Indian teen arrested in US for cyber attack choking 911 lines

November 1, 2016

San Francisco, Nov 1: An Indian-origin teenager has been arrested in the US for carrying out a cyberattack that swamped Arizona's emergency services with several bogus calls, an incident he claimed was a non-harmful joke gone wrong.meetkumar

Meetkumar Hiteshbhai Desai was taken into custody after the Surprise Police Department, Arizona, notified the Sheriff's Office of more than 100 hang-up 911 calls.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arrested the 18-year-old, accusing him of carrying out a cyberattack on the 911 system, according to a Sheriff's Office statement.

Desai was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of three counts of computer tampering.

Interference with critical infrastructure could have disrupted the 911 system in the Phoenix area and potentially other states, The Arizona Republic reported.

Investigators traced the calls and discovered they originated from a link posted to Twitter, according to the statement.

The link was to a site named "Meet Desai" and its domain was hosted out of San Francisco. When the link was clicked, it continually called 911 and would not let the caller hang up.

Peoria police and the MCSO also received a large number of calls, and the volume had the potential to shut down 911 service across Maricopa County, the Sheriff's Office said.

MCSO detectives identified 'Meet' and took him in for questioning last Wednesday.

"Meet claims that his intention was to make a non-harmful, but annoying bug that he believed was 'funny'," the Sheriff's Office statement said.

Desai told investigators that he was approached by an online friend with a bug. Desai then tweaked the bug so it would add pop-ups, prompts to open e-mail applications and activation of automatic telephone dialing on iOS devices, all via coding that Desai wrote himself.

Desai told sheriff's detectives that he was interested in programmes, bugs and viruses that he could manipulate and change. Desai said Apple Inc., the hardware and software company, would pay and credit him for discovering such bugs and viruses.

The MCSO cybercrimes unit executed a search warrant and seized multiple items at Desai's residence that will be forensically examined, the Sheriff's Office said.

Comments

naren kotian
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Nov 2016

hahaha madrasa products galige idakku death sentence kodbekanthe ...as per sharia bere anthe ... yaan panpe avu sari ath hahaha ... shariat panda sari ath ... hahaha... pudaar de unduge ,...

first of all he is a computer freek and geek , it is quiet common and he has served apple inc before ... 100% he is brainy ... it is not a terrorist act and more over he doesnot belong to blood thirsty jihadist community ... only immatured madrasa products can demand life long imprisonment ... Inshallah he will be released soon .

Satyameva jayate
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Nov 2016

Why not call him Hidutvas terrorist

hANNI
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Nov 2016

REALY RSS IS TERORIST,IF BJP IS NOT POWER RSS WILL BAN,F THE NOT KILL HEMANTH RSS WILL NOW ALL READY BANED,

suresh
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Nov 2016

If the person from minority communivty then the headline will be cyber attack by terrorists. Now they will give statement as he is psyco patient. This is the double standard.

Mohammed SS
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Nov 2016

well done USA cops these culprits should be behind bars throughout their life

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News Network
May 31,2020

Mangaluru, May 31: Eminent social worker, former Principal of School of Social Work Dr Olinda Pereira, passed away on Sunday.

She was 95.

Mahatma Gandhi Peace awardee Pereira promoted Women’s Education and Development in several States. She has left an indelible mark in the state of Karnataka, India and overseas.

Dr Olinda Pereira publications include: Understanding Children – 1,2,3, Sallak Publications – 1974; Adjustment and its Correlates among Pre-adolescents – Preeti Publications – 1977; Domestic Workers Struggle For Life-A.T.C Publications – 1985.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
May 19,2020

Mangaluru, May 19: Officials at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) said that Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada along with Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru have been alerted about possible heavy rains.

Dr GS Srinivasa Reddy, Director, KSNDMC, said, “Coastal districts have already been witnessing heavy downpour since Monday morning. This will continue for another two days depending on the cyclonic movement along the east coast.”

Until last evening, Haleyangadi and Surathkal in Dakshina Kannada district had received 83 mm and 82.5 mm of rainfall, respectively. Several other areas in Udupi also witnessed heavy rainfall of about 60 to 70 mm rainfall.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the rain, which intensified on Monday, to a cyclonic circulation over parts of the Arabian Sea (Comorin area) off the coast of Kerala.

The weather department said the sudden convergence of wind over the peninsular region was due to Super Cyclone Amphan, which is set to barrel into the east coast. The IMD issued an Yellow Alert for coastal Karnataka and Malnad, warning of moderate to heavy rainfall in the next few days.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 27,2020

Mangaluru, May 27: Mangaluru MLA U T Khader today urged Dakshina Kannada MP and Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel to pave the way for immediate repatriation of Mangalureans stranded across Gulf countries.

The development comes amidst reports that lack of preparedness on part of the authorities concerned in Dakshina Kannada compelled the Centre to delay the operation of repatriation flights from various Gulf to Mangaluru International Airport under Vande Bharat Mission.

Lakhs of people from Mangaluru region (coastal Karnataka) alone are working in middle eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Thousands of them are currently stranded thanks to covid-19 lockdown and are helplessly waiting for repatriation.

Speaking to coastaldigest.com, Mr Khader said he already spoke to Mr Kateel and brought to his notice the plight of Mangalureans in Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries. "There are a large number of pregnant women, senior citizens and patients who need immediate repatriation. It is the responsibility of the elected representatives and district administration to pave the way for the repatriation of our people and arrange quarantine facilities for them," he said. 

"Mr Kaeel is not only MP of Dakshina Kannada. He is also the chief of Karnataka's ruling party. Hence, he must play a crucial role in facilitating the return of Kannadigas in general and Mangalureans in particular," Mr Khader said. 

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