Interpol chief's identity stolen on Facebook

Interpol secretary-general Ronald K. Noble recently disclosed that criminals had impersonated him twice on Facebook in attempts to access information on the anti-crime organization's secret operations. At the opening of the First Interpol Information Security Conference held last September 15 to 17 in Hong Kong, Noble said that the two fake profiles were intercepted by Interpol's Information Security Incident Response Team. "One of the impersonators was using this profile to obtain information on fugitives targeted during our recent Operation Infra Red. This Operation was bringing investigators from 29 member countries at the INTERPOL General Secretariat to exchange information on international fugitives and lead to more than 130 arrests in 32 countries," he explained. Successful cyberattacks: only a matter of time In his speech, Noble underscored the need to step up international anti-cybercrime efforts. He pointed out that, unlike traditional warfare, cyber warfare depends more on expert knowledge than on technology. "Cyber weapons are virtually costless and can therefore be developed by any country, criminal group or terrorist organization," he said. Noble also warned that it may be just a matter of time before terrorists launch successful cyber attacks with far-reaching consequences in the real world. 'We have been lucky so far' "We have been lucky so far that terrorists did not –at least successfully!– launch cyber attacks. One may wonder whether this is a matter of “style" –terrorists may prefer the mass media coverage of destroyed commuter trains to the anonymous collapse of a banking system. But until when?," he cautioned. Noble did not elaborate on what specific actions were taken against the criminals who stole his identity, nor did he reveal what damage, if any, the thieves might have caused. -GMANews.TV