The figures released by specialists in the fourth Jurisis Victimology Impunómetro report are alarming, showing that in 2009 95% of complaints filed had no sentence. This means that the total of 231,178 people who were victims of crime, only 4.9% saw their attackers receive some punishment.

Juan Diego Castro, director of Jurisis Victimology, said: “The statistical analysis of the judiciary reflects how in recent years the number of complaints coming into the judicial system has increased, but not the conviction rate, or alternative solutions.”

In conducting this study demonstrated that in 1998 had 246 complaints a day and 663 reported in 2009, which means that this year has the highest rate in the country’s judicial history.

The article also says that, due to many crimes going unreported, we can assume that the actual problem is even greater than the study indicates. You can read the article in English, or the original article in Spanish.

If you have not already done so, please consider signing the CAP Petition online. While most online petitions are scams this one is not, and is definitely worth signing.

We’re getting into the rainy season. Nice partially sunny days with billowing clouds overhead changing into dark clouds and rain in the late afternoons or early evenings.

As usual, local news first followed by any national news that would have an impact on all of us.

Matapalo – Crime at the beach is up. The night time security patrol which was funded by those who live at the beach ceased to exist a couple of months ago because of lack of funds and participation by those who live there. Consequently, break-ins, burglaries, etc. have increased. Now, there are break-ins and people being robbed on the street during the day. Bobby Workman, who lives on the beach, indicates that meetings are being held concerning this.

Costanera Sur – WOW!!!!! Paving is completed all the way to Dominical. That little Cheech & Chong surfing village is now only a 10 minute drive from Mataplo or about a 30-35 minute drive from Quepos. The only thing left to be completed other than striping and signage is the new bridge at Hatillo that is replacing the last remaining Bailey Bridge.

From Quepos to the Savegre signs are sprouting up all over the place. Each little pueblo has its own name sign. Each little quebrada (creek/stream) has a sign naming it. There are distance signs and guess what?? They are accurate!!! If they say 15 kilometers to such and such or three kilometers to such and such it is that distance. AMAZING!!!!!. These are not locally erected signs. They are the highly reflective signage you see stateside. This signage is to continue all the way to Dominical.

Now, on to the national level

Immigration and Traffic Laws – You might want to first go back and re-read last month’s newsletter. Action on these laws have been delayed for the next legislature to handle. Since that legislature will not be installed until after Dona Laura’s coronation as president on 6 May you can figure nothing is going to happen until sometime in June or July or later. “Coronation” is not my word. It is the word used in an article in today’s insidecostarica.

Zamora, who is currently the head of the immigration department, is being promoted to the head of the agency that supervises the immigration department. His parting gift is that the US$100.00 per month fine for each month people are in the country illegally will be stayed for six months so those who are here illegally can take action to become legal. I’m sure the criminals are jumping at the chance to become legal.

Talking about the immigration law… This was reported in the 16 April edition of amcostarica. A Swiss national prior to coming to Costa Rica for an extended stay asked the Consulate there what he needed to do renew his visa. They gave him a list of required documents which he proceeded to acquire. Once he got to Costa Rica and it was time to renew his visa he found out what he was told would be needed were the documents required to apply for residency.

Money and time out the window. He tried to renew his visa by simply going to an immigration office, in this case the main office in La Uruca in San Jose, and paying the advertised US$100.00 to renew it. He had a newswoman from amcostarica with him. He was told more than once it was impossible to renew his visa simply by paying the $100.00, he had to leave the country for 72 hours. Now get this.

One employee, a supervisor, told him the simplest way would be to marry a Tica and suggested he marry the newswoman with him. That way he wouldn’t have to leave the country. THIS coming from a supervisory level employee of the department charged with preventing these marriages of convenience.

The same holds true pretty much for the new transit law. Because of further challenges to the revisions to the revisions of the law which went into effect on 1 March the current sitting legislature, like Zamora, has washed its hands of the issue leaving everything to the new legislature to shift through.

Panama – Panama has done it again. Last year they instituted procedures to make high speed wi-fi available to every citizen by the end of 2010. They started out by activating towers which provided this service to the 20 most populated areas of the country.

Now, they are giving every tourist that flies into Panama free 30 days of insurance for theft, robbery, personal injury and medical up to US$1,000.00 per day.

National Crime – I’ve already mentioned the local crime. The 20 April edition of insidecostarica indicated the Australian government had issued a travel advisory for its citizens traveling to Costa Rica “…to exercise a high degree of caution in Costa Rica because of high risk of serious crime,” and to be “constantly aware and cautious.” It cited bus robberies, home invasions, hotel room invasions, car high jackings, tire slashing, stolen luggage, drugs and other crimes. It also specifically mentioned about eight areas. ONE of those areas was the Quepos/Manual Antonio area.

The head of the government’s tourist bureau took the head in the sand approach by stating crime rates are higher in other countries. I doubt if this attitude is going to make the ever increasing crime rate go away.

Rain – March was a wet month but April is proving even wetter. So far this month at our house we’ve recorded 24.6 inches for a total for the year of 33.5 inches. Compare this to last year when we recorded 2.7 inches for the month of April for a total of 8.9 inches for the year.

Cost of Living

Exchange Rate – The exchange rate reported by Banco de Costa Rica today stands at 505 Colones to the dollar. That is the lowest the exchange rate has been since February 2006. Fortunately, Banco Central (Central Bank) has set a floor of 500 Colones to the dollar and a ceiling of 600 Colones to the dollar.

Speaking of money, in May or June the 20,000 Colone bill is coming out followed by the 50,000 bill a couple of months later. These bills are necessary because of the ever increasing cost of living. The 10,000 Colone bill is simply no longer sufficient. All the other denomination bills are being redesigned and like many other countries each bill will be of a different size. The larger the denomination the larger the bill.

Fuel – Fuel went up this month. Super is 628 Colones a liter (US$4.72 a gallon). Regular is 597 ($4.49). Diesel is 514 ($3.86). Prices are based on today’s exchange rate: 505 to the dollar.

Last month I gave some cost comparisons from when the exchange rate was 581 back in December to what it is now. Here’s a couple more:

                         Dec09      Today  

 One dozen Eggs          $2.83      $3.26
 8 oz. Cheddar Cheese    $4.95      $5.70
 

That’s it for now folks. Everyone stay healthy and happy and keep your beer cold.

Frank and Karen Walker
Lot 12, Finca Zacatona
011-506-8887-1933

Bridge over the Rio Blanco near the proposed dam site

Yesterday afternoon I received a surprise visit from Miguel Viquez, an Environmental Planner for the new hydroelectric dam proposed for the Rio Savegre named Proyecto Hidroeléctrico Savegre, or PH Savegre.

Part of this project includes a tunnel that will likely run beneath Hills of Portalon, and directly under my lot. The current phase of the planning includes taking core samples at various sites along two possible tunnel routes, and last year ICE indicated they wanted to drill a core on my property but, at that time, were not exactly sure where the drilling rig would be located.

Yesterday, Sr. Viquez arrived with a map showing planned locations of the core drilling sites. Since taking a core sample to a depth of 300 meters takes around three months, I had some questions — one of which was about the noise created by a diesel drilling rig near my house — and Sr. Viquez invited me on a tour to visit an operating drill site.

What started as an unplanned afternoon turned into a pleasant drive up the Rio Savegre, an interesting conversation with Sr. Viquez, and a visit to the dam site. While there I met with Nancy Ramírez Castro, a Geological Engineer who works for ICE on the PH Savegre project, along with other engineers and a drilling rig crew.

Miguel Viguez (center) and Nancy Ramírez (right)
discuss plans to drill a core sample in my yard.

This was not the first time that I had met Sr. Viquez and Sra. Ramírez. Both had attended an ICE community meeting held in Rana Roja last year, where a through overview of the project was presented to those who were interested. It was good to meet with them again in a field setting, and get to know them and their ideas a little better. Both of these people have a lot of enthusiasm for the project, and see it benefiting the local area and Costa Rica in many ways.

After that meeting in July of 2009, as I wrote in some earlier notes before I started this blog: The current investigation phase is due to be completed in 2011 and, if things proceed as planned, funding will be needed from the legislature by 2014. Once funded, machinery and other equipment will be purchased by 2020. After that, construction of the dam, the hydro tunnel, and the electrical generating plant in Pasito will begin.

Stacks and stacks of flat core sample boxes
await transportation to San Jose.

I was impressed by the amount of road, electrical, Internet, and other community development that ICE has undertaken along the route next to the Savegre river, including a large futbol plaza in Silencio and several new bridges along the way.

When I asked about the impact of diverting a six-meter tube of water away from the Savegre river, I was told that during the rainy season the impact would be negligible but that during the dry season there would be a noticeable difference which would probably affect river rafting tours.

I was also reminded that there are a lot of quebradas and other tributaries into the Rio Blanco and Savegre rivers below the dam site, and these will continue to feed the river as they currently do. I guess this will mitigate the impact some, but there will obviously be changes to the ecosystems both above and below the dam.

A box containing various sections of a core sample.

While looking at some of the core samples taken, Sra. Ramírez mentioned that after the samples have been examined, most of them will be disposed of. However, some of them will be retained indefinitely in a warehouse in San Jose.

Next we crossed the Rio Blanco and drove a short way to a core drilling site, which was about half way between the bridge and where the dam will be located.

If anyone has taken a rafting trip down the Savegre River, you likely entered the water at an old bridge on Rio Blanco, about eight kilometers beyond Rifiki Lodge. The old cement and steel bridge is quite distinctive, and if you’ve seen it you will recognize it, but maybe not in the small photo at the top of this article (that photo was taken last summer when I went rafting with some clients).

An ICE drilling rig site overlooking the Rio Blanco (look closely and
you can see the old bridge over the river in the background)

Each drilling site needs around 150 square meters for the rig, a small shelter for the crew, and a separate shelter to protect the emerging core sections from rain and sun.

In addition to the core, other sampling is done at each site. A seismic survey is done using small explosive charges. Just enough explosive is used to obtain a “map” down to the drilling depth, and is similar to geological imaging done at other types of exploration sites such as gas, oil, and paleontological digs.

This drilling rig has caterpillar tracks, while others have an
augur propulsion and some have normal wheels

I was told that they currently have four drilling rigs that will be used. Each rig will spend from one to around three months at each site, and will then be move to the next site. To remain on schedule, all core drilling must be complete by the end of next year.

For very remote or difficult sites, where it is not feasible to construct or improve an access road, a helicopter can be used to transport the rig to a site. One thing that the project engineers wanted me to understand was the emphasis on low environmental impact from the drilling operations.

They pointed out an area where drilling had been done earlier, and emphasized that there were no remaining remnants, other than a small cement cap above the core hole, and the jungle had already grown back over the sites. I did notice a small diesel oil slick near the caterpillar tracks of the drilling machine but, other than this one oversight, the area was obviously well maintained.

The diameter of the core hole is only 7 cm,
but the depth can reach 300 meters

Another thing that is emphasized is safety, both of the ICE employees, and the project. In the shelter I saw an emergency “back board” used for immobilizing and transporting an injured person. Also, Sra. Ramírez mentioned the necessity of access to the drilling sites by emergency vehicles, whether by auto or by air.

The drilling crew works from 6am to 6pm and, at night time, there is a security guard at each site to ensure that nothing is mis-handled or removed. This includes the valuable core samples and other materials used at the site such as the explosive charges I mentioned earlier.

After the site tour, we had lunch at a local ranch house where ICE has contracted with the owner to provide meals for the construction and drilling crews. In talking with the rancher, he indicated that the project is a good one, and he has no objection.

From what I understand, this attitude is not shared by all neighbors in the vicinity of the dam, including the family who runs Rafiki Lodge. Perhaps I will make a trip to visit them and then write about their viewpoint.

References

• Maps of PH Savegre — in three resolutions
• ICE Community Meeting — notes from 23-July-2009
• Hydroelectricity — information from Wikipedia

Read the article at this page and then leave any comments below. Thanks.

A lot of news as usual. On the local level Matapalo has two new businesses both of which are heartily welcome plus another established business reinvented itself. On the national level the Keystone Cop comedies of the new traffic law and immigration law continues plus it looks like the snake head of the luxury home tax is raising its head.

Matapalo New Businesses

Ferreteria Ventanas de Osa – Located at the site of the old ferreteria it is certainly nice to have another in town. It’s small but very well stocked plus they are more than happy to special order something for you. Their main store is located at Ojochal de Osa.

Matapalo Internet, Copia & Heladeria – Located in the spot where the carneceria use to be they offer high speed internet along with high speed color copying and fax service plus a variety of ice creams, soft drinks, snacks, office supplies and various nick-knacks. With the elementary school and the high school being right there they do a land slide business in ice cream, sodas and snacks.

Iguana Verde – La Chasa Restaurant is no more. It is now the Iguana Verde internet café.

Other Local News

Matapalo’s Major Drug Bust – The first part of last week early in the morning a major drug bust took place. Around 60 law enforcement officers from various agencies raided a drug boat refueling and drug transfer site. Several individuals were arrested as they were unloading approximately 2,000 lbs. of cocaine from a boat to be transported somewhere to be stored for eventual onward shipment to Mexico .

ATM – It looks like Banco National has closed their ATM in Matapalo. The machine was constantly down for repairs. When going in to use the machine I frequently encounterd kids from the school pounding on the keys to see what would happen plus trying to put different objects in the card slot. I’m sure the local ladrons were also doing things to try and get money out of it to support their drug habits. The walls in the room were also becoming covered with gang graffiti. It was certainly a convenience while it was operational.

Costanera Sur – Haven’t been down south for a couple of weeks but when I was paving had been completed from Hatillo all the way down to the gasolinera with work continuing on the road bed on down to Dominical. Work was also well underway replacing the last remaining one lane Bailey bridge.

Where’s the Beef??? The beef is in SuperMas in Quepos in Freddy’s meat counter. Several months ago in San Isidro Karen and I saw some pre-cut steaks at the Agricoop from a producer named Tres Jotas. Freddy at SuperMas now carries that brand of beef – it IS from San Isidro – but cuts it himself. I would rate it equal to if not a little better than USDA Select. Freddy cuts U.S. style. The T-Bones, Rib Eyes and New York Strips we’ve bought from him have all been well marbled and very flavorful plus pretty tender. For St. Patrick’s Day I had him order me a brisket so I could corn it. When I went to pick it up I thought I’d died and gone to Texas heaven. This was an actual brisket – a good 10-12 lbs. and well fatted. I didn’t need that much so only took the upper half which is the prime portion of a brisket.

National News

New Preseident – Laura Chinchilla won the presidency as she was expected to. She will take office in May. She is a close protégée of Oscar Arias so no one really expects things to change much along government lines. This is basically being born out by her appointment of cabinet ministers and other high level positions. Pretty much all she has done is shuffle present office holders from one post to another or reappoint someone to a position they previously held.

New Ley de Transito and Immigration Laws – These would make a good Keystone Cop comedy with Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello playing the lead roles. After the rest of the new transit law went into affect on 1 March the legislature the very next day rescinded the point system. Since then they have passed various other modifications to lesson the severity of the drunken driving portion of the law which took immediate affect back in 2008 when the law was first passed and to drastically reduce a lot of the fines.

One fine they didn’t touch though was the slightly over US$400.00 fine for talking on a cell phone or watching TV when driving. Here is where the comedy starts. All these modifications have to be read and passed for a second time by the legislature before being signed into law. This isn’t going to happen anytime soon as another department of the government has found many of the modifications to be unconstitutional or are misleading in the rewording.

The legislature is now arguing over modifications to the modifications with it appearing everything is going to be left up in the air until after Chinchilla’s inauguration so her administration can handle it. Also delaying things is this week is Semana Santa (Holy Week). The entire government is closed for the entire week. No one really knows what the traffic laws are now. The Transitos are pretty much ignoring anything other than drunk driving, reckless driving and excessive speeding.

For those all ready ticketed they ain’t paying and those that have are primed to file action with the Sala IV, the constitutional court, should the high fines they have already paid be eventually reduced. Many are saying the new law as it pertains to all the safety equipment (first aid kit, jumper cables, tool kit, etc.) is actually a stimulus package for China because everything that is required and which is on the market is made in China .

The new immigration law is pretty much the same. The Tico Times interviewed Mario Zamora, the Director General of the immigration department, for their 5 March edition. Zamora staunchly maintained that a gringo could stay in the country for up to a year by simply going to any immigration office and paying US$100.00 every 90 days.

For that same article the immigration department’s long time spokeswomen, Heidy Bonilla, was also interviewed. She knew nothing of this stating that everyone had to leave the country every 90 days for at least 72 hours. She went on to say she supposed someone could file application to do pay the $100.00 but a review of the application would involve their staying beyond the 90 day limit which would subject them to fines for each month they were beyond that limit, then the application would be denied because they had exceed the limit for a legal stay and were in the country illegally.

For the same article The Tico Times sent two individuals to the main immigration offices in San Jose to pay their US$100.00 to extend their visas. Each talked to different clerks. Each immigration department employee they talked to had never heard of this and told the two individuals they had to leave the country for a least 72 hours every 90 days.

Something to think about!!!!! which RETIVE, that’s the government department that issues driver licenses, is also thinking about. A gringo can legally drive on that person’s foreign license for a period of 90 days after which they must obtain a Costa Rican driver’s license. If in fact someone will eventually be able to extend their 90 day visa by simply paying US$100..00 and not having to leave the country are they then going to be required to obtain a Costa Rican license in order to drive legally? Dum-de-dum-dum. Dum-de-dum-dum-DUMMMMMM!!!! (If anyone can identify what that is a theme song to they will be exempt from having to obtain a Costa Rican driver’s license as long as they do not exceed the statutory 90 day limit.)

Alcohol Sales (wine, beer, liquor, etc.) – Just a reminder that it is Semana Santa (Holy Week). Starting at midnight Wednesday through midnight Saturday liquor sales are forbidden. Bars and liquor stores will be barred and officially sealed, restaurants and other stores selling liquor or having liquor on display will have everything roped off and officially sealed. Also, most banks will be on limited hours and from experience many ATMs will run out of money.

Luxury Home Tax – About three weeks ago an article in insidecostarica indicated that the Hacienda is dismayed that so few people have paid this tax and will institute additional steps to get people to pay it. The first step is to have the municipalities send them information. What this information is was not identified. The next step after they review the information is have the municipalities take action. What this action will be was not specified. In this weeks The Tico Times an article said that out of the estimated 10,000 homes that would fall under this tax only an estimated 3,100 have paid it. No mention about any additional action by the Hacienda.

Cost of Living

Exchange Rate. The exchange rate was down to 520 Colones to the dollar. Two days ago it was at 518 to the dollar. It just keeps dropping and dropping. It’s affecting all of us but especially those who are on a limited, fixed income, such as only having social security. Here’s a couple of examples based on the 581 exchange rate back in December and what it is now.

                       581 - Dec        520 - Present
 Gal. of regular       US$3.70          US$4.13
 10 oz Cottage Cheese  US$3.95          US$4.41
 

When you apply differences like those to everything you buy you are spending one hell of a lot more to live.

Gas – Gas dropped this month but an increase has already been approved for April. Super is 593 per liter (US$4.33 per gallon), Regular is 566 (US$4.13) and Diesel is 393 (US$2.87). Propane gas for cooking when up 25.17%.

Electricity – ICE has just been granted authority to increase their fees anywhere from 11-14% depending on usage.

That’s it for this edition. At the El Castillo gathering a request was made to every now then add a recipe. I was going to do that but this newsletter is rather long so will hold off until next month. In next month’s look for Karen’s Bar-b-Que Sauce recipe.

Everyone stay well, stay happy and keep your beer cold.

Frank and Karen Walker
Lot 12, Finca Zacatona
011-506-8887-1933

What started out to be a little experiment in using a small and simple version of the Linux operating system called Puppy turned out to be a long ordeal, learning more about USB memory sticks than I ever wanted to know.

Anyway, I finally have several changes working that I hope will make this a safe and easy way to bank online. I have created a page with details on getting started using this (see the link just below). One issue for folks here in Matapalo is that the Puppy Linux download is 162 Megabytes. While this is small in operating system terms, it is still a lot to download over a dial-up connection.

This version of Puppy Linux, available right here, has been customized. I’ve made a few changes that I hope will make this safer and simpler to use from a “LiveUSB” memory stick. Visit the link above for more details.

If you are in the area and want to drop off a USB stick I can install it for you. If you don’t have an extra USB memory stick, you can find a 2GB stick (good quality, made by Kingston) in Quepos for 6,700 colones at Importadora Monge, right across the street from Banco Costa Rica.

For others here in Costa Rica with slow networks, you’ll just have to find an Internet café that has a high-speed ‘net. While you’re there, ask the owner if s/he would let you reboot one of their computers using your own operating system on USB. I would be quite interested to hear what they have to say. If you do this, post a comment to let me know.

If you decide to give this a try, I would appreciate hearing about your experiences with this. Please post your comments below. Thanks!

While this process works great for PC users, I am hoping that this will also work on a Mac. I was able to create a single USB stick that would boot the “Ubuntu” version of Linux on both a PC and a Mac, so the concept is possible. Stay tuned for more.

Immigration (residency & 90 days visas included). This just goes to show that no one including the head of the immigration department, Mario Zamora, knows what is going on. This law was passed over a year ago but only went into effect yesterday. In Costa Rica there is a six month lapse from the time a law is enacted and when it goes into effect. This one was held up past the six month period because of some inconsistences in it.

For those of you who are in the perpetual tourist category and for those of you who stay here prolonged periods of time this is where you are really affected if you can find out exactly how. On 19 February Zamora, the head of the immigration department, publically announced that any one wishing to renew their 90 days viza WILL NOT be able to go to the same country twice for the required 72 hour period and that after the second renewal a person must leave the country for a minimum of 15 days before being able to obtain a renewal, that this can be avoided by paying US$100.00 every 90 days to any immigration office or station. This came out of the clear blue as no mention had been made previously. Today in amcostarica Zamora retracted that saying he had no idea how he got that idea, that he guesses he is just not that familiar with the new law. (Guess it is to much to ask that the head of the immigration department to be up to snuf on laws affecting his department.) He went on to say that people can stay here for one year and pay US$100.00 every 90 days to renew their visa vise having to leave the country. Nothing said about what happens after one year.

What affects those of us with residency is that we must now join the Caja. The Caja is the government’s socialized medical program. For Karen and I that will cost us around US$65-70.00 per month whether we use it or not. In Karen’s case it will do no good as the Caja doesn’t have the specialist Karen requires not does it have the medications she requires to stay alive. All residents will also be required to pay US$25.00 annually to maintain their residency status. Who this is to be paid to and how the payment is to be made or when it is to be made is unknown.

There are a lot of other changes, particularly the parts pertaining to gringos working in Costa Rica. There is a fairly extensive summary in the 19 February edition of amcostarica.

New Traffic Laws. This is about as bad as the immigration law. This law was also delayed going into effect for several months past the six month period because of debate over the amount of the fines. Traffic fines increased approximately 10 times over what they were plus a point system went into effect. In most cases the fine for most infractions exceed the average Tico’s monthly wage. The legislature was unable – no surprise here – to resolve anything so yesterday the law went into affect as written. Yesterdays edition of insidecostarica list offenses and the resultant fine along with the points assessed. It will also be easy amass the 50 points to loose your license as the points assigned to violations are proportionally as high as the new fines.

There was also a surprise requirement that came out. Now, you also have to have a psychological evaluation in order renew a driver’s license or to initially obtain one. At each renewal you will also have to have another blood test. Guess the legislature is afraid that between the date of renewal or initial issue a person’s blood type can change. All told the cost of a license is now arount US$65.00 – issuance fee, physical exam, psych eval and blood test.

Each vehicle – rental vehicles also for those who rent – have to have the following safety equipment: fire extenguisher, jumper cables, first aid kit, two reflective triangles or internation orange cones, tool kit, reflective vest and flash light. AND, guess what, motor cycles have to have to carry the same as well as any other vehcile that is driven on the roads…

The head of the Transitos (traffic police – they are the only police force in Costa Rica that can issue tickets) said he has encouraged his officers to only issue warnings or to talk to drivers for the first 60 days. The Transitos, through their union, stated that they will not enforce the new laws, rather they will concentrate on reckless drivers and hazards; however, yesterday the Transitos had a ball writting tickets and confiscating vehicles in the central valley area.

All I can say is that the Transitos who were bad in the past in soliciting bribes not to issue a ticket are licking their lips and probably have visions of a beach front retirement home in Miami with what they can extort from motorists now that fines will be in the 100s of dollars. I’d think that those at the two speed traps between Heredura and the Caldera Highway probably have already contacted realtors.

I’ll have the regular newsletter out next week. Just wanted to get everyone informed of the above so they can prepare accordingly. I’m sending this without close proof reading as we’re back to internet access problems.

Frank and Karen
Lot 12, Finca Zacatona
011-506-8887-1933

As you may remember, the ICE/SIEPAC consortium has been sued by two persons from Matapalo to prevent them from bringing the lines through the village. The two persons, José (Chepe) Briseño and Ronald ?, are acting as representatives of the entire village, and the suit is supported financially by donations from local citizens. To date, most of the financial support is coming from the Chamoro family and several Belgians who own property in the San Andres hills. The attorney for the two men is a young firebrand from Perez Zeledon who argued very persuasively in the hearing.

On Wednesday, the day of the hearing, around 35 people from Matapalo and the surrounding area, myself included, met at 4:00 a.m. at the football field to load into two buses and 3 private cars to make the trip to San Jose. All were dressed simply, in blue jeans and clean white shirts, with some students wearing their school uniforms. When the hearing before the 3 judges began at 9:00 a.m. every available seat in the courtroom was filled with the earnest folks from Matapalo, Portalón and San Andres. An overflow group waited patiently outside for news as the day progressed. The spectators represented a wonderful cross-section of the area; young and old, mostly Tico with a few estranjeros scattered among them.

The 2 representatives from ICE/SIEPAC and their two attorneys sat at a table on one side of the room, while Chepe, Ronald, their attorney and an attorney from the Municipalidad de Quepos sat across the room. The ICE/SIEPAC people, one woman and three men, were all dressed in suits and ties and appeared very corporate and professional. The Matapalo side all sported short-sleeved open-neck shirts and blue jeans.

The discussions in the hearing basically settled down to four points:

o ICE/SIEPAC failed to hold a public hearing, as required by law, after they changed the route from the original mountain route to the beach

o The amended route fails to bypass a population center by the required 500 meters

o The Municipalidad de Quepos was never consulted about the change even though the amended route runs through the seat of the Canton of Savegre

o The environmental impact analysis failed to sufficiently consider the fact that the amended route passes extremely close (40-50 meters by ICE’s own estimate) to the protected wetlands of the Portalón River watershed and in addition passes directly overhead of the springs providing Matapalo’s water supply.

The judges’ decision, issued the following afternoon, supported the original court decision barring ICE from using the beach route. Apparently the ICE attorneys even had the cajones to ask the judges if ICE could begin work on the beach route anyway, while awaiting the result of an appeal. The judges’ response apparently went along the lines of “are you out of your @#$% minds?” ICE can appeal the decision one more time, but in order to do so they would need to convince the courts that they have new evidence to present, something that would probably be very difficult at this point.

So while the final outcome of our struggle is yet to be determined, things are looking very good now.

Stay tuned.

As with many of today’s issues, it will require a dramatic event to raise awareness of the seriousness of this problem, and that will just be a matter of time. But this means that, once again, many consumers will be blithely unaware of the issues until it is too late for them.

Fortunately there are journalists and security experts who are working to alert the public to both the problems and some interim solutions that are fairly simple to implement. First I will outline the problem and solutions that have not worked, then I will describe a reasonably simple solution that does work, and finally I will provide references that give many more details.

Microsoft Windows

Ever since the concept of a computer virus was first discovered, computer crackers have been attempting to subvert the Windows operating system. At first it was just socially inept kids who were responsible for the majority of the problems, but those days are long since past. Today, well organized gangs of sophisticated criminals, mostly in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China, are focused on vulnerabilities in Web Browser applications and current banking systems.

While most efforts are directed towards Internet Explorer, today no browser is safe including Firefox, Safari, Opera, and the rest. In addition, while Apple Macintosh and Linux users have smugly claimed that their systems were safe and secure, this is no longer true. Any person who uses a computer with a Web Browser to access a financial Web site is vulnerable to attack.

Over one million unique computer viruses are detected each and every month, and others remain unseen even when using the best anti-virus software. The vast majority of these attacks are designed for Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, but every computer, operating system, and Web Browsers is at risk.

Let’s look at some specifics reported by Brian Krebs of the Washington Post: In July, 2009, cyber criminals based in Ukraine stole $415,000 from the coffers of Bullitt County, Kentucky. David Johnston, owner of Modesto, Calif. based Sign Designs, lost nearly $100,000 on July 23, 2009, due to Windows-based malware. Thieves used the same approach to steal $447,000 from Ferma Corp., a demolition firm in Santa Maria, Calif. In each of these cases, the criminals were able to bypass both password security and a second-level of security employing the popular “security tokens” which generate one-time passwords and were designed to prevent these types of attacks.

How is this possible? Talented hackers have developed sophisticated “trojan development kits” that allow other, less sophisticated criminals the ability to mount large-scale attacks and control tens of thousands of infected PCs from one location. These kits, with names such as Clampi, Mebroot, URLzone, Silentbanker, and Zeus, have been around for years, but are only now becoming widely known.

Innocuous sites are being targeted to spread infections including Facebook and other social gathering places. As many as 1 out of every 15 people who frequent these sites may become infected. Once infected, the thieves watch and wait, sometimes for up to 18 months, timing their attacks to steal larger amounts of cash.

The key thing to remember is that, once you’re infected, the criminals are inside your browser and and can control your PC. Once this happens, nothing can stop them from making or altering transactions while you are logged into a secure Web site.

Attempts are being made to create so-called “hardened” browsers that take control of a PC before any criminal software can take control. However, given the fundamentally insecure nature of the Windows operating system, products such as Authentium’s SafeCentral can be defeated as demonstrated by a person at digit-labs who’s motivation appeared to be a dislike of the company’s claims of invulnerability.

The only safe computer is one that is unplugged, disassembled, and not usable. Any usable computer has at least some level of risk when being used. This has always been true, but never more so then today and especially when banking online.

Some experts are saying that one way to avoid these risks is to purchase a second PC that is used only to access financial Web sites and no others. Other than the cost of this approach it should become immediately obvious that, at some point, the temptation to “just browse a bit” after banking will defeat this strategy especially if for some reason the primary PC is not available.

While the problems are indeed serious, there are some ways to minimize the risks without having to stop using all Web browsers, and only bank face-to-face with a teller that you know better than a family member.

A Reasonably Simple Solution

It is possible, without giving up Windows or Web Browsers, to use a version of the Linux operating system in such a way that the chances of being attacked online are reduced to almost nothing. Without going into a lot of technical detail, I will briefly describe the solution. For those who are interested in pursuing this, I will write a follow up article giving specific details of how this is done.

If you have ever installed a program or application onto a computer, you will remember that this is a process of copying software—from either a CD-ROM or from a Web site on the Internet—to the hard disk inside your computer. After this you can access the new software whenever you start your PC.

What you may not know is that it’s also possible to install a program into your computer’s memory without it ever being copied to the internal hard disk. This way, it is only possible to access the new software while the PC continues to run. As soon as the machine is turned off, the software disappears and is no longer accessible the next time you turn on your computer.

It is also possible to install a complete working copy of the Linux operating system directly into memory in this same way, bypassing the hard disk completely. Why would anyone ever do this? It was originally found to be a great way to quickly demonstrate how Linux worked to people with Windows-based computers who would otherwise not want to spend the time and trouble installing a second operating system onto their computer.

Another reason to do this today is that, as was mentioned above, one good way to ensure banking safely online is to use a dedicated computer that is used for nothing else. However, in this case, you are actually re-installing the operating system each-and-every time that you use it, and installing it from a known source that you control. If for some strange reason the browser is compromised, simply turning off the computer will guarantee that any problem is deleted along with everything else that was in memory.

If that sounds like a lot of trouble and complexity just to do online banking, it is not. It actually takes less time to install and configure Linux than it takes just to start up your Windows PC. In addition Linux is free, and you can carry around your “new Linux PC” on a tiny USB Stick attached to your car keys, and use it at any Internet café free from fear of attack.

This way you have the best of both worlds. Installing Linux into memory will not harm or alter your Windows-based PC and, once you become familiar with the speed and elegance of Linux, you may find that you don’t use Windows as much any more.

Stay tuned for specific details about obtaining “Puppy Linux” on a “Live CD” or a “Live USB,” and how you can start using this for self protection online.

[Update 05-Mar-2010: Here's a quick Getting Started guide.]

References

These particular problems with online banking have existed for years, but only in the last year or two have they started to become widely known and understood.

• Avoid Windows Malware: Bank on a Live CD, Brian Krebs, The Washington Post, October, 2009
• Concepts against Man-in-the-Browser Attacks, Philipp Gühring, June, 2006 (PDF Document)
• Consider Linux for Secure Online Banking, Michael Horowitz, August, 2009
• E-Banking on a Locked Down (Non-Microsoft) PC, Brian Krebs, The Washington Post, October, 2009
• Major Financial Services Firms Call Online Banking Dangerous, Gartner Research, August, 2009
• New Banking Trojan Horses Gain Polish, Robert Vamosi, PC World, November, 2009
• Top 8 Security Threats of 2010, Linda McGlasson, January, 2010
• URLZone – a disaster waiting to happen, Andreas Baumhof, Trust Defender Labs, October, 2009
• URLzone Trojan rewrites bank statements, Robert McMillan, Computerworld US, October, 2009
• URLZone touted as most sophisticated banking trojan yet, Angela Moscaritolo, September, 2009
• Where Strong Authentication Fails and What You Can Do About It, Gartner Research, December, 2009
• Windows and Online Banking: A Dangerous Mix, Michael Horowitz, October, 2009