Cybercriminals steal Interpol Chief’s identity to access info on fugitives

Ronald Noble, Interpol’s Secretary General, has revealed that cybercriminals have opened two fake Facebook accounts using his name and used them to gather sensitive information.

“One of the impersonators was using this profile to obtain information on fugitives targeted during our recent Operation Infra Red,” Noble said. “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 revealed this information when addressing the attendees at the first Interpol Information Security Conference in Hong Kong, and pointed out that this is why experience and information sharing between INTERPOL and the various law enforcement agencies around the world is a must.

“Our world is increasingly connected and networked and therefore also increasingly vulnerable to disruptions caused by intrusions and cyber attacks,” he said. “Cybercrime is emerging as a very concrete threat. Considering the anonymity of cyberspace, it may in fact be one of the most dangerous criminal threats ever.”

Interpol benefits from the information gathered and shared by 188 member countries, and they are responsible of keeping it safe and of organizing a secure communication network. Among the problems that they are facing is the one concerning identity verification, so they are currently working on an e-Identification Card – a tool that will be used by staff and law enforcement officials worldwide to prove their identity when accessing Interpol’s facilities and its networks and when crossing international borders.