cybercrime - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Report warns of cyber war risks

  A think tank of 40 experts headed by Richard Clarke, former national security adviser to the US president, has warned that international protocols that distinguish between electronic spying and attacks on computing infrastructure are so blurred they now risk setting off unintentional cyber conflicts.
  In a scathing appraisal of military and political secrecy surrounding the use of the internet as a weapon, the paper, titled "Virtually here, the age of cyber warfare", claims that commercial organisations have in effect become cannon fodder in the equivalent of a cold war in cyberspace.

• Rogue security software is big business for crooks

  The bogus ads are everywhere. A pop-up tells you: "Your computer may be infected" and urges you to download security software that will scan your computer for viruses, protect it from future infection or both. The problem is most of these products are scams that give you software which is useless. In some cases, the software is even dangerous because it downloads malicious code onto your computer.
  The threat from these "scareware" tactics is growing, according to the results of a report released this week by Symantec. The Report on Rogue Security Software reveals that cybercriminals are profiting from a highly organized affiliate-based business model that rewards scammers for selling bogus security programs to users caught off-guard by persuasive online scare tactics.

• Security versus the mob

  As if CSOs don't have enough on their plates, they now need to beat back made men, capos and the other elements of the Mafia. Yes, the Mafia is formally involved in cybercrime, or so alleges the US attorney for Florida, who filed charges against associates of the Bonanno crime family that included pilfering data from Lexis-Nexis.
  The Mafia engaging in cybercrime might sound like your grandmother joining Facebook. In fact, "the majority of data breaches are the result of organised crime," says Nick Holland, an analyst at Aite Group in Boston. That doesn't mean it's the conventional Mafia pulling the strings--though it can be. In fact, it's hard to tell just who is in control sometimes. For the most part, cybergroups that become notorious, like the Rockfish or the old Russian Business Network, do so because very few cybercrime groups publicize themselves, says Steve Santorelli of Team Cymru. (Cymru, pronounced cumri, is the Welsh word for Wales.)

• Online and financial security concerns soar

  New Zealand has recorded its highest Unisys Security Index since December 2007 with a 15 point increase.
  The index now stands at 124 out of 300. The study measures consumer perceptions on a scale of zero to 300, with 300 representing the highest level of concern.

• Online criminals seize the day during economic slowdown

  Software security providers carried a common theme on their latest warnings on cybercrime: Watch out for online fraudulent activity using the global economic slowdown as bait.
  McAfee’s annual cyber security report highlights what it calls “the cyber credit crunch”.

• Is it too late to save Facebook?

  A warning to those who love such social media sites as Facebook: The bad guys are coming for you.

• Report unveils a thriving underground economy

  Security company Symantec is warning enterprises and consumers to be cautious when sending information online.
  A new report by the company details how cyber criminals are selling personal information such as credit card and financial account details to others via underground servers, adding up to US$276 million in stolen goods.

• Cyber crooks target your medical data

  Cyber crooks are shifting their sights from stealing credit card data to the theft of personal medical information as they battle commoditisation and pursue more profitable criminal enterprises.
  Cyber crime organisations are also developing complex networks of hackers to shield crime bosses and employ sophisticated pricing models for personal data.

• Invasion of the botnets a real and urgent threat

  In contrast to the spectacular computer virus outbreaks four years ago, today's attacks are subtle, discreet, carefully targeted and designed to stay below the radar of official security agencies.
  One form of these silent yet all-pervasive attacks involves marshalling unprotected home computers into unwitting electronic slave networks called botnets.

• The insider’s guide to information security

  The 2007 Global State Of Information Security Survey conducted by CIO, CSO and PricewaterhouseCoopers is the largest security survey to include New Zealand companies. The survey reached out to nearly 10,000 organisations from 119 different countries.
  As such, it represents a comprehensive view of security issues, practices, budgets and concerns around the globe and gives us an in-depth context in which to view our domestic results.