It will be a cliche to say that cyber crime has been on the rise in India. So, instead of re-hashing/ lamenting about it, we will look at a few ways in which businesses can protect themselves against cyber crime.
Continue reading “Top 4 Precautions Businesses should take against Cyber Crime – Phishing”
$45 Million Heist – Card Data Stolen – Banks to be Alert
45 Million USD was withdrawn using cloned pre-paid cards in 2 seperate but reportedly connected operations. Hackers first got into the systems of the card processors and extracted magnetic strip card data and PIN numbers. Cards were then cloned using the stolen data and dispatched to “cashers” around the world. Hackers also raised or removed balances and withdrawal limits associated with these cards. So, the “cashers” had in their possession essentially ‘unlimited cards’ which they could use to withdraw any amount of cash. At the designated time, “cashers” all over the world struck ATM machines and began to relentlessly withdraw cash from ATMs. The New York cell of “Cashers” alone was responsible for 2.8 Million USD. Incidentally, Mastercard pre-paid card data was stolen in both operations. It is reported in the media that, at some stage, Mastercard alerted the US Secret Service.
Continue reading “$45 Million Heist – Card Data Stolen – Banks to be Alert”
Is Mobile “insecurity” the “in” thing ?
On 22nd May, CTIA-The Wireless Association® released its consumer survey on users’ attitudes toward cybersecurity.
Commissioned by CTIA, the Harris Interactive survey shows that 85 percent of consumers know their mobile devices are very or somewhat vulnerable, 74 percent say keeping their devices secure is their responsibility, but many don’t take action.
However, consumers are more likely to be aware and protect themselves against a tangible threat, such as having a device stolen, than intangible threat such as malware or hacking. The consumers whose devices were lost or stolen were more likely to use PINs or passwords than those who didn’t have their devices lost or stolen (69 percent versus 47 percent), but no more likely to take any other proactive actions, such as remote locking, tracking and/or erasing apps (45 percent versus 41 percent).
Get Introduced to “Ransomware”
Here is the new kid around the block – “Ransomware”. Ransomware (also referred to in some cases as cryptoviruses, cryptotrojans, cryptoworms or scareware) comprises a class of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the creator of the malware in order for the restriction to be removed. Continue reading “Get Introduced to “Ransomware””