in me by my country,” said Heggaton. “I realize that my actions were inexcusable, and for that I am deeply sorry.”

aseymour@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/andrew_seymour

Former financial adviser sentenced to 7 years for defrauding clients

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/scribnock-financial-advisor-fraud-ottawa-courthouse-1.4006823

"The man is a snake in a suit, a predator. He stole the future of so many people"

By Steve Fischer, CBC News Posted: Mar 02, 2017 2:21 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 02, 2017 2:21 PM ET

Richard Meehan was Scribnock's personal trainer and friend before the financial adviser defrauded him of $40 thousand. (Steve Fischer/CBC)

Justice Robert Maranger said it was the "selfish greed" of Jacques Scribnock that resulted in him concocting an elaborate scheme of "shell companies" under the names Magna Securities and Stone Securities to defraud close friends — even family members — of their life savings.

The frauds took place over a four-year period, starting in 2008.

Richard Meehan was one of more than a dozen former clients of Scribnock, who came to court for the sentencing.

Meehan was Scribnock's personal trainer and then became a friend and client.

"The hardest thing was not just the money but the betrayal after knowing this person, this fraudster, for over 15 years. That's what hurts the most," Meehan said.

Scribnock used money to maintain lavish lifestyle

The judge said Scribnock used money to maintain a lavish lifestyle for himself, his wife and children, including buying a $1.5-million penthouse condominium in Mississauga.

Susan and Linda Brownrigg came to court for the sentencing of Jacques Scribnock. (Steve Fischer/CBC)

Scribnock was arrested in 2013, about six months after Ottawa police started receiving complaints from investors, and launched an investigation.

Many of the investors had been close personal friends of Scribnock, who had also referred their friends and family members to him.

Susan Brownrigg says she, her elderly parents, as well as several siblings invested their money with Scribnock and lost it all.

"The man is a snake in a suit, a predator. He stole the future of so many people. Our family has been damaged irreparably," Brownrigg said, outside court.

Her sister-in-law Linda Brownrigg said the fraud Scribnock committed against their elderly parents was especially damaging.

"The guy took those cheques and put them in his own private bank account. He forged her signature on documents. How do you bounce back when you are 83, 84 [years old]? You know you are frail, you believe in people, you trust people and he charmed people, he really did, including us by the way," Linda Brownrigg said.

Scribnock even defrauded his cousin, Diane McMartin. Her advice to other investors is not use a friend or family member as a financial planner.

"But I would encourage people to go with investors that are in a good, big company … not a small person who is trying to make it for himself.

Diane McMartin is a cousin of Jacques Scribnock. She too was defrauded of thousands of dollars by the former financial advisor. (Steve Fiscehr/CBC)

The judge also ordered Scribnock to pay restitution to the victims, although many of them believe they'll never get their money back.

Scribnock was given 15 months credit for time served in pre-trial custody, which means he will have to serve another five years and seven months before becoming eligible for full parole.