![](\"\/images\/news\/billz.JPG\")
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A peek inside online crime
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<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bill Zahren<\/p>\n
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\nSomewhere, right now, deep in the bowels of an anonymous
\nserver in a dark room in, say, Iran,
\na “carder forum” is brewing up the next scheme aimed at stealing your money. <\/p>\n
\nCarder forums and chat rooms are highly exclusive online
\nbazaars where criminals who embrace the dark side of technology meet to
\nexchange the information and criminal services that create what’s been called a
\nshadow, “microeconomy.”<\/p>\n
\nSecurity experts call these forums “the Wal-Mart of the
\nunderground” where anything you need to commit electronic crimes is for sale or
\nbarter.<\/p>\n
\nIn these digital back alleys, you can hire “bot
\nmasters” to unleash legions of contaminated computers on a vast array of tasks.
\nOne of those bots may be lurking inside your computer right now. Waiting for
\nthe secret, back-channel command to awaken and carry out some nefarious task. <\/p>\n
\nDatabases filled with hundreds or thousands of stolen
\nidentities, hacked bank accounts and compromised credit card numbers are
\noffered for sale. You can also find “cashers” looking to buy information they
\ncan convert into cash and merchandise. Others offer to recruit unsuspecting “mules”
\nto serve as the final link that turns a digital scam into physical currency. <\/p>\n
\nIronically the forums feature extreme security measures and
\nare run by bosses who thoroughly vet and police participants. Forum leaders even
\ntry to assimilate rival forums by force in digital gangland-style takeovers.<\/p>\n
\nCreation of online
\nscams is no longer the work of loners cranking out code in darkened rooms.
\nToday’s torrent of spam, phishing scams and other online schemes are the product
\nof a thriving criminal economy where people have developed specialties and
\ncollaboration and collusion is the rule rather the exception.<\/p>\n
\nThese are real,
\nruthless criminals, cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet and motivated by
\nbillions of dollars of profit. David DeWalt, CEO of security giant McAfee says
\nonline scams of all types now cost businesses and individuals $105 billion a
\nyear, surpassing the value of the worldwide illegal drug trade.<\/p>\n
Given the relatively low costs for electronic messages,
\nemail, pseudo Web sites and the like, online scams can quickly deliver 1000
\npercent return on investment. A November 2006 Trend Micro white paper on
\nphishing details arrested criminals who turned $60 software into $100,000 in
\nprofits. Another was generating $430 every day, automatically, at the time of
\narrest.<\/p>\n
The “bad guys” ruthlessly exploit any opportunity to fleece
\nunsuspecting computer users. Nothing is sacred. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina
\nmade confetti of much of the gulf coast, killing scores of people and leaving
\nthird-world suffering in her wake, the phish were swarming with fake “donate to
\nhelp Katrina Victims” email. <\/p>\n
Digital gangsters
\nare even fine with cashing in on terrorism. One superforum leader recently
\nbragged that its main server is located in Iran, perhaps the country that’s least likely to
\ncooperate with U.S.law-enforcement authorities.<\/p>\n
In 2004, law
\nenforcement briefly disrupted these forums by infiltrating and arresting
\nparticipants. The forums reacted like an attacked virus – mutating and
\nreforming in more secure, more dispersed forms. Today law enforcement agents
\nliken chasing online criminals to chasing terrorists in Afghanistan; you know they are out there, but finding all
\ntheir caves and hiding places is virtually impossible.<\/p>\n
Experts agree the best
\nweapon in the battle against the digital underground remains consumer awareness
\nand caution. John Thompson, CEO of security giant Symantec (maker of the Norton
\nsuite of protection products) told USA Today that Internet users must develop a
\n“sixth sense about security” just as they have about being sure to lock their
\nhouses and cars and sense when situations in the real world are inherently
\ndangerous.<\/p>\n
As diabolical as
\nthe online criminals are, their schemes often come down to the ability to
\ndeceive someone into providing personal data. Following some basic online
\nguidelines for thwarting Internet crime can dramatically reduce your
\nchances of being victimized and take some buzz out of the buzzing forums.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A peek inside online crime
\nhubs<\/p>\n
Bill Zahren<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nSomewhere, right now, deep in the bowels of an anonymous
\nserver in a dark room in, say, Iran,
\na “carder forum” is brewing up the next scheme aimed at stealing your money. <\/p>\n
\nCarder forums and chat rooms are highly exclusive online
\nbazaars where criminals who embrace the dark side of technology meet to
\nexchange the information and criminal services that create what’s been called a
\nshadow, “microeconomy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[246],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-pit-blog","tag-email"],"yoast_head":"\n