The article Analysis of 32 million breached passwords serves as a good reminder to use strong passwords for your accounts as it summarizes similarities in common passwords. Malicious brute force attacks would likely utilize similar characteristics in password cracking attempts, so this information is a nice reference in what to avoid.
A new article at krebsonsecurity.com has some photos of a type of hardware phishing device called an ATM Skimmer that is growing more prevalent. The devices are designed to fit onto a legitimate ATM in such a way that they look like they are meant to be there. Then when an unsuspecting user inserts their card their information and pin number are discreetly recorded. This is a good reminder to never let your guard down when your financial information is at risk. Could you identify one of these ATM Skimmer devices? Read the article to see the photos.
Understanding Encryption: Encrypting data is a good way to protect sensitive information. It ensures that the data can only be read by the person who is authorized to have access to it.
Recent surveys reveal that Americans consider financial literacy as important as any subjects traditionally taught in schools. Why then is it that most consumers graduate without basic money management knowledge and are left to learn financial skills through trial and error? To help students of all ages learn the essentials of personal finance, Visa has partnered with leading consumer advocates, educators, and financial institutions to create the Practical Money Skills program.
At www.practicalmoneyskills.com and www.whatsmyscore.org, educators, parents, and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans, and more
Note: Practical Money Skills is sponsored by VISA.
The headline caught our eye, but the article should grab your attention too. This MSN Money Central article talks about a new scam where victims receive calls from individuals pretending to be grandkids and ask for emergency cash to be wired to their account.
MSN Money Central also provides some tips for watching out for this scam.
Read the article at MSN Money Central.
MSN Money Central has an interesting article about the current spate of check fraud scams. A Consumer Federation study found that 1.3 million Americans have fallen for fake-check scams, losing an average of $3,000 to $4,000 per victim. Fake-check scams are the No. 1 fraud reported to the National Consumers League.
Make sure you read the whole article, especially the last section on page 2 which identifies some ways to spot these types of scams.
Read the article at MSN Money Central.
This article from the Credit Union Times gives us the following statistics about phishing sites. A good reminder that phishing is a real threat, be aware, and don’t become a part of the statistics.
About half of those online bankers who do visit fraudulent phishing sites pretending to be from their financial institution serve up their log-in credentials, according to Trusteer, an international anti-phishing specialist.
Fortunately, that’s a very small number, but the financial losses could still mount up, the company said.
The company said an analysis of phishing attacks against 10 large U.S. and European banks over a three-month period found that about 1% of phishing e-mail recipients visit the fraudulent sites and that half of those then entered their credentials, presumably into the hands of waiting cyber-criminals.
The potential financial loss for that relatively small number of affected accounts would range between $2.4 million and $9.4 million a year per one million online banking clients, Trusteer said.
Lifehacker.com posted an article with some good tips for improving your online security habits, or err, helping your loved ones who aren’t as tech savvy as you. From the article…
When training your loved ones how to keep themselves safe online, you should remind them of the rule your parents probably taught you: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Using a little common sense goes a long way to realizing that you aren’t going to suddenly win the Spanish National Lottery when you didn’t even know you had a ticket. That said, here’s a few tips that you should share with your less-than-savvy friends and family to help them avoid falling victim to an online scam.
Websense Security Labs™ ThreatSeeker™ Network has discovered that the Koobface malware campaign is now using a Christmas theme. Recent developments by Koobface have included use of Google Reader.
The Koobface Web site offers a video posted by ‘SantA’. The usual ruse of requiring a codec to watch the video is used, to encourage the user to install and run a file called setup.exe (SHA1:a2046fc88ab82abec89e150b915ab4b332af924a). This file is currently detected by 16 out of 41 antivirus products according to VirusTotal. Read more
“Most of today’s cyber-crime is all about one thing—money.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of online banking Trojans. Malware targeting banking information is not new, but as recent research into the URLZone Trojan has shown, attackers are not slowing down when it comes to innovation. Security pros at Finjan tied URLZone to the theft of 300,000 euros—about $439,000 at the time—from German bank accounts during a 22-day period.
Other Trojans have been equally damaging. SecureWorks uncovered Clampi earlier this year and found that it had been swiping log-in credentials from Windows users who are customers of 4,600 banking and other sites. More well-known Trojans include Zeus (Zbot) and Prg.
With the help of security researchers from Symantec, Finjan and SecureWorks, eWEEK is taking a look at some of the more notorious banking Trojans plaguing users, and how cyber-thieves are getting their hands on the cash.”