internet fraud

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

] 
 
   
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/reuters/brand/SIG=pd7i95/*http:/www.reuter
s.com>  
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/reuters/brand/SIG=pd7i95/*http:/www.reuter
s.com>  
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/reuters/brand/SIG=pd7i95/*http:/www.reuter
s.com>  
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/reuters/brand/SIG=pd7i95/*http:/www.reuter
s.com>  Internet Fraud Threatens Economy -Secret Service
   
  Thu Feb 17, 7:59 PM ET
By Spencer Swartz 
 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Internet fraudsters, motivated by money and armed
with sophisticated technology, pose an increased economic threat as they
steal private data from companies and individuals, the director of the U.S.
Secret Service said on Thursday.
       
    
"There is no longer any doubt about that threat ... With just a few key
strokes, (online fraudsters) can disrupt our nation's economy," said Ralph
Basham at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco.
 
In addition to protecting the U.S. president, the Secret Service also helps
to protect U.S. financial institutions.
 
Security analysts have warned that Internet hackers, once motivated by the
thrill of shutting down computer systems, are joining forces with organized
crime groups as they seek to profit from hacking into databases and stealing
personal data through a variety of tactics, like phishing.
 
Phishing scams fool users into entering sensitive information on Web pages
that look legitimate.
 
Basham said several law enforcement agencies in the United States and
overseas recently disrupted an online organized crime ring that spanned
eight U.S. states and six countries. Thirty people have been arrested so far
in that case. 
 
Basham said 7 million credit card numbers had been stolen by the crime ring,
costing consumers and credit card companies around $4.3 million, though the
loses could have been up to $1 billion, he added.
 
INCREASED COOPERATION, CHOICEPOINT
 
Analysts have warned that the scale and speed of online threats has
increased and quickened as hackers exploit technologies like spyware.
 
Spyware has been one of the fastest-growing of the so-called malicious code
threats. It gathers private data by recording keystrokes and monitoring
e-mail without a person's knowledge.
 
But increased cooperation and information sharing between U.S. agencies,
foreign governments, technology companies and the financial community has
helped mitigate online fraud, Basham said.
 
Howard Schmidt, a special advisor for cyberspace security during the first
term of President Bush (news
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/wr_nm/tech_security_dc/14334467/
*http:/news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Preside
nt%20Bush%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw>  - web sites
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/wr_nm/tech_security_dc/14334467/
*http:/search.yahoo.com/search?fr=web-storylinks&amp;p=President%20Bush> ),
said companies and individuals are better protected now than ever before and
are also more aware of online fraud risks.
 
But he cautioned that Internet fraudsters were increasingly targeting
less-protected small businesses rather than large companies that can spend
millions of dollars on security software to protect their computer systems.
 
"We're seeing the bad guys moving down the food-chain," hitting small
businesses and credit unions, said Schmidt, whose other posts have included
security chief at Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/finance/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_d
c/14334467/*http:/finance.yahoo.com/q?s=msft&amp;d=t>  - news
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/biz/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_dc/14
334467/*http:/biz.yahoo.com/n/m/msft.html> ) and eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/finance/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_d
c/14334467/*http:/finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ebay&amp;d=t>  - news
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/biz/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_dc/14
334467/*http:/biz.yahoo.com/n/e/ebay.html> ).
 
Security analysts and technology executives said in panel discussions and
interviews at the conference this week that Internet crime will continue,
despite efforts by companies and individuals to protect themselves.
 
As evidence, they pointed to news this week that personal data of thousands
of U.S. consumers was stolen from a U.S.-based company.
 
ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE:CPS
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/finance/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_d
c/14334467/*http:/finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cps&amp;d=t>  - news
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/biz/nm/wr_nm/storytext/tech_security_dc/14
334467/*http:/biz.yahoo.com/n/c/cps.html> ) said on Tuesday that tens of
thousands of U.S. consumers faced a greater risk of identity theft after
thieves posing as legitimate businesses got access to a database of Social
Security (news 
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/wr_nm/tech_security_dc/14334467/
*http:/news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Social%
20Security%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw>  - web sites
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/wr_nm/tech_security_dc/14334467/
*http:/search.yahoo.com/search?fr=web-storylinks&amp;p=Social%20Security> )
numbers and credit histories.
 
ChoicePoint, based in Georgia, gathers and sells information on millions of
U.S. consumers to employers, landlords, marketing companies and several 35
U.S. government agencies.
 

 
  
 
 
debbie rudolph
 


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