The Devil In Your Inbox

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The Devil In Your Inbox !
Are You Prepared To Beat Internet Fraud?
Damian Hawkins
Every day, millions of people, worldwide, log on to the internet in the course of conducting business or to look for information or buy goods or services. Many will be new to surfing, taking the advantage of broadband, now widely available to all.

Sadly, while you are reading this, a large number of internet users - experienced and newbies alike - will become the latest victims of internet crime which is growing almost at the speed of light. Make no mistake, internet crime is now highly organized big business. Of course, there are still a number of comparative amateurs trying to make a quick buck at the expense of the unwary, and although these villains can be just as dangerous as their professionalcounterparts, it is the big boys that are employing the subtle, high tech scams and under-the-radar methods of emptying our wallets, even shutting our businesses down.

Okay, many of us old hands may think that we are too wise and wary to be duped by internet fraudsters. Maybe so, but believe it or not, the fact is that it is this very attitude that makes us more vulnerable and the fraudsters know it all too well!

Dont believe it? Wellif it wasnt for our over-confidence the Ebay and Paypal (to mention but two) phishing and pharming scams would probably die out overnight. Sadly, the fact is that these scams are drawing more and more people into their nefarious net.

Basically, phishing and pharming relies on our familiarity with popular websites Paypal and Ebay, for example. When an email arrives in our inbox, which contains all the look and psychological feel of the genuine article, our immediate reaction is to follow the instructions it contains often without a moments thought. Even if the penny drops when we are some way through following the instructions and click out of the spoof website, even the smallest amount of personal information we have already given can be very useful to the scammer, in some way or another.

Okay, so think you have a barbed wire fence around your computer. You have installed virtually every piece of protection software you can get your hands on. Your computer is as safe as Fort KnoxWrongfor there are many ways fraudsters can get under the best state of the art defences. Indeed, it could be argued that the well organized and technically adept internet criminals are invariably one step ahead of even the latest hi-tech protection software. If they arent, they will certainly be quick to find a solution you can bet your last buck on it!

Of the ever-growing ways of illegally accessing your computer, malware is probably one of the most popular. Generally speaking, this is a sneaky software designed to infiltrate, even damage, a computer system without the owner being aware of its presence. The very thought that our innocent-looking computer may be harbouring an uninvited guest is enough to scare the pants of anyone, and, maybe, so it should for it could prove to be an inconvenience at best and extremely costly in more ways than one - at worst!

To think that our computer could, and maybe is, being used as a proxy to protect the anonymity of those who send out spam messages from prosecution is bad enough, but to know that our computer may be the vehicle through which an internet criminal may be conducting more serious illegal activities is much more scary to say the least!

The foregoing aside, it is also possible for a criminal using malware to profit from stealing information from an infected computer. One of the ways this is done is to surreptitiously install a key logger; on your computer which copies down your key strokes just think how much information the installer (criminal) can gain when you enter a password, credit number, ID or other personal details. The ironic fact is that such a key logger can be innocently introduced into your computer by no less a person than YOU - by way of downloading innocent-looking software, for example.

Although we all know what the internet is, how many of us have heard of a botnet? Simply put, a botnet is where the mailbot or malware logs into an Internet Relay Chat channel and suchlike. By so doing, the attacker can give simultaneous instructions to all the computers he, or it, has infected. Furthermore, botnets can also be used to introduce upgraded malware to these infected systems, thereby keeping them resistant to antivirus software and suchlike.

By 2006, the broadband exp meant that malware was an even more common phenomena. For example, Webroot Software estimates that 9 out of 10 computers connected to the internet are infected. Furthermore, 86% of people surveyed by the company reported that they had lost money due to the effects of malware.

Although it is difficult to know the real cost of malware fraud. What is known is that spyware is a favorite tool of identity thieves; stealware takes money from affiliate merchants and vendors, while viruses and worms are used to turn PCs into proxy servers for the purpose of launching denial of service attacks or online protection rackets, to quote two examples.

There can be little doubt that the threat of online crime is significant and it is spreading rapidly. Often, scammers attack the most vulnerable people members of society who need money and aspire to a better life. The realization that they have been proverbially taken to the cleaners and/or taken for everything they have can be utterly devastating. Worse still, if that is possible, scams that begin online can and have developed into violent offences such as kidnapping and murder in the real world the 4-1-9 scam being a typical example!

In my view, based on many years of IT experience in general, and internet crime in particular, the only effective way to tackle the problem is through education. Teaching people not only to recognise the many systems and schemes scammers and fraudsters use, but how to defend themselves against such attack.

Let us never forget that more and more people are going online often for the first time. Because of this, the scales are inevitably tipped in the scammers favor. The internet and email will be here for a long time to come, which means their target lists are always being replenished and refreshed.

We can only be vigilant if we know what we are looking for. Sadly, this knowledge is scant at best and non-existent at worst. We must all recognise that our computer has the potential to be a very real threat to our security. A threat that is ever-present everytime we switch it on.

To learn more please click here: http://www.intercrime.org

Damian Hawkins. 2007








Damian Hawkins has enjoyed many years in the IT industry where he quickly made a name for himself amongst colleagues and contacts within some of the UKs largest enterprises. He first cut his teeth on new technology in telecoms, but quickly gravitated to the ISP arena where he specialised in high speed internet connectivity, hosting and security. In his time he has advised corporations such as Vodafone, Fujitsu Siemens and Taylor Woodrow on secure technical solutions for their own communication requirements and those of their customers. Recently, in partnershi[p with James Keith, a consultant psychologist. Intercrime was launched, with the sole purpose of providing all computer users with the means to help protect themselves against internet crime in all its facets.




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