Worldwide cyber crime probe hits Storrs

An FBI raid at a home just off the University of Connecticut campus Friday is part of a larger nationwide investiga­tion into a string of recent orga­nized cyber attacks. The FBI said it began execut­ing more than 40 search warrants nationwide Thursday (Jan. 27) as part of an investigation into coordinated attacks.

The United Kingdom’s Metro­politan Police Service also arrest­ed five people for their alleged role.

One of those raids occurred just off the UConn campus in Storrs Friday, but U. S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thomas Carson said no arrests have been made from the raid as of this morning (Jan. 31).

Calls to a spokesman for the FBI’s office in New Haven seek­ing comment were not returned this morning.

UConn spokesman Michael Kirk said the raid reportedly occurred at 208 North Eagleville Road, an address listed as the location for the UConn Student Shelter for the Arts.

A phone number for the organi­zation was not accepting calls this morning, and Michael Improta, Darrell Hollens and Vincent Cardinal, all listed as officers on the organization’s web page, did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

According to UConn’s web site at the Division of Student Affairs link, the UConn Student Shelter for the Arts’ mission is to “pro­vide an outlet for student creativ­ity on the UConn campus, for performing and visual arts of all kinds. To organize and sponsor events including but not limited to poetry readings, staged readings, student bands, open mic nights and visual art shows.”

Kirk declined to comment fur­ther, saying the raid occurred off campus and there was no indi­cation this morning that UConn students are involved in the FBI’s investigation.

The FBI said it began executing more than 40 search warrants as part of an international investiga­tion into the coordinated cyber attacks.

The FBI said distributed denial of service attacks occur when a software program sends a series of useless commands and infor­mation to a computer network.

The commands make the net­work deny “service to legitimate users,” the FBI said, adding the attacks have targeted major com­panies and organizations.

The FBI added a group calling itself “Anonymous” has claimed responsibility for the attacks and said the attacks were in protest of the companies’ and organizations’ actions.

On its web site, www.whywepro­test.com, “Anonymous” also said it supports WikiLeaks and defi­ance groups in Iran, Zimbabwe and Tunisia.

Along with the UK, the FBI also said authorities in Germany, the Netherlands and France have also been conducting investigations into coordinated cyber attacks and the FBI is working closely with those investigations.

The FBI said the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance – a public- private partnership that works to identify, mitigate, and neutralize cyber crime – is also helping in the investigation.

The NCFTA has advised that software from any untrustworthy source represents a potential threat and should be removed, the FBI said.

Posted 1-31-2011

Next wintry blast headed our way

Raymond Gadoury flings another shovel full of snow off the roof of his porch in Willington on Saturday. Many peo­ple took advantage of the mild weather Saturday to clean up roofs and driveways before the area gets socked with the next round of winter weather Tuesday and Wednesday. Photo: Marie Brennan

Area residents are bracing for yet another wintry blast on Tuesday and Wednesday, as weather forecasters are predict­ing some snowfall and a mix of precipitation.

Over the weekend, residents continued to dig out while some trudged up to roofs to remove snow ahead of this week’s storm. Tom Kines, senior meteorolo­gist for AccuWeather.com, said precipitation would start in the morning Tuesday and continue through the day.

He said there would be “a few inches of snow to deal with,” offering an estimate of between 1 and 3 inches during the day and another inch Tuesday night.

Kines said temperatures would be in the mid-20s on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Kines said there would be a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow that will complicate morning commutes.

“Wednesday morning looks horrendous,” Kines said, adding freezing rain would be the worst­-case scenario.

Freezing rain is rain that freez­es on contact and leaves an icy glaze on roads, tree limbs and utility lines, while sleet is precipitation that initially falls as rain and hits a cold layer in the atmosphere and lands as frozen precipitation, he said.

Kines added the storm would move out Wednesday between 8 p. m. and midnight and tem­peratures on Wednesday would be right around freezing – 32 degrees.

For those with sore backs from shoveling, Kines said there isn’t much relief in sight.

“Not really,” he said. “It’s January and February in New England.”

Also, those living in Williman­tic are reminded to dig out their fire hydrants, shovel out a spot for their garbage and recycling cans and to shovel their side­walks.

Windham Town Manager Neal Beets said crews were spending the day loading up and taking away snow from areas.

“We have no place to plow it any longer,” he said, adding the town was loading up trucks with sand and salt in preparation of Tuesday and Wednesday’s storm. “Hopefully we can push it some place.”

This storm is expected to bring heavy snow, sleet, and freez­ing rain is expected to hit the Rockies, Plains and Midwest regions Tuesday, before moving on to the mid-Atlantic states and New England.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Posted 1-31-2011