Credit Card Theft Underground - Awareness Article

Credit Card Theft Underground - Awareness Article

This is a fascinating article in the recently-released January issue of Wired magazine about the credit card theft and fraud underground. It's the story of the rise and fall of a completely criminal -- and quite technically sophisticated -- business enterprise.

Unlike the print version, which I just picked up, the online article has a video with Detective Bob Watts of the Newport Beach PD, telling how some of it was done, complete with card pressing and embossing equipment. The machines were used to press real cards from the stolen data.

The article also has a link to another video on the Identity Theft Secrets web site about CardersMarket.com, one of the web sites used in the criminal venture.

And while we're on the subject of credit card security, here's five tips from SC Magazine for successfully complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Besides being required for any business involved with credit cards, PCI compliance is one big step in protecting against credit card crime.

Vulnerabilities in Apple's iCal application

According to Researchers at Core Security Technologies, they have uncovered three vulnerabilities in Apple's iCal application that hackers can exploit to take over vulnerable machines or launch denial-of-service attacks. iCal is a personal calendar application provided by Apple on Mac OS X and serves as a client-side component to a calendar server, allowing users to create and share multiple calendars. It can also be used as a stand-alone application.
The most serious of the bugs is the result of a memory corruption vulnerability that can be triggered if a user runs a malicious .ics (iCal calendar file). The other two are null-pointer errors caused when parsing malformed .ics files, Core researchers wrote in the advisory. Version 3.0.1 of iCal, running on the Mac OS X 10.5.1 platform, is vulnerable, Core researchers wrote.

US Military Botnet - Weapons of Mass Denial

U.S. military is planning to botnet attacks to its enemies computer network. US botnet is a disturbing concept, but next to cluster bombs and cruise missiles it's War Lite. According to Col. Charles W. Williamson III proposes that "...America needs a network that can project power by building an af.mil robot network [botnet] that can direct such massive amounts of traffic to target computers that they can no longer communicate and become no more useful to our adversaries than hunks of metal and plastic. America needs the ability to carpet bomb in cyberspace to create the deterrent we lack." Wow, them's fighting words.
In a real war this would all be devastating for the civilian infrastructure, but I doubt it would stop troops from moving or planes from flying or submarines from diving. Perhaps that's the best reason to follow Williamson's advice: Once deterrents are in place, launching an attack only ends up shooting you in the foot.

Source: eweek

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition - Powerful FREE protection against malicious virus infections

Going online without protection against the latest fast-spreading virus and worms, such as Netsky, Mytob and MyDoom, can result in infections within minutes. Once infected, the virus will usually attempt to spread itself to your friends, family and associates by accessing your email contacts and networked PCs. The infection may also allow hackers to access files on your PC, use it to launch attacks against other computers and websites or to send mass SPAM email.

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition will thoroughly scan and protect your PC from virus attacks. With PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition you may be protected against the most nefarious cyber threats attempting to gain access to your PC and personal information. PC Tools products are trusted and used by millions of people everyday to protect their home and business computers against online threats.


PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition feature highlights

* Protects your PC as you are working, surfing and playing
* Detects, quarantines, disinfects and destroys Viruses, Trojans and Worms
* IntelliGuard™ protects your computer against threats in real-time
* Automatically checks for frequent updates against the latest threats
* Best of all it's FREE. No catches, limitations or time-limits.

To download PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition click here.

Why you probably aren’t practicing good password security

Most of the online users are not practicing good security practices in respect of password policies and other security habits. It’s common sense for most people on the hacking side of computer security as we know how easy it is to break a password when it’s only a few characters long or it uses a dictionary word. I think, the following are the reasons why most of us are not practicing good password security.

Strong passwords are difficult to remember.
Juggling a multitude of passwords is a pain.
Updating passwords compounds the memorization problem.

Due to vulnerabilities in Operating System and other application software users' online accounts can become compromised through phishing schemes, viruses, and spyware.

I suggest the following good security practice for you:

Strong passwords that are hard to guess.
Different passwords at each site.
Periodically changing existing passwords.

How to Protect your online accounts

Due to vulnerabilities in Operating System and other application software users' online accounts can become compromised through phishing schemes, viruses, and spyware. Users can secure their own account and their online identity quickly and easily by following the online safe practices. Some of the safe practice I regularly follows are listed below. You may look into these steps and take a decision today itself to safe guard from Online frauds.

1. Don't share: Keep your username, password and personal information secret. You are requested to change your password regularly. Password must be alphanumeric with special character and greater than 8 character in length.

2. Don't click: Never click on any link you suspect to be malicious, even if sent by someone you trust. Scan your computer regularly for viruses, spyware and adware. Updates your Operating System and other application software regularly.

3. Don't click: Never click on links in emails that claim to be from mail provider (gmail.com, yahoo.com), bank authorities (hdfcbank.com, icicibank.com), auction sites (ebay.com, amzone.com) or social networking sites (orkut.com, myspace.com). Scan your computer regularly for viruses, spyware, and adware.

4. Don't spread: Never enter your account login and password on sites other than the original site. Never check remember me when you're using a shared computer.

5. Don't Share Personal Data: Avoid posting sensitive personal data, such as email addresses, phone number or pictures, in public places.

6. Don't forget to click the Logout link of the page when you're done using an online account.

7. Don't script: Never paste a URL or script into your browser while logged into a account especially social networking site viz. orkut.com, mysapce.com no matter what it claims to do.

Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime - FBI News

The FBI announced the results of an ongoing cyber crime initiative to disrupt and dismantle “botherders” and elevate the public’s cyber security awareness of botnets. OPERATION BOT ROAST is a national initiative and ongoing investigations have identified over 1 million victim computer IP addresses. The FBI is working with their industry partners, viz. Microsoft Corporation, the Botnet Task Force and the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, to notify the victim owners of the computers and referring criminal botnet activity to law enforcement. Through this process the FBI may uncover additional incidents in which botnets have been used to facilitate other criminal activity.

A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a criminal “botherder.” Most owners of the compromised computers are unknowing and unwitting victims. They have unintentionally allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers as a vehicle to facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy.

Protect your PC from being hijacked - Norton AntiBot

“The majority of victims are not even aware that their computer has been compromised or their personal information exploited,” said FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber Division James Finch. “An attacker gains control by infecting the computer with a virus or other malicious code and the computer continues to operate normally. Citizens can protect themselves from botnets and the associated schemes by practicing strong computer security habits to reduce the risk that your computer will be compromised.”

Cyber security tips include updating anti‑virus software, installing a firewall, using strong passwords, practicing good email and web security practices. Although this will not necessarily identify or remove a botnet currently on the system, this can help to prevent future botnet attacks.

The following subjects have been charged or arrested in this operation with computer fraud and abuse in violation of Title 18 USC 1030, including:

* James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is alleged to have operated a botnet that infected Chicago area hospitals. This botnet infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide. (FBI Chicago);

* Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with an Information with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to intended recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of such systems. (FBI Detroit); and

* Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used a large botnet network and spammed tens of millions of unsolicited email messages to advertise his website from which he offered services and products. (FBI Seattle)

Protect your PC from being hijacked - Norton AntiBot

More information on botnets and tips for cyber crime prevention can be found online at www.fbi.gov. To report fraudulent activity or financial scams, contact the nearest FBI office or police department, and file a complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.

Protect your PC from being hijacked - Norton AntiBot

Identity Theft one of the increasing security risk of 2008

Identity Theft continuous to become an increase threat to security. Identity theft is a catch-all term for crimes involving illegal usage of another individual's identity. The most common form of identity theft is credit card fraud. While the term is relatively new, the practice of stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be a different person is thousands of years old.

The major type of identity thefts are Financial Identity Theft (using another's identity to obtain goods and services), Criminal Identity Theft (posing as another when apprehended for a crime), Identity Cloning (using another's information to assume his or her identity in daily life) and Business/Commercial Identity Theft (using another's business name to obtain credit).

We must be address by using regular awareness sessions with end-users to secure about their identity from fraudsters. Here is an Identity theft security awareness training session by Mr. Jorge, Founder and CEO www.esgulf.com, Limassol, Cyprus. Jorge helps organizations and individuals understand and get the best out out of latest in Information and Communication Technology.

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You can also download the audio of this Identity theft security awareness training session by clicking here.Download this episode (21 min)  

Orkut Trends - Indian women are among the world’s heaviest receivers of ‘scraps’

According to a new report from Orkut, Indian users are among the top five countries to get the maximum number of scraps posted on their Web pages. While globally, women receive just under half (48 per cent) of all scraps, Indian women score a higher percentage than men. Women from the Cayman Islands receive the most and Albanian women had the fewest scraps.


Another interesting fact is that the scraps are usually very brief. According to Orkut’s research the most popular scrap is ‘Hi’, which occurred 1,131 times out of a sample of 1 lakh short scraps. Short words such as ‘Ok’, ‘hello’, and ‘congratulations’ are the other most commonly used scraps.


Indian users on Orkut receive as many as 345 scraps on an average, which is quite impressive when compared to 423 scraps per user in the US. More than 16 per cent of members on Orkut are from India, which is the second largest community from a single country after Brazil.

Source: Orkut Blog, TheHinduBusinessLine

New Year 2008 Greetings

Wishing you all the very best for 2008! See you all next year lol!










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A happy new year 2008!

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JMBell Auld Lang Syne For 2008 - Happy New Year