Gibson County Sheriff's Department

Indiana’s “Sexting” Bill (SB0224)

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:12:05 +0000

Synopsis: Electronic dissemination of indecent material. Provides that a child commits a delinquent act if the child creates, transmits, or possesses a photograph, video, or other material that shows a minor engaging in sexual conduct. Creates a defense to child exploitation, possession of child pornography, and dissemination of material harmful to minors if the defendant is a child, the offense constitutes a delinquent act, and: (1) the photograph, video, or other material does not show a child less than thirteen (13) years of age; or (2) the defendant did not knowingly or intentionally transmit or display the photograph, video, or other material to ten or more persons. Requires a child’s parent to participate in outpatient treatment or an educational program if a juvenile court orders the child to receive outpatient treatment or to attend an educational program.
Effective: July 1, 2010.

Source: Indiana General Assembly Senate Bill 0224

Education is key to prevention!

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:56:02 +0000

December 28, 2009

2009 is turning out be a banner year for the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Experts predict the Center will end the year with close to 350,000 complaints. That’s a heck of a lot more than last year in which a record 275,284 complaints were received. 2010 will probably set another record.

While there is no doubt IC3 has become one of the most recognized vehicles for reporting online fraud today, the numbers have to date, only scratched the surface. Many experts believe the number of people who fall prey to credit card fraud, online auction fraud, phishing scams and the like, is actually far greater than the complaint numbers would indicate and cyber thieves aren’t letting up. If anything, they’re increasing their efforts to separate you and I from our money.

Consumers need to educate themselves to prepare for the coming decade and the wave of sophisticated scams that are sure to follow. There are a host of Web sites available that can help including:

www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com

www.scamvictimsunited.com

www.scambusters.org

If you do fall victim to online fraud, contact your local police right away and file a complaint with IC3 at www.ic3.gov. It only takes a couple of minutes and the information can help law enforcement bring the perpetrators to justice.

Source: The Informant (NW3C: visit www.ic3.gov) December 28, 2009

So Many Local Crimes, So Few Cybercops to Help

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:16:11 +0000

State and County Law Enforcement Handle 90% of Felonies, but Not Many Agencies Have High-Tech Crime-Fighting Capability… More (WSJ.com)

Place a fraud alert to protect against identity theft

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:26:36 +0000

If your wallet or credit card is stolen, call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. The alert means any company that checks your credit has to contact you to authorize new credit.

Here are numbers you always need to contact if your wallet, etc., has been stolen:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

You can get a free credit report once a year from each of the three credit reporting agencies. They have set up a web site for this: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Fake Security Software Steals $34 Million Monthly

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:33:32 +0000

This is something that every computer user needs to be aware of in regards to malware and so-called anti-virus or anti-spyware software. Don’t fall victim to this scam!

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218800178

GCSD and Nixle Announce Launch of Community Information Service

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:53:51 +0000

PRINCETON, IN – Gibson County is launching a new Community Information Service designed to deliver important and timely information to residents in our area using the latest technology.
This service, created by Nixle, LLC delivers trustworthy and important neighborhood-level public safety and community event notifications by web, e-mail, and cell phone. Nixle is completely free, simple, and trusted.
Residents of Gibson County can now take advantage of Nixle! Nixle is a community information service that alerts you to public safety threats and community events via web, e-mail, and cell phone. Sign up at www.nixle.com to register!

To finish reading this press release visit http://www.gibsoncountysheriff.com/p…ase_070809.pdf

FBI: Internet Fraud Rates Rose 33% Last Year

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:29:20 +0000

Source: IC3.gov

Win32/Conficker Worm

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:32:15 +0000

Who is at risk?

Users whose computers are not configured to receive patches and updates from Microsoft and who are not running an up to date antivirus product are most at risk. Users who do not have a genuine version of Windows from Microsoft are most at risk since pirated system usually cannot get Microsoft updates and patches.

How does this worm interact with a machine? Nobody really knows at this point. Visit Symantec for more information.

As always ensure your anti-virus software is up to date and you have the most recent patches and updates from Microsoft.

A video story for every parent!

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:17:24 +0000

This video goes along with our previous blog post on Monday, which you can view by clicking here.

A buyer & seller beware as it relates to protecting your child and your identity if you sell your computer online.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29405819#29389379

Forensics Firm Finds Private Data on Drives Sold on ebay

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:36:42 +0000

“A New York computer forensics firm said that 40 of 100 hard disk drives it recently purchased in bulk orders on eBay contained personal information, including corporate financial data, DNS server information, and personal e-mail and photos.”

Source: PCWorld