Internet Crime is BIG Business - HOW VULNERABLE ARE YOU?
I received an email last week “…a mutual friend recommended me to you. I have been looking at the ASUS laptops on your website. Very impressive. I would like three to be sent to me in Japan. I know you will be concerned about risk, so please reply with your invoice, including shipping (sic) costs and I will send my credit card number so you can take payment in advance”.
This is a variation of the many email scams - the credit card number is most likely a genuine one that has recently been stolen. The shipment is overseas, so no comeback when you discover it is a scam.
Earlier this year, a grandmother was jailed for 6 years for defrauding friends and relatives of $1 million. She was herself the gullible victim of an Internet fraud in which she believed that she was to inherit $10 millions from a “lost relative in the US”, but she needed the money to pay “fees and taxes” to obtain the inheritance. Each time she paid some money, yet another reason was found that required more money.
This is a variation on the so-called Nigerian ‘advance fee’ scam – most Internet users will have received SPAM emails from a person claiming to be the “former head of an Bank seeking help in “recovering millions of dollars in unclaimed money“ from the account of a customer who is “now deceased without any family”. It is amazing how many greedy people, have fallen for this scam, many of whom would otherwise be regarded as sensible business people.
Then there are the various attempts at identity theft, which is one of the most serious problems facing computer users. A recent phishing email claiming to be from the Commonwealth Bank audaciously warns customers about identity fraud and asks them to "confirm their account details" on a fake website that looks very much like the genuine Commonwealth Bank website, compete with logo and security warnings. Any information that is submitted goes straight to waiting criminals who will clean out your bank account in less time that it takes to type “Your bank will NEVER ask you to provide security information via the Internet”. If in doubt, phone the bank.
It is estimated that Internet crime costs consumers billions of dollars worldwide, but it often goes unreported because victims are embarrassed that they were so gullible.
The software technology originally developed to spread computer viruses is no longer confined to sad teen-age computer hackers with an imagined grudge against society – Trojan viruses are being developed by organised crime to take over control of your computer without your knowledge or consent. Some Trojan viruses are programmed to display pop-up adverts or to divert your home page to their own search engine page to generate income from clicks. Some nastier ones will divert your browser to porn sites or even steal information about your identity.
The most sinister will take over control of your computer as a relay station for spam or viruses. It is estimated that millions of computers have had their security compromised in this way, forming ‘botnets’ (robotic networks) of ‘zombie’ computers. These are usually used send out SPAM, but they can also be used to launch malevolent ‘denial of service’ attacks against a website belonging to a business or organisation. Millions of zombie computers simultaneously launch requests for web pages until they have completely overwhelmed the target website and rendered it inoperative. Blackmail is often a motive, but the tool is now being used by terrorists to launch denial of service attacks against governments and theoretically could even be used bring the entire Internet to a grinding halt.
Online identity theft and fraud cost the world economy many billions of dollars every year, but the threat to national security posed by modern computer virus technology is also on the increase. The fact that millions of computers worldwide have had their security compromised by Trojan viruses indicates that people are still not getting the message (see BBC online report).
Cyber-criminals are even selling easy to use tools that automate attacks. You don't even need to know anything about computer programming to launch a criminal cyber attack.
10 tips to help keep you safe:
1) Buy an Internet Security product and keep it up to date. There are many good ones on the market, but I have found the new Microsoft OneCare and Trend Micro PC-cillin to be excellent.
2) Avoid free Internet Security products for three reasons: a) there is no accountability – if it is free, the provider has no legal obligation to you, b) there is no technical support if you have a problem, and c) keeping on top of the latest threats to Internet security requires substantial research and development – how can that be done for free? If you can afford a computer, you can afford a decent Internet Security product.
3) Avoid downloading free software; do not use music file swapping software that connects to other computers (owning such software is not necessarily illegal, but using it to download copyrighted music most certainly is a criminal offence, even if you paid for the software); be systematically suspicious when using social networking sites and never, never post any identifying information on such sites; and don’t visit dodgy websites such as porn sites.
4) Do not keep confidential information on your computer, especially not bank passwords or other financial information.
5) Use only passwords that are a combination of letters and numbers.
6) Ensure you download the latest security updates from Microsoft or the supplier of whatever operating system you are using (yes, Macs can get attacked by computer viruses).
7) Download and install Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 as it has a filter that will provide a warning if you visit a known phishing website.
8) Apply SYSTEMATIC SUSPICION. Keep your wits about you at all times – if in doubt, don’t do it. IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT MOST CERTAINLY IS.
9) Do not give out your credit card number unless to a reputable business that is known to you.
10) Apply the principles of safe sex – do not consort with multiple unknown partners and ensure that you have adequate protection.
IF YOU OWN A COMPUTER, YOU HAVE A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT IT IS SECURE.
I am very happy to offer free advice about any Internet Security related problem – please feel welcome to call me on 5427 0132.
Paul Heymans
Copyright 2007
