Posts Tagged ‘cybercrime’
by FireHost Evangelist on October 30th, 2009
McAfee’s study, “The Security Paradox” examines how small and medium organizations that employ between 51-1,000 workers address IT security and growing cyber threats.
An overarching theme of the report reveals that SMBs around the world (and particularly in North America) believe they are too small and pose too little value to hackers to be worth their time, but recent trends in hacker and cybercrime activity reveal that’s just not the case.
In reality, SMBs’ limited resources, inadequate security, and lack of technical expertise make them more vulnerable to cyber attack, and hackers are taking notice.
Jeff Green, Senior VP of McAfee Avert Labs confirmed, “High profile attacks [on larger enterprises] are becoming less frequent because they are often detected quickly. Attackers are favoring stealth attacks that quietly infiltrate systems [of small and medium businesses].”
To change this trend, small and medium-sized organizations will need to make significant shifts in their fundamental values and budgetary allocations.
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Tags: cybercrime, Hackers, Secure Web Hosting, SMB security
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by FireHost Evangelist on October 16th, 2009
Between TJ Max and Heartland Payment Systems, cyber thieves compromised a quarter of a million credit card numbers. Court records from the trial of Albert Gonzalez, a hacker that plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in both cases, reveal just how easily the thieves behind these breaches were able to obtain the information.
Cyber Criminal Technique #1: War Driving
War driving means “cruising” for WiFi signals. Once detected, cybercriminals use FREE password-breaking software to intercept the signal broadcasting from any home or business.
Monitoring WiFi networks over time, cyberthieves can establish a virtual private network and connect directly to a server or database.
Cyber Criminal Technique #2: SQL Injection
SQL injections are a popular way for cybercriminals to get inside “protected networks”. In a SQL injection attack, the hacker types random characters into a web form, such as a log in page. The attack may be carried out manually or using a robot to penetrate the form. Once inside, hackers can gain access to databases containing sensitive, personal information.
War driving and SQL injection attacks are the means to a cyber criminal’s end. Once the target server is breached, he or she implants a “sniffer” program. (Sniffers are widely available for free, and they are capable of logging all traffic moving across a network). Savvy hackers have devised and sell sniffers designed specifically to detect and record credit and debit card information.
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Tags: cybercrime, data theft, SQL Injections, war driving
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by FireHost Evangelist on August 7th, 2009
Panda Security‘s most recent report indicates that thirty percent of small and medium size businesses worldwide have been infected with malware, and businesses based in the US are even more susceptible. Close to half (44%) of US based SMBs have lost time and productivity due to some form of cybercrime.
A lack of threat awareness is not the problem. The study shows that almost all businesses in this category have installed anti-virus programs and kept security systems up to date, but a large number of SMBs still become victims of cyber crimes. When disaster strikes, viruses (41%) followed by spyware (26%) are most often the cause.
In a conversation with SC Magazine, Luis Corrons, PandaLabs technical director suggested, “these companies often lack the in-house staff and resources to fight off increasingly sophisticated and exponentially more targeted Internet attacks.” (more…)
Tags: cyber security, cybercrime, Hackers, Vulnerabilities, Website Security
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by FireHost Evangelist on August 4th, 2009
Raytheon, a National Defense Contractor is actively hiring hundreds of “Cyber Warriors” in response to President Obama’s announcement that cybersecurity is one of our country’s most urgent priorities.
Steve Hawkins, Raytheon’s VP of Information Security Solutions, told FoxNews.com that there are more than 30 different job descriptions available, and applicants must pass the most stringent security clearances. Qualified individuals must understand computer systems and have a handle on the interaction between hardware and software down to the nitty-gritty. Additionally, applicants should know how the adversary [ cybercriminals ] thinks and adopt their perspective, but in an ethical way.
Raytheon isn’t alone in the movement to beef up the US cyber army. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently kicked off a nationwide talent search for high school and college students to encourage cybersecurity as a career path. (more…)
Tags: cyber security, cybercrime, Secure Web Hosting
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by FireHost Evangelist on July 21st, 2009
There are four million British identities for sale according to a weekend story from the UK’s Times Online. The compromised data contains highly sensitive, personal financial information like credit card details, bank account numbers, and PIN’s, and it’s all available to the highest bidder.
You may be wondering how such a large bounty of confidential information was collected, and what organization is responsible for the massive data breach. The startling answer is that no one is directly responsible for the leak; it appears everyday email users like you divulged their digits to these hackers.
“Most of the personal data has been gathered as a result of phishing. Unsuspecting victims hand over the information by e-mail to people posing as reputable sources such as banks or online stores. Other data has been stolen after criminals infect a person’s personal computer with viruses and then raid it for information,” the story states.
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Tags: cybercrime, Hosted Exchange, Identity Theft, Phishing, Spam Protection
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by FireHost Evangelist on July 17th, 2009
In an interview with SC Magazine, Symantec’s CEO and President Enrique Salem discussed the new security threats facing companies doing business on the internet. When asked about the top security threats, he responded with three.
“In 2009, we see three key trends that could impact IT security – a continued explosion of new malware variants, advanced web threats, and an uptick in threats related to social networking sites.” Mr. Salem reinforced that “cybercriminals are more sophisticated and driven than ever, and they operate in an increasingly profitable underground economy that makes it easy for them to not only buy and sell stolen information such as credit card data or even identities.”
Data from Symantec’s Global Intelligence Network indicates we have reached the point where there are more malicious programs created than legitimate programs every day, and that cyber attackers leverage vulnerabilities fueled by application code. Hackers compromise specific (often open source) websites, and then use them as a means for launching other attacks across the internet. (more…)
Tags: cybercrime, Hackers, protect open source applications, Secure Web Hosting, Security Threats, Website Vulnerabilities
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by FireHost Evangelist on July 14th, 2009
The US Department of Homeland Security is turning to hackers to help the 16-person advisory council (HSAC) obtain alternative viewpoints on cybercrime.
An article on FoxNews.com revealed the most recent committee member to be Jeff Moss, aka Dark Tangent. Mr. Moss is widely recognized as founder of the DefCon and Black Hat hackers’ conferences. He has worked in information security for accounting giant Ernst & Young and presently works as an independent cybersecurity consultant for a variety of corporations.
Mr. Moss looks forward to bringing “a skeptical outsider’s view” to the HSAC, but admits he was surprised by President Obama’s invitation to join the council stating, “I always figured that because of my associations in the past that I would be kind of out of the running for anything like this.”
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Tags: cybercrime, Prevent Hackers, Secure Web Hosting
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by FireHost Evangelist on July 10th, 2009
A recent article in BusinessWeek.com exposed the top 20 countries from which cybercrime originates. The United States topped the list with 23% share of malicious computer activity while China and Germany sit in second and third rank respectively.
Each of the twenty hacker activity hubs named in the report was evaluated based on the following criteria:
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Tags: cybercrime, Secure Web Hosting, Website Protection
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by FireHost Evangelist on June 23rd, 2009
Websense security labs have been tracking the Nine-Ball mass compromise attack since early June. They report to date, that over 40,000 legitimate Web sites have been compromised and are actively infected with an information-stealing trojan.
The Nine-Ball attack is deployed when a user visits a legitimate website that has been infected with the malicious code. From the legitimate website, unsuspecting users are redirected behind the scenes through a series of different sites owned by the Nine-Ball’s hackers.
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Tags: cyber security, cybercrime, Nine-Ball, Secure Web Hosting
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