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Criminal Hackers: The Soldiers of the Web Mob

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Today’s criminal hackers are very different than those who hacked for fun and fame a decade ago. Every week, I see stories about more criminals in faraway lands, making millions from various scams, emptying the bank accounts of small businesses or draining the financial reserves of entire towns.

High-tech crimes can be committed by lone individuals, by small groups, or by organized web mobs. These web mobs structurally resemble the longtime operation of the Russian and Italian mafias, the Irish mob, the Bandidos, and the Hells Angels.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group has noted the success of Avalanche, a particularly large and successful web mob with an emphasis on phishing: “Phishing has always been attractive to criminals because it has low start-up costs and few barriers to entry. But by mid-2009, phishing was dominated by one player as never before—the ―Avalanche phishing operation. This criminal entity is one of the most sophisticated and damaging on the Internet, and perfected a mass-production system for deploying phishing sites and crimeware– malware designed specifically to automate identity theft and facilitate unauthorized transactions from consumer bank accounts.”

Avalanche was responsible for two-thirds of all phishing attacks launched in the second half of 2009, and for the overall increase in phishing attacks across the Internet.

Cybercrime of this magnitude requires a carefully ordered hierarchy. The players include:

  • Programmers, who write the viruses that will infect victim’s PCs
  • Carders, who sell stolen credit card data
  • IT guys, or black hat computer professionals, who maintain the hardware necessary to keep the operation running
  • Hackers, who look for vulnerabilities in networks and plant malicious code
  • Social engineers, who come up with the scam and write phishing emails to send to potential victims
  • Money mules, who are often foreign, traveling to the US specifically to open bank accounts, and who may also launder money
  • Bosses, who run the show, bring together talent, manage, and delegate

All of this is very real and it is happening right now. Even though data security hasn’t been in the media spotlight this year, we should all be aware of these risks.

To protect yourself from the bad guy, make sure your PC is fully updated with critical security patches, antivirus software, anti-spyware software, a secure wireless connection, and a two-way firewall. Check your online account statements frequently, and consider investing in identity theft protection that monitors your credit reports and monitors your information on the internet’s back ally chat rooms.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses hackers hacking wireless networks on Fox Boston. Disclosures

7 Tips To Better Credit Card Security

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Every time you use a credit card, you increase the chances of that card number being used fraudulently. Cards can be skimmed and hacked in a number of different ways.

#1 Watch your card. Whenever you hand your credit or debit card to a salesperson or waiter, watch to see where your card is taken and what is done with it. It’s normal for the card to be swiped through a point of sale terminal or keyboard card reader. But if you happen to see  your card swiped through an additional reader that doesn’t coincide with the transaction the card number may have been stolen.

#2 Cover your PIN. There may be cameras or “shoulder surfers” recording your PIN at an ATM or point of sale terminal. Cover up the keypad to foil the bad guys’ plan.

#3 Change up your card number. This is inconvenient but effective. The more frequently you change your number, the more secure that number will be. Once or twice a year is good.

#4 Select online shopping websites carefully. When searching for a product or service online, do business only with those you recognize. Established e-retailers are your safest bet.

#5 Beware of phishing. Never purchase products or services by responding to an email. This generally results in your card number being phished.

#6 Use secure sites. Before entering a credit card number, always look for “https” in the address bar. The “s” in “https” means the site has an additional layer of protection that encrypts the card number.

#7 The most important tip of all is to watch your statements. This extra layer of protection requires special attention. If you check your email daily, you ought to be able to check your credit card statements daily, too, right? Once a week is sufficient, and even once every two weeks is okay. Just be sure to refute any unauthorized withdrawals or transactions within the time limit stipulated by your bank. For most credit cards, it’s 60 days, and for debit cards the limit can be 30 days or less.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses credit card fraud on NBC Boston. Disclosures


Caller ID: Tool for Scammers

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Most of us tend to trust the person on the other end of the telephone more than we trust an email in our inbox. However telephone scams continue to plague people and successfully empty the victims bank accounts.

Caller ID spoofing occurs when your phone rings and your caller ID displays a name and number that seem legitimate, but are, in fact, spoofed. The caller has masked his or her true name and number. Most people aren’t aware of caller ID spoofing, and therefore have no reason to question the phone call’s legitimacy.

Caller ID spoofing is often sold as a tool for law enforcement. It can provide a useful disguise if, for instance, a suspect has been withholding child support. But a civilian who suspects a spouse of infidelity might use caller ID spoofing to conduct his or her own investigation. On-call doctors who wish to keep their phone numbers private may need to provide spoofed numbers for clients.

The fraudulent uses for caller ID spoofing vastly outweigh the legitimate ones. Anyone can obtain this technology and pose as law enforcement, a lottery, a charity, a government agency, a credit card company, or anything else that might be lucrative. Abuses of caller ID spoofing have raised hackles with government officials.

Don’t automatically trust the information displayed by you caller ID.

No matter what your caller ID says, never give out personal information over the phone.

If a caller tells you you’ve won something or stand to lose something, tell them you’ll be happy to discuss if further, but that you’ll have to call them back. Then go online, search for a valid number, and call to confirm the details.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses another databreach on Fox News. Disclosures

Botnets Turn Your PC into A Zombie

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A botnet is a group of Internet-connected personal computers that have been infected by a malicious application, which allows a hacker to control the infected computers without alerting the computer owners. Since the infected PCs are controlled remotely by a single hacker, they are known as bots, robots, or zombies.

Consumers’ and small businesses’ lax security practices are giving scammers a base from which to launch attacks. Hackers use botnets to send spam and phishing emails, and to deliver viruses and other malware.

A botnet can consist of as few as ten PCs, or tens or hundreds of thousands. Millions of personal computers are potentially part of botnets.

Spain-based botnet Mariposa consisted of nearly 13 million zombie PCs in more than 190 countries. Further investigation determined that the botnet included PCs from more than half the Fortune 1000. This botnet’s sole purpose was to gather usernames and passwords for online banking and email services.

There are more than 70 varieties of malware, and while they all operate differently, most are designed to steal data. Mariposa’s technology was built on the “Butterfly” botnet kit, which is available online, and which does not require advanced hacking skills to operate.

The criminals in this operation ran the Mariposa botnet through anonymous virtual private network servers, making it difficult for law enforcement to trace back to the ringleaders.

The botnet problem persists. PCs that aren’t properly secured are at risk of being turned into zombies. Certain user behaviors can also invite attacks.

Surfing pornography websites increases your risk, as does frequenting gaming websites hosted in foreign countries. Downloading pirated content from P2P (peer-to-peer) websites is also risky. Remember, there is no honor among thieves.

Computers with old, outdated, or unsupported operating systems like Windows 95, 98, and 2000 are extremely vulnerable. Systems using old or outdated browsers such as IE 5, 6, or older versions of Firefox offer the path of least resistance.

To protect yourself, update your operating system to XP SP3 or Windows 7. Make sure to set your antivirus software to update automatically. Keep your critical security patches up-to-date by setting Windows Update to run automatically as well. And don’t engage in risky online activities that invite attacks.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses scammers and thieves on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch. Disclosures

Spear Phishers Know Your Name

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“Spear phishing” refers to phishing scams that are directed at a specific target. Like when Tom Hanks was stranded on the island in the movie Cast Away. He whittled a spear and targeted specific fish, rather than dropping a line with bait and catching whatever came by. When phishing attacks are directed at company officers or senior executives, it’s called “whaling,” appropriately enough. I don’t know who sits around and coins this stuff but it makes analogical sense.

Spear phishers target their victims in a number of ways.

They may select a specific industry, target specific employees with a specific rank, and pull a ruse that has been successful in the past. For example, a spear phisher might choose a human resources employee whose information is available on the company website. The phisher could then create an email that seems to come from the company’s favorite charity, assuming this information is also available online, requesting that the targeted employee post a donation link on the company’s intranet. If the target falls for the scam, the scammer has now bypassed the company’s firewall. When employees click on the malicious link, the company’s servers will be infected and antivirus software may be overridden.

Lawyers are popular targets, since they are often responsible for holding funds in escrow. A spear phisher might contact a lawyer by name, leading him or her to believe that the scammer is an American businessperson who needs help moving money while overseas.

I was recently targeted in a spear phishing scam, one aimed specifically at professional speakers. The scammers requested that I present a program in England, and once my fee was agreed upon, I was asked to get a “work permit,” which costs $850.

People who are not be targeted based on their professions may be targeted based on their use of social media. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are known playgrounds for spear phishers, who obtain users’ email addresses and create email templates that mimic those sent by the social networking website. Scammers may even weave in names of your contacts, making the ruse appear that much more legitimate.

Knowing how spear phishers operate allows you to understand how to avoid being phished. Never click on links within the body of an email, for any reason. Bypass the links and go directly to the website responsible for the message. Any unsolicited email should be suspect. If you manage employees, test their ability to recognize a phishing email, show them how they got hooked, and then test them again.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses phishing on NBC Boston. Disclosures

Women Proved “Securest” in the Defcon Social Engineering Game

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In a recent post (Hackers Play “Social Engineering Capture The Flag” At Defcon), I pointed to a game in which contestants used the telephone to convince company employees to voluntarily cough up information they probably shouldn’t have.

Of 135 “targets” of the social engineering “game,” 130 blurted out too much information. All five holdouts were women who gave up zero data to the social engineers.

Computerworld reports, “Contestants targeted 17 major corporations over the course of the two-day event, including Google, Wal-Mart, Symantec, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Pepsi, Ford and Coca-Cola. Sitting in a plexiglass booth, with an audience watching, they called up company employees, trying to get them to give up information.”

Contestants had twenty minutes to call unsuspecting employees at the target companies and obtain specific bits of (non-sensitive) information about the business for additional points. Participants were not allowed to make the target company feel at risk by pretending to represent a law enforcement agency.

The players extracted data that could be used to compile an effective “attack,” including “information such as what operating system, antivirus software, and browser their victims used. They also tried to talk marks into visiting unauthorized Web pages.”

Social engineering is the most effective way to bypass any hardware or software systems in place. Organizations can spend millions on security, only to have it all bypassed with a simple phone call.

The players in this game were all men. Maybe the women didn’t give up any data because they were simply untrusting. It could be that the women were properly trained in how to deter social engineers and protect company data over the phone. Or maybe the women simply paid attention to their sixth sense, and felt they were being conned.

Any time the phone rings, a new email comes in, someone knocks on your door, or visits your office, question those who present themselves in positions of authority.

Don’t automatically trust or give the benefit of the doubt.

Within your home or business, communicate what can and can’t be said or done, or what information can or cannot be provided.

Keep in mind that when you lock a door, it’s locked, but it can be opened with a key, or with words that convince you to unlock it yourself. Always view every interaction, whether virtual or face to face, with a cynical eye for a potential agenda.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses hackers using social engineering to hack email on Fox News. Disclosures

Criminal Hackers Create 3 Million Fraudulent Websites Annually

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A recent study shows that organized criminals create approximately 8,000 malicious websites every day, or over 57,000 each week.

These malicious websites model legitimate websites that we visit every day, such as bank websites, online shopping sites, and eBay. According to this study, the most frequently impersonated companies include Visa, Amazon.com, PayPal, HSBC, and the United States Internal Revenue Service.

People are typically directed to these scam sites in one of three ways:

1. Often, potential victims end up visiting these spoofed websites via phishing scams. Phishing, of course, occurs when you receive an email that appears to be sent from your bank or other trusted entity, and a link in the email brings you to a website that is designed to steal your login credentials.

2. Scammers lure victims to their scam sites via search engines. When a website is created and uploaded to a server, search engines index the scam sites as they would any legitimate site. Doing a Google search can sometimes lead you to a website designed to steal your identity.

3. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are free, and this gives scammers an advertising platform. Criminals simply post links in status messages, on group pages, or fan message boards, using the legitimate appearance of the site to gain credibility.

Once a computer user clicks one of these links, he or she ends up on a website that is riddled with malicious software, which may install itself on the victim’s computer even if the victim doesn’t click or download anything on the scam site. This tactic is called a “drive by.” Or, users may be tricked into clicking links to download files. Either way, the ultimate goal is to gather usernames, passwords, and, if possible, credit card or Social Security numbers in order to steal identities.

By understanding how these scams work, PC users can begin to learn what to do while online and, more importantly, what not to do.

Never click on links in the body of an email. NEVER. Always go to your favorites menu or manually type the address into the address bar. This means that you should never copy and paste links from emails, either.

When searching out a product or service, be aware that you could be led to a scam site. A properly spelled web address is one indicator of an established, legitimate site. Try to restrict your business to sites you know and trust. Also, before entering credit card information, look for “https://” in the address bar. This means it’s a secure page and less likely to be a scam.

Just because a link for a tempting deal appears on a popular social networking website doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. I’d shy away from clicking links. Use your common sense. If it seems too good to be true, it is.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses phishing on NBC Boston. Disclosures

On the Internet, FREE is a Dangerous Four Letter Word

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The wild, wild web is like any major metropolitan city. There are high-class neighborhoods, retail districts, theater districts, business centers, popular social areas, seedy red-light districts (in Boston we called this the Combat Zone), and bad, bad, BAD neighborhoods.

Depending on where you go, you may pick up a virus or get bonked on the head.

The Internet is the same.

As more consumers seek out more free entertainment online, cybercriminals are shifting their attacks accordingly. McAfee recently conducted a series of studies determining that searching for celebrities like Cameron Diaz can increase your chances of infecting your PC. McAfee’s new “Digital Music & Movies Report: The True Cost of Free Entertainment” also confirmed that your PC is equally vulnerable when searching the word “free.” This report reveals the significantly increased risk of fraud when including “free” and “MP3” in the same search query. And when you add the word “free” to a search for ringtones, your risk increases by 300%.

Cybercriminals lure users with words like “free” in order to infect their PCs with malicious software, which is designed to take over the infected computer and allow hackers full access to private files, usernames, and passwords.

To stay safe, avoid searching for “free content.” Stick to legitimate, paid sites when downloading music and movies.

If a website is not well established, avoid clicking links in banner ads.

Use comprehensive security software to protect against the latest threats.

Use common sense: don’t click on links posted in forums or on fan pages.

Use a safe search plug-in, such as McAfee® SiteAdvisor® software that displays a red, yellow, or green annotation in search results, warning users about potential risky sites ahead of time, and highlighting safe results.

Be aware that the more popular a topic, movie or artist is, the more risky the search results will be.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses scammers and thieves on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch. Disclosures

Log Out, Log Out, I repeat, LOG OUT

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One of the most common yet underreported causes of data breaches is users’ failure to properly log out of public PCs.

Is your work computer accessible to others, perhaps after business hours? How about your home computer? Does its use extend beyond your immediate family, to your kids’ friends or babysitters, for example? Do you ever log in to a hotel’s business center PC, or take advantage of free Internet at a bank of sponsored PCs at a conference? Or pay per minute at an Internet café? Maybe you’re you a college student; do you use the PCs in the computer lab, or friends’ PCs?

Any shared PC is at an increased risk for spyware, viruses, and other malicious activities of a criminal hacker, the PCs administrator, or just the dude that happened to use the computer before you. But many people increase their vulnerability simply by failing to log out.

A few months ago, my sister-in-law used my family’s PC, logging in to her Facebook account. After she left, I checked Facebook myself, and quickly realized I was still logged in to her account. To teach her a lesson, I changed her profile picture to something she didn’t appreciate. (Being my sister-in-law, she forgave me.)

This past weekend at a conference, a colleague borrowed my laptop to check his email. Four days later, after having turned the laptop on and off a half dozen times, I attempted to check my own email and found myself still logged in to his Gmail account. In this instance, I quickly logged out, since Gmail notifies users when their accounts are open at multiple IP addresses, and I wasn’t about to hack a colleague.

Web-based email services, social networking sites, and other websites that require login credentials generally provide an option to “Remember me,” “Keep me logged in,” or, “Save password,” and will do so indefinitely. This feature often works with cookies, or codes stored in temp files. Some operating systems also include an “auto-complete” feature, which remembers usernames and passwords.

I’m not entirely sure if my colleague left Gmail’s “Stay signed in” box checked, if Gmail left a cookie on my laptop, or if my operating system remembered him. Either way, he was hackable.

Protect yourself.

I may log in to a PC that is not mine once or twice a year. And when I do, I make sure I log out of any program I logged in to. On the rare occasion that I use someone else’s computer to log in to an account containing sensitive data, I make an effort to change the password. Generally, though, I lug around my own laptop wherever I go, and I use an iPhone.

Never check a “Remember me” box, and if it’s selected by default, remember to uncheck it.

If you get an auto-complete pop-up while logging in, read it carefully and be sure to click the “no” option.

Some PC administrators install password managers that prompt the user to save login credentials. If you are on someone else’s PC and get this kind of pop-up, read it carefully before just clicking buttons to dismiss the pop-up.

Most importantly, PLEASE, for heaven’s sake, LOG OUT. Do I need to repeat myself?

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses another data breach on Fox News. Disclosures

iTunes a Platform for Phish Scammers

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iTunes users all over the world are being hooked in a possible phishing scam that siphons cash out of their PayPal accounts. Phishing scams, of course, consist of emails that appear to be coming from a legitimate, trusted business. These emails are often designed to trick the victim into revealing login credentials. Once the phishers have access to the account, they begin withdrawing funds.

In this case, scammers used victims’ iTunes accounts to purchase gift cards, which were paid for by the victims’ linked PayPal accounts. Some victims of this particular scam have has just a few dollars stolen, while others have had their accounts emptied.

Gift cards are a form of currency created by the issuer. Their value is in the products or services available when cashed in. A scammer can purchase a $100 gift card and sell it online for $50. Pure profit.

There are many variations of iTunes gift card scams:

1. Scammers can easily set up websites posing as a legitimate retailer offering gift cards at a discount, having fraudulently obtained those gift cards. They may accept people’s credit cards and make fraudulent charges. In these cases, the victim can refute the charge, but will need to either cancel the credit card or persistently check their statements once their card has been compromised. Like Mom said, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

2. The system for generating codes that are embedded on a plastic card or offered as a download is nothing more than software created by the card issuer or a third party. At least one major retailer has had their gift code generation compromised, and who knows how many more have been or will be compromised in this way. Criminal hackers can then offer the codes at a significant discount.

3. iTunes gift card scams are so effective, in part due to the limited availability of iTunes downloads in certain countries. There are numerous copyright issues, with some music companies making deals with musicians and iTunes, while others refuse to do so. Scammers have capitalized on this, using it as a marketing tactic.

The best way to avoid phishing scams is to never click on links in the body of an email. Always go to your favorites menu or manually type the familiar address into your address bar. And never provide you login credentials to anyone, for any reason.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses iTunes gift card scams on NBC Boston. (Disclosures)