City Library's public computers used for bomb threats, defamation, fraud and vandalism

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      Helsinki City Library's free access computer terminals are used to send bomb threats and for defamation, fraud, and vandalism. The Central Public Library detects between 10 and 20 cases of serious misconduct every year and just under half of them result in a police investigation, the computer magazine Tietokone reported on Tuesday.
      "Bank fraud is the worst case that has come to my knowledge", says IT manager Olli Savonen from the Helsinki City Library.
     
Helsinki libraries were the first in the world to introduce free access PC terminals for the public, back in 1994. Thousands of people use the 350 public computers in the city libraries daily.
      Misconduct with computers has emerged regularly over the last 11 years, and the troublemakers have mainly used the library facilities in the centre, rather than in the suburbs.
      The libraries usually become aware of vandalism when they are contacted by the injured parties. The Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa Police Departments and the Frontier Guard have all investigated the abuse cases committed from Helsinki City library's public computers.
      "Sometimes the authorities march in and carry out one of our servers", reports Savonen.
     
Much of the misbehaviour is from minors.
      "Every now and then bomb threats directed at public buildings, such as the Finnish Parliament, are made from these terminals", says Det. Sgt. Pertti Koivisto from the Helsinki Police IT crime unit.
      However, the more popular form of misconduct is defamation against sports coaches or teachers by sending libellous emails or by "Photoshopped" pictures published on the Internet.
      "These cases are easy to solve, because children do not know how to cover their tracks, and the identity of computer users can be determined quickly. Adults who specialise in fraud and defamation, on the other hand, have the smarts to be able to conceal their identity by using foreign servers or hijacked computers in wireless networks, which makes it more difficult for the police to trace the perpetrators", notes Koivisto.
      Even the actions of minors are not always quite so harmless. The police are currently investigating a case in which pupils stole a PIN number from their teacher's bag and used the credit card to shop on the Internet.
     
Helsinki City Library is currently updating the security measures of its public terminals. In the future, computer usage will require a password instead of the former library card bar-code. Sessions will also be timed more precisely. Some libraries have been beset by groups of boys who take over the public terminals and are hard to budge, even when staff ask them to leave.
      Data security for users themselves will also require some upgrading. In certain Espoo libraries, for instance, the details of a previous user's surfing are left in the browser history when the next user logs on.
      "We have to be prepared for everything. After all, Al-Qaeda used the public computer terminals in the United States", Savonen warns.


Links:
  Helsinki City Library website

Helsingin Sanomat