By Prior Beharry
THE server used to send the bomb threat email to more than 50 schools last Friday was from Germany.
This was the finding of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) in a release on Thursday.
It stated that the threat could be classified as a “cyber hoax.”
The release stated, officers from all ten police divisions, along with teams from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the Cyber Crime Unit and the Explosive Devices Unit responded to several calls from various schools.
The TTPS noted that bomb technicians found no explosive devices.
It stated, “The TTPS under the supervision of DCP Intelligence and Investigation Curt Simon, the Cyber Unit as well as the RAU made an assessment of the situation, and concluded that the threats could be classified as a cyber hoax.”
The TTPS stated, “Further investigations were conducted which necessitated communication with our international partners. The TTPS was able to identify that the server used is based in Germany and the ‘resolve host’ of the email is situated in Cyprus. Additionally, two Virtual Private Networks (VPN), located in Switzerland and Panama were used to further mask the identity of the origin of the email.”
It stated that investigations indicated that the email came from an anonymous mail service provider. It stated that locating the anonymous email service provider was key to the investigation.
The TTPS stated, “However, this is a complex process and the anonymous email and anonymous email server can remain hidden by utilizing a number of Dark web tools.
“The TTPS remains resolute in its efforts to identify the source of the email threats. We will continue to partner with international/cross border cyber experts who will work alongside our local experts and telecom providers.”
