Student hacker ‘penetrated’ Facebook

He appeared in court for the first time yesterday on what the judge, Nicholas
Evans, described as “serious allegations” under the Computer Misuse Act.

Mangham, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, only spoke to confirm his
name and address. He did not enter a plea.

He was banned from having any access to computers, his iPhone or “any devices
capable of accessing the internet” while on bail. His lawyers argued the
conditions were similar to forcing him into “exile”

“The court feels it will be safer if there was no access to the internet which
will reduce the temptation for your son to go on to Facebook,” said Judge
Evans.

Matthew McCabe, prosecuting, told the court that Mangham had repeatedly tried
to hack into Facebook’s systems.

“This is what can be described as a hacking case,” he told the court.

“This involved considerable technical expertise to penetrate the security
programmes of Facebook.”

Specialist cyber crime police allege that between April 27 and May 9 Mangham
repeatedly hacked into a Facebook “puzzle server” using software he had
downloaded. The firm runs puzzle servers to allow computer programmers to
test their skills. Mangham allegedly knew that doing so could disrupt its
operation.

On April 29 he also tried to hack into a “mailman” server run by Facebook via
his web browser, police claim. Such systems are used by firms to run
internal and external email distribution lists.

Just over a week later he allegedly used software to “secure access to the
Facebook phabricator server”. Phabricator is a set of tools designed by the
firm to make it easier to build Facebook applications such as games. Mangham
had “made, adapted, supplied or offered to supply” a special software script
to hack into the Phabricator server, the court heard.

Despite the extent of the alleged intrusions, Facebook said its users’
personal data was not compromised.

“We have been working with Scotland Yard and the FBI as we take any attempt to
hack our internal systems extremely seriously,” a spokesman said.

Mangham was supported in court by his parents, Glenn and Eleanor, who sat in
the public gallery during his brief appearance.

The family declined to comment as they left court. Mangham is due to reappear
next month for a committal hearing.

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Call for Facebook ban on alcohol ads

Mark Gould

Thursday, 18 August 2011

A new report by campaigning charity Alcohol Concern reveals the growing importance to alcohol companies of social networking sites like Facebook and video sharing sites such as YouTube as a means of promoting their products.

It is also concerned at what it says are the inadequacies of online age verification pages aimed at preventing under 18s from accessing content intended for adults.

The report New media, new problem? also highlights the frequent practice of users of social networks  posting pictures and descriptions of themselves drinking and being drunk, and asks why so many of us choose to publicise our alcohol consumption in this way. 

It says health bodies need to counter official alcohol marketing and pro-drinking messages on the internet by fully embracing and utilising new media themselves as a means to promote alcohol-related health messages.

And it wants official alcohol marketing to be banned from social networking sites and for alcohol producers and site administrators to end the unauthorised use of drinks logos and advertising images on social networking sites

It says age affirmation pages are “ineffective” at restricting young people’s access to websites containing alcohol-related content and calls research to find better ways to control access. In the meantime it wants alcohol brand websites to only contain straightforward factual information about products.

The report found that:

• According to a recent survey, 37% of children aged 13-15 year olds have seen photos of their friends drunk on social networking sites.

• 8% of year 9 pupils and 25% of year 11 pupils in Wales have been drunk at least 4 times, whilst 14% of year 9 pupils and 31% of year 11 pupils in Wales drink alcohol every week.

• Almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 in the UK have set up their own profile on a SNS. Despite the fact that the minimum age for most SNSs is 13 years, 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of such sites state they have a user profile.

Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker said the alcohol industry has “very effectively taken advantage of internet technology as a means of promoting its products”.

 

He said that most of the leading drinks companies have a presence on Facebook or Twitter, plus their own websites which often contain content likely to be attractive to young people, such as games and videos, competitions and prizes.

“Many Facebook groups about drinks also mirror official drinks industry advertising and make use of official drinks logos. Much of this can be easily accessed by users of any age. The sharing of pro-drinking messages in this way fuels the normalisation of alcohol – the more people who are regularly exposed to images and descriptions of excessive consumption, the more normal and acceptable this behaviour appears.”

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