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 Christianity Etc › Studies Show Churchgoers are ‘Happier and Healthier’ by Recognise(op): 5:34pm On Apr 05, 2009 |
[size=14pt]Studies show churchgoers are ‘happier and healthier’[/size] By Ed Carty PEOPLE who pray and go to Church are happier and healthier than people not practising religion, a report by a leading psychiatrist has claimed. Professor Patricia Casey said a series of international studies and research has gathered evidence that faith could ease depression, help people live longer and prevent suicide. "The studies don’t ‘prove’ that the claims of the various religions are true or that God exists," Prof Casey said. "What they do show is that practising a given religion tends to have numerous personal benefits. When religion is practised by enough people this will have obvious benefits for society as well." Prof Casey said people should be aware of the growing body of evidence which highlights the benefits of religion, especially during the recession. "In such times we have to rely more than ever on our families, our neighbours and our communities, and religion as well," she said. Professor Casey’s report said research found religious practice helps to bring about; * Lower than average rates of depression and other mental illnesses. * Better recovery rates after illness. * Lower than average rates of alcohol and drug abuse. * Lower rates of marital breakdown, crime, sexual activity among teens and fewer sexual partners. The report, The Psycho-social Benefits of Religious Practise and commissioned by think-tank The Iona Institute was written by one of Ireland’s leading psychiatrists, Prof Casey. It warned, however, that the studies are not conclusive. Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin and Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Dr Ken Good have contributed to forewords in the report and called on mental health practitioners to be more open to the positive effect religion can make to wellbeing. for SOURCE: Click here |
| Foreign Affairs › Zimbabwe's PM Hit By Second Tragic Loss by Recognise(op): 5:16pm On Apr 05, 2009 |
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has lost a two-year-old grandson just one month after his wife was killed in a road accident. The toddler - named Sean - drowned in a swimming pool at Mr Tsvangirai's home in the capital Harare. He will be buried on Monday in Buhera, southeast of Harare, next to his grandmother Susan. Mrs Tsvangirai was killed on March 6 in a car crash in which Mr Tsvangirai was badly injured. "Sean was the son of the prime minister's son Garikai and (his wife) Lilian who are based in Canada," said a spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai. "They came here to attend the funeral of Mrs Susan Tsvangirai and were meant to go back today." Mr Tsvangirai returned home from a cabinet retreat in Victoria Falls on hearing of his grandson's tragic death. He became Prime Minister in a new power-sharing government with his bitter rival President Robert Mugabe in February. The administration has the mammoth task of rebuilding Zimbabwe's wrecked economy. for SOURCE: Click here |
| Christianity Etc › How Much of the Bible Can a Person Not Believe - and Still Be Okay? by Recognise(op): 11:41pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
[size=14pt]How Much of the Bible Can a Person Not Believe - and Still Be Okay?[/size] - Robin Calamaio 2008 Description The title of this article, is a really good question. Actually, it is an extremely good question. In fact, the only thing better than it, is the answer. [flash=750,999]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2582316&access_key=key-2bnhysk4rhn2u1o1vgq6&page=1[/flash] 3 Pages Pdf file Before bringing out the daggers, the contents of the article are the opinions of the author and not entirely or necessarily the poster's |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Who Manufactured The Bible? by Recognise: 6:43pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
Brein: @Brein Acronyms eh? RCC - Roman Catholic Church RCCG - Redeemed Christian Church of God |
| Christianity Etc › Basic Beliefs: CHRISTIAN versus MUSLIM by Recognise(op): 6:38pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
Basic Beliefs: Christian versus Muslim [flash=700,950]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2890701&access_key=key-2ja6zmufsc4tgx8q8uvb&page=1[/flash] 7 Pages Pdf file "Before bringing out the daggers, these might not automatically be the entire opinion of the poster" |
| Christianity Etc › Is Allah God? by Recognise(op): 4:18pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
[size=14pt] Is Allah God? [/size]by Frans J.L. Zegers Description Because of the dialogue between muslims and churches, necessitating the condition that Christianity and Islam would be of equal value, which they are NOT, I decided to write this book. Jesus Christ commanded and commissioned His Body, the church to make disciples of all nations! Not to enter into a dialogue with them. Muslims only seek a so called dialogue to gain territory. They do NOT respect nor consider Christianity equal to islam. On the contrary. And full well do they know that doing so would be in violation of islam. The 'churches' and so called Christians who enter into a dialogue with muslims, do not seek to gain anything from the muslims, except a 'cease fire.' By participating into a dialogue with muslims, they have denied Christ! [flash=700,999]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2596718&access_key=key-sg6jznv5aqkp691balb&page=1[/flash] 126 Pages Word document Before bringing out the daggers, the contents of the book are the opinions of the author and entirely not necessarily the poster's |
| Jokes Etc › 10 Great 5EX Positions . . . by Recognise(op): 3:08pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
10 Great 5EX Positions . . . Whey-hey!!! [flash=400,300]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=13598624&access_key=key-1trxrbefdq3an2zxh1j3&page=1[/flash] |
| Christianity Etc › Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall . . . by Recognise(op): 2:07pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
When you look into the mirror, What do you see? Do you have a skewed image? Do you suffer with low self-esteem or unworthiness? There is HOPE!!! [flash=700,999]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=2588100&access_key=key-gf5ooakl1gye1o06t4r&page=1[/flash] |
| Christianity Etc › Re: April 1, Is The Atheists' Holyday, Who is A Fool? by Recognise: 1:25pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
[flash=800,800]http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=7753596&access_key=key-yir1gnj3uil7awmhbd&page=1[/flash] Jagunlabi:Vid resubmitted on behalf on Jagunlabi [flash=400,400] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhjOnYbKJJw&hl=en&fs=1[/flash] |
| Christianity Etc › Re: South Africans Vow To Sack Christ Embassy by Recognise: 12:07pm On Apr 04, 2009 |
A_K_O:Oh yeah? OK here's the FYI: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/huhuonline.com |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Who Manufactured The Bible? by Recognise: 2:14pm On Apr 03, 2009 |
Couldnt resist but to quickly chip in As OLAADEGBU implied Yeah, all scripture(s) is/was inspired by God but NO! Translation(s) for that matter AREN'T NECESSARILY inspired by God [center](Thank God "Modify" feature is back)[/center] |
| Music/Radio › Re: Naija Boys And Beyonce by Recognise: 7:50pm On Mar 30, 2009 |
Enuff respect . . . |
| Christianity Etc › Re: What Did You Learn From Todays Sermon? by Recognise: 9:42pm On Mar 29, 2009 |
Tpia:Kinda like "Bo si gbangban . . . Mo ti ready lati ta e tan . . . " innit?  Translated, literally is saying "Come out into the open . . . Am ready to play the game wit'cha to the end . . ." |
| Foreign Affairs › Re: Id Cards Not Compulsory After All, Says Uk Home Office by Recognise(op): 9:02pm On Mar 29, 2009 |
OMO IBO:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/24/id_cards_voluntaryish |
| Christianity Etc › Re: What Did You Learn From Todays Sermon? by Recognise: 8:47pm On Mar 29, 2009 |
Mai Suya:For those scratching their heads, wondering what is going on . . . The below gives an idea to what Mai Suya is referring to: Aloy.Emeka's ROMANCE Rage On Condoms posting today at 09:43:23 AM : Tpia Re: Rage On Condoms « #1 on: Today at 01:55:55 PM » :SOURCE: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-255017.0.html |
| Christianity Etc › Re: What Did You Learn From Todays Sermon? by Recognise: 9:16am On Mar 29, 2009 |
Aloy.Emeka:FYI: There is already a thread for this What Did You Learn At Church Today? https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-14450.704.html Hint: Always do a search before posting a thread to avoid duplications |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Nigerian Pastor Beat World Record by Recognise: 8:32am On Mar 29, 2009 |
FYI: This posting/thread has already been posted here before since February 17, 2009 as: I'll Do Anything For Money Pastor Disgracing Himself: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-235167.0.html Recognise: I'll Do Anything For Money Pastor Disgracing Himself |
| Crime › Re: Another Nigerian Pastor Makes Us Proud! by Recognise: 8:24am On Mar 29, 2009 |
FYI: This posting/thread has already been posted here before since February 17, 2009 as: I'll Do Anything For Money Pastor Disgracing Himself: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-235167.0.html Recognise: I'll Do Anything For Money Pastor Disgracing Himself |
| Crime › Re: Another Nigerian Pastor Makes Us Proud! by Recognise: 12:22am On Mar 29, 2009 |
FYI:Already posted Recognise: I'll Do Anything For Money Pastor Disgracing Himself |
| Crime › I Didn't Mean To Kill My Wife, Says Murder Accused by Recognise(op): 12:10am On Mar 29, 2009 |
Driven to kill wife by outrageous provocation By Jason O'Brien Saturday March 28 2009 A HUSBAND who stabbed his wife in front of their three children was driven to it by the "most outrageous act of provocation" in the family home, his defence counsel maintained yesterday. The jury in the murder trial of David Bourke will resume its deliberations on Monday morning after failing to reach a verdict at the Dublin Central Criminal Court yesterday. Earlier, in closing arguments, the jury had been told that Mr Bourke (49) admitted he stabbed Jean Gilbert (46) to death in August 2007, but that he did so under severe provocation because she was going to leave him for another man. Mr Bourke has pleaded not guilty to murder. After three hours of deliberations, Mr Justice Barry White told the jury yesterday evening that he would accept a majority verdict of 10-2 or 11-1. However, the jury still had not reached a verdict following another hour of deliberations and was called back in at 7.30pm. Defending counsel Colm Smyth had earlier said that Mr Bourke, an administrator for Hibernian Aviva Insurance, had been "transformed" from a decent family man into "a broken man" when he first found out, in June 2007, that his wife was going to leave him for Robert Campion, whom she had first met on a Buddhist retreat almost two decades earlier. Mr Smyth said that letters and emails from Mr Campion to Ms Gilbert -- which were left easily accessible to Mr Bourke in the family home -- made Mr Campion out to be a "classless, ageing, half-Italian gigolo". Preying He was preying on Jean Gilbert, and eager to access her finances, said Mr Smyth, adding that the correspondence had a "devastating" effect on Mr Bourke. The final straw was a meal which Ms Gilbert had with her lover in the kitchen of the family home at Laverna Dale in Castleknock, Dublin, on August 26, 2007, two nights before she was killed. Their dirty plates were found by Mr Bourke. "This has to be the most outrageous act of provocation that one could possibly imagine," Mr Smyth said. "It was an act of defiance." Mr Bourke, sitting in the dock with some of his siblings behind him, began audibly sobbing at this point. Mr Smyth continued, saying that "whatever saplings of recovery were emerging" in Mr Bourke's life at that time -- he had been in counselling and been prescribed anti-depressants which made him ill -- they were "crushed by that callous, reckless act". Two days later, Mrs Gilbert was killed in that same house, after returning from an early morning meeting with Mr Campion. She was stabbed four times with a knife as her three young children looked on. "He will be punished severely," Mr Smyth said. "But David Bourke did not murder his wife. He is guilty of manslaughter." In her closing statement, prosecuting counsel Isobel Kennedy argued that in order for a defence of provocation, there had to be a total loss of self-control. Mr Bourke had known for 10 weeks before Ms Gilbert's death that his wife was going to leave him, she said. He had told gardai that he had wanted to hurt her as she had hurt him, and had sent a text to a colleague on the night before her death saying that he hated her and would have killed her had he not left the house. Mr Justice Barry White said that finding Mr Bourke guilty of manslaughter or guilty of murder were the only two realistic options open to the jury. After one hour and 40 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned and asked to hear the transcripts of the 999 call made by Mr Bourke on the morning of the killing, and the statements given by two of the couple's three young children. SOURCE: Click here |
| Crime › Sword Attacker Jailed For Chopping Off Hand by Recognise(op): 11:51pm On Mar 28, 2009 |
Sword attacker jailed for chopping off hand By Sonya McLean Saturday March 28 2009 A former fireman who cut a carpenter's left hand off with a samurai sword in a crowded pub has been jailed for nine years. Charles Russell (28) of Whitechapel Road, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing Peter Rogers serious harm at The Deputy Mayor Pub, Meekstown, on January 13 2008. His 31 previous convictions included road traffic and criminal damage offences, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. Detective Garda Tony Gleeson told the court that Russell severed Mr Roger's hand at the wrist with his first swing of the sword and the hand fell to the ground. He said that the victim did not notice that he had lost his hand, which he said must have been due to shock. Mr Rogers continued to struggle with Russell and at one stage punched the accused in the face with the stump of his arm. Det Gda Gleeson said that Mr Rogers will never have full use of his left hand again. He has also been left with a facial scar from another blow he received from the sword. He has suffered from depression, his relationship has since broken down, and he will never work in carpentry again, or play golf and football as he had done regularly before the assault. The detective said that both Russell and his co-accused had left the pub earlier that day and returned with the sword and a hammer before they both assaulted Mr Rogers. "He gave no convincing reason for the motivation behind the attack," Det Gda Gleeson said. He agreed with the defence that Russell's co-accused claimed that Mr Rogers had said something insulting to his girlfriend's mother which led to their attack on him. The detective told the court that a customer picked up Mr Rogers's hand and placed it in ice in a black bag. The victim was taken to the Mater hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to re-attach his hand. Cocaine The defence said Charles Russell had developed a cocaine problem and had been taking drugs and drinking for four days prior to the assault. Judge Katherine Delahunt suspended the last 12 months of the sentence on condition that Russell keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years. She said that the "lethal and offensive nature of the weapon used showed no other intention than causing the most grievous amount of harm" Judge Delahunt said that whether or not Russell's co-accused's explanation for his motivation behind the attack was plausible, it was never Russell's argument and he should never have got involved. A victim impact report made "very sorry reading for such a young man". SOURCE: Click here |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Jade GOODY Died Today - Has She Really Gone To Heaven? by Recognise(op): 10:18am On Mar 28, 2009 |
Horus: from Recognise on March 22, 2009, 01:11 PM@Horus Don't get your knickers in a twist mate . . . Didn't you read, one was expecting reactions or comments to the above If she didn’t know where she’ll be after death instead of perpetrating this in likes of Santa Klauss-cum-Tooth Fairy monstrosity fib why didn’t she better ask somebody or simply keep shtum, hmm? Preposterous claims, absolutely shocking . . . |
| Foreign Affairs › Id Cards Not Compulsory After All, Says Uk Home Office by Recognise(op): 9:46pm On Mar 27, 2009 |
ID cards not compulsory after all, says Home Office By John Lettice • Posted in Government, 24th March 2009 13:19 GMT Plans to make ID cards compulsory for UK citizens at some point in the middle distance have been officially abandoned, apparently. According to the Home Office's revised counter-terrorism strategy document, published today, "It is not our intention that identity cards should be mandatory for UK nationals." This in some senses reverses the previous plan, which was for ID cards to be made compulsory via a vote in parliament after they had achieved significant penetration among the UK population. In most senses, however, it changes nothing. ID cards will be issued to airport workers "initially for an 18 month evaluation period" this year, offered to "young people to assist them in proving their identity" next year, and will "start to enroll people at high volumes" from 2011/12. The hordes of people desperate for ID cards and the luckless population of Manchester seem to have fallen off this roadmap, possibly for reasons of space but more likely because both ideas were ridiculous. Presuming (possibly a big presume) that the Home Office doesn't change its mind about compulsion again, the roadmap is now more closely aligned to David Blunkett's cunning plan to save the ID scheme. Once ID cards become available to the general UK population, people will be given "a choice between an identity card, a passport or both". Whatever they choose, their details will be added to the National Identity Register, and as it's the database that's the point, not the card, the Home Office is happy to let them decline the latter. The two problems with this, from the point of view of the Home Office, are first that people who don't want or need a passport won't go onto the NIR (which is why Blunkett wants to make passports compulsory instead), and second that EU citizens living in the UK will escape the scheme entirely. So in the unlikely event of New Labour and Smith (majority 1,948) remaining in place after the next election, we can perhaps expect a compulsory passport announcement in a few years time. Should the 2011 part of the 2011/12 general rollout actually happen, incidentally, it's likely to be the last time you will be able to collect a passport, and presumably ID card, without handing in your fingerprints. These will be required for passport renewals from 2012, according to today's document. ® |
| Foreign Affairs › Id Cards Not Compulsory After All, Says Uk Home Office by Recognise(op): 9:43pm On Mar 27, 2009 |
ID cards not compulsory after all, says Home Office By John Lettice • Posted in Government, 24th March 2009 13:19 GMT Plans to make ID cards compulsory for UK citizens at some point in the middle distance have been officially abandoned, apparently. According to the Home Office's revised counter-terrorism strategy document, published today, "It is not our intention that identity cards should be mandatory for UK nationals." This in some senses reverses the previous plan, which was for ID cards to be made compulsory via a vote in parliament after they had achieved significant penetration among the UK population. In most senses, however, it changes nothing. ID cards will be issued to airport workers "initially for an 18 month evaluation period" this year, offered to "young people to assist them in proving their identity" next year, and will "start to enroll people at high volumes" from 2011/12. The hordes of people desperate for ID cards and the luckless population of Manchester seem to have fallen off this roadmap, possibly for reasons of space but more likely because both ideas were ridiculous. Presuming (possibly a big presume) that the Home Office doesn't change its mind about compulsion again, the roadmap is now more closely aligned to David Blunkett's cunning plan to save the ID scheme. Once ID cards become available to the general UK population, people will be given "a choice between an identity card, a passport or both". Whatever they choose, their details will be added to the National Identity Register, and as it's the database that's the point, not the card, the Home Office is happy to let them decline the latter. The two problems with this, from the point of view of the Home Office, are first that people who don't want or need a passport won't go onto the NIR (which is why Blunkett wants to make passports compulsory instead), and second that EU citizens living in the UK will escape the scheme entirely. So in the unlikely event of New Labour and Smith (majority 1,948) remaining in place after the next election, we can perhaps expect a compulsory passport announcement in a few years time. Should the 2011 part of the 2011/12 general rollout actually happen, incidentally, it's likely to be the last time you will be able to collect a passport, and presumably ID card, without handing in your fingerprints. These will be required for passport renewals from 2012, according to today's document. ® |
| Christianity Etc › Re: Lovely Judge! by Recognise: 10:51pm On Mar 26, 2009 |
FYI: Check Davidylan's post on January 30, 2009, 07:10 PM for Joke: Florida Court Sets Atheist Holy Day! |
| Crime › Craigslist boasts 95% drop in 'Erotic Services' listings by Recognise(op): 10:12pm On Mar 26, 2009 |
[size=13pt]Craigslist boasts 95% drop in 'erotic services' listings[/size] Cracking down on classifieds of ill-repute By Austin Modine • Posted in Crime, 10th March 2009 22:37 GMT With Chicago's sheriff accusing Craigslist of being one of America's top sources of prostitution, the online classified ad-broker has opened its books to illustrate what it calls "spectacular" reductions in the volume of "erotic services" listings. In a Monday blog post, Craiglist says implementing new verification policies in 2008 has helped the site make major progress in curbing its classifieds-of-easy-virtues. Craigslist claims for five major US cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle), the number of solicitations published in the site's erotic services category has dropped between 90 and 95 per cent in the past 12 months. It adds the site's current selection of scarlet listings are now "much improved" in their compliance with Craigslist's terms of use agreement as well as local laws. [img]http:///cac4e2[/img] September must be a lonely month. Release of the stats is clearly a response to a federal lawsuit filed by the Illinois Sheriff Department on Thursday, which claims the enormous amounts of prostitution solicitations on Craigslist is straining the department's ability to enforce the law. In the first 11 months of 2008, it incurred costs of more than $105,000 cracking down on Craigslist prostitution. Dart wants the court to award his department unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and to shut down the site's erotic services section for good. The lawsuit alleges that despite Craiglist's recent efforts to hose down its red light district, sex peddlers still post more than 300 listings per day in Chicago's erotic services section. The Craiglist data unfortunately only deals in percentage changes, so its impossible to verify those claims. But what it does appear to show is massive drops after Craigslist began requiring phone verification for erotic services listings in March, and credit card authorization in November. Both measures were supposed to add more accountability to user listings From the post: [center]In this same timespan, craigslist staff have continued to work closely with law enforcement agencies across the country to vigorously pursue those engaged in the horrific crimes of human trafficking and exploitation of minors.[/center] Craiglist claims that 100 per cent of revenue earned from erotic services listings have been earmarked for donation to "worthy charities." The site says it will be in a position to start distributing the funds "soon." ® SOURCE: Click here |
| Computers › Re: BlackBerry Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Domino Questions? by Recognise(op): 10:03pm On Mar 26, 2009 |
Canadian cops cry for BlackBerry wiretap How to eat a golden egg By Dan Goodin in San Francisco Posted in Security, 25th March 2009 22:06 GMT It has recently dawned on Canadian officials that communications sent with the BlackBerry are among the hardest mobile messages to eavesdrop on. But rather than congratulate the Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion on a job well done, they're calling for laws that would force service providers to use only technology that can be tapped. Police and politicians in Canada call the BlackBerry the device of choice for criminals and law enforcement, according to the CBC. That's largely thanks to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which encrypts data and secures network connections. Layer on top of that some additional encryption software - which is easy to do on the Blackberry - and you've got something close to military grade security, the news service says. Enter liberal member of parliament Marlene Jennings, who tells the news service that cracking the BlackBerry and other devices that use strong encryption is essential for law enforcement to do its job. "Law enforcement needs it, Canadians need it. It's an essential tool for the battle against crime," she says. No doubt, not all police surveillance is bad, and the protection encryption provides from prying eyes cuts both ways. Which is to say that sometimes encryption is going to make it easier for bad guys to conceal their illicit ways. But a lot of perfectly legitimate people - including a certain leader of a large, western state - swear by the BlackBerry precisely because it is viewed as more secure than iPhones and all its peers. Sure, law enforcement would be required to have a warrant before they could access any encrypted communications. But the US Secret Service isn't likely to take comfort in such formalities, and neither are millions of business people who want to exercise some level of control over the messages they send. So, to MP Jennings and her allies: Good luck fighting a losing battle against technology. And a warning: If you're not careful, you may kill the goose that lays your country's most golden of eggs. ® SOURCE: Click here |
| Crime › City IT Workers Brace For Anarchist Attack by Recognise(op): 9:55pm On Mar 26, 2009 |
City IT workers brace for anarchist attack G20 protest threatens critical systems By Chris Williams • Posted in IT Director, 26th March 2009 15:35 GMT IT workers at City institutions have been told they must come to work on April 1 and 2, when thousands of protestors are expected in the Square Mile to mark the G20 meeting of leaders in London. Authorities fear the protests will turn violent, and many City workers have been ordered to stay at home. But staff maintaining the critical infrastructure behind the London Stock Exchange (LSE) have been told they must come to work. Earlier this week, the LSE IT department received a request from police to organise an email alert to staff working in two buildings deemed vulnerable to protestors, sources said. The email told LSE IT and other staff who are expected to come to work to dress casually rather than in their usual suit, to avoid identifying themselves as a target for anti-banking activists. One LSE staffer said: "It's going to be crazy - they'll be right outside our door." A specific attack on the LSE has been organised on activist site Indymedia UK. "Disrupt the traders whose financial egomania perpetuates global injustice: let's shutdown trading for the day. Meet outside the London Stock Exchange," the call to action says. According to our insider, backroom workers at the LSE fear being targeted as traders, but none plan to stay away. Police will deploy thousands of extra officers in the City in response to the protests. The G20 leaders are meeting in London to discuss the global recession triggered by irresponsible lending and debt trading by bankers. ® SOURCE: Click here |
| Crime › How Police Busted UK's Biggest Cybercrime Case by Recognise(op): 9:45pm On Mar 26, 2009 |
How police busted UK's biggest cybercrime case By John Leyden • Posted in Crime, 19th March 2009 11:02 GMT Exclusive The story of the investigation into the failed multi-million pound cyberheist at Sumitomo Bank can finally be told, following the recent conviction and sentencing of its perpetrators. The audacious Mission Impossible-style scam, which brought a pair of soilers and a bent insider together with other fraudsters, sought to spirit away £229m ($423m) from corporate accounts held at the London offices of the Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui in October 2004. The conspiracy narrowly failed and no money was ever lost. Had it succeeded, the amount stolen would have dwarfed the £26m in gold bullion taken in the November 1983 Brinks Mat robbery and the £40m Securitas job in 2006. Tech-savvy cybercrooks were smuggled into Sumitomo's offices in September 2004, where they used commercial keystroke-logging software - not spyware or specialist hardware, as initially and widely reported - to capture usernames and passwords needed to make Swift bank transfers. Marc Kirby led the investigation These stolen login credentials were used in an unsuccessful attempt to transfer money to ten overseas accounts under the control of fraudsters a month later. Repeated attempts to transfer funds to accounts in Spain, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore failed because of errors in completing one of the fields in the Swift system used to make transfers. But for this failure, accounts held by firms including Toshiba International, Nomura Asset Management, Mitsui OSK Lines and Sumitomo Chemical would have been plundered. [center]The score[/center] Returning to work after the weekend break, Sumitomo staff noticed that PCs had been tampered with. Executives reported the crime after receiving notice of the failed transfers, sparking a painstaking two-year police investigation. The investigation was led by Marc Kirby, retired former detective inspector at the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and later an officer at SOCA, who saw the investigation through from the first phone call from the bank and spoke exclusively to The Register. "We quickly established something untoward had happened when we checked the CCTV footage and discovered tampering," Kirby told El Reg. "The sensitivity had been altered, turned down, so that the cameras didn't record what was happening on the trading floor." Police quickly recognised the heist as an inside job, seizing building entry records and CCTV footage from street cameras. Security supervisor Kevin O'Donoghue, 34, became a key suspect once it was realised that computers were tampered with over the weekend. O'Donoghue repeatedly smuggled two men - later identified as the soilers involved in the plot - into Sumitomo's London office. When challenged by other workers, O'Donoghue claimed the pair were there only for a card game [center]Sneakers[/center] Another strand of the investigation focused on the accounts established by the fraudsters. "We established where the money would have gone and took it from there," Kirby explained. "Because the bank accounts were outside UK jurisdiction we had to go through diplomatic channels. I'm still waiting for some requests." Meanwhile, computer forensics examination established that commercial key-logging software had been loaded onto compromised machines. "It was a standard key-logger available on the net from a reputable firm of the type parents use to keep an eye on their children," Kirby said. "The use of legitimate technology meant the software was not picked up by anti-virus scanners. And there was no traffic going into or out of the network so it couldn't be detected that way." The software used in the scam, iOpus Starr, is normally used for remote surveillance of networked PCs. The crooks obtained two sets of Swift login credentials, one for an ordinary user and one for a supervisor account, needed to authorise transactions, from two machines. They had also tested the software on another machine. The compromised PCs were then formatted in a failed, rather crude attempt to destroy evidence. Computer forensics evidence obtained from these machines, CCTV footage from the bank and elsewhere, telephone call records, building access logs and travel records became the principal planks of the investigation. Analysis of the laptops of suspects also played an important role. Since the heist failed, there was never a money trail to follow. [center]Traces of guilt[/center] The investigation involved a team that varied from seven to 14 officers, at time of peak demand, and stretched over two years. Following interviews with bank staff, O'Donoghue was arrested and charged. He claimed he was coerced into driving the two soiling suspects to the bank and letting them in. "O'Donoghue was arrested within the first few days of the operation. His involvement was clear from the CCTV footage which showed him escorting [the soilers] into the bank," Kirby explained. "We took about two more years to identify Mr P and Mr Van O [the soilers]," he added. Much effort was spent in the painstaking task of examining CCTV footage. From this the two soiling suspects were identified, initially known to the police only as Laptop and Ponytail. O'Donoghue's mobile phone records were seized. He'd changed his phone during the course of the investigation but this failed to throw police off the scent. Phone call and location records allowed police to identify the two soilers as Belgian Jan van Osselaer, 32, and Frenchman Gilles Poelvoorde, 35. Poelvoorde (Ponytail) was arrested with a USB stick that had the same digital fingerprint as the key-logging program used in the Sumitomo scam, along with instructions on how to carry out the same soil on another bank outside the UK. Phone records involving van Osselaer and Poelvoorde, in turn, led to the identification of other members of the conspiracy. Other lines of inquiry turned out to be dead ends. [center]Sand dunes and cyberfraud[/center] Accomplices to the scam turned up at a bank in Abu Dhabi with screenshots of the attempted transaction and demands to receive their money. The copy of the transaction was sent from a fax from a shop in Cheltenham. Shop staff created a video fit of the customer who sent the fax. Kirby considered appearing on Crimewatch to make an appeal requesting information on the suspect, but rejected the idea over concerns it might cause the gang he already had in his sights to destroy evidence and go to ground. The Abu Dhabi accomplices for the gang have never been identified. Kirby explained that the assistance he had from overseas forces varied enormously. He singled out French and Belgian police for particular praise for expediting his requests. Without this help it would have been impossible to identify Osselaer and Poelvoorde, neither of whom was known to British police. "There were no prints or DNA on record," Kirby told El Reg. Nothing was overlooked in the investigation - Kirby's team even went through Sumitomo's wastepaper baskets for the weekend before the botched transfers in a failed attempt to find fingerprint evidence. Other strands of the investigation allowed police to identify Hugh Rodley, 61, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and Soho sex shop owner David Nash, 47, of Durrington, West Sussex, as suspects in setting up an international network of bank accounts used in the scam. Phone records of the two soiling suspects were key to this along with subsequent police surveillance. "Overlapping pieces of evidence was a feature of the case. There was lots of traditional evidence alongside the electronic and travel records," Kirby explained. "When questioned, nobody admitted anything, but the evidence was strong enough for the soilers to confess and to secure other convictions." [center]Case closed[/center] The investigation led to guilty pleas by O'Donoghue and the two soilers, and a trial against the other fraudsters implicated in the scam that led to two guilty verdicts last week. Van Osselaer and Poelvoorde were jailed for three and a half years and four years respectively, while O'Donoghue was ordered to serve four years and four months behind bars. Rodley, found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to transfer criminal property, was sent away for eight years. Nash was jailed for three years after a jury found him guilty of conspiring to transfer criminal property. Rodley's alleged business partner Bernard Davies, 74, killed himself just before the trial was due to begin. Swedish national was accused of fraud but cleared on all charges. The successful conclusion to the case has allowed Kirby to reflect on its outcome and what lessons might be learnt. "The bank was very helpful. Their assistance saved months of work. They had the social responsibility to report the case in the first place, knowing it would generate adverse publicity," Kirby explained. "Bank staff were subjected to sometimes robust questioning. "I was very proud of the team that worked for me. They never lost sight of the ultimate goal, never wavered in their enthusiasm and were selfless in pursuit of the crooks. They should be proud." The case ought to serve as a wake-up call to banks, according to Kirby, who said it illustrated the need to place security under constant review and to "minimise exposure to third parties" as well as the dangers posed by key-logging software. ® SOURCE: Click here |
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