Cyber Crime

    According to the computer security company, Symantec, the number of malicious software or malware, tripled in the first half of this year, compared to the previous six months. Also, the number of phishing websites spotted in the first three months of 2007 by security software maker MacAfee, skyrocketed by 784% compared to the previous year. These attacks cost people a lot of money – at least $200 million was lost by 200,000 people last year in online frauds. That makes it $724 per person. Businesses are hit even harder; average annual losses from security incidents doubled to $345,000 per company in 2007. In 2006 the total cost to American businesses from cyber crimes was $67 billion.

     The internet has handed post modern swindlers an endless supply of marks and cheap tools to attack millions with a single click. In phishing, the most common and successful scam to make people reveal their passwords and account information are false emails that purport to come from the bank which the criminals use to pilfer money from bank accounts. Among the many cyber criminals out there, Rock phish is the most successful, well organized, and largest group. It makes its emails look professional by putting up fancy logos and fonts that mimic the legitimate messages sent by targeted companies, it fools anti span programs by hiding the phish inside an image instead of typing it as a text; it even wrote soft wares that created series of websites with slightly altered names, avoiding detection by spam-blockers on the lookout for one single link showing up repeatedly in emails. Moreover, it conducts campaigns in English, French, German and even Dutch to expand its frame of targeted audience.

Recommendation: criminals are increasingly hiding their malware within apparently safe sites and to prevent yourself from being a cyber crime victim there are a number of precautions to be followed: make sure your operating system’s automatic updates and firewalls are turned on. Use anti virus and anti spy ware software. Run a full system scan at least once a month. Do not open attachments or click on link emails from people you don’t know. Use passwords with at least eight characters, including numbers and symbols; remember to change passwords regularly. Access the internet through a router because it creates an implicit firewall for you, preventing bots from accessing your machine directly. Do not use the same password for every account. Never connect to the internet using a wireless connection without a password. Also, never send sensitive information to websites that do not begin with “https”, because this indicates that they aren’t secured. And last but not the least, when you receive an email, think about whether it’s really from the purported sender rather than an imposter before taking any action because we cannot be 100% secure and safe, but precautions lower the effects!