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TAKING THE BYTE OUT OF CYBER CRIME...
CYBER ATTACKS: WHAT THEY ARE & WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THEM...
NEW YORK, NY…
January 8, 2007...
Cyber crime takes many forms. One of the most insidious is the “cyber attack”, usually targeting an individual or corporation who are reached via their email servers. Specifically we’ll discuss targeted as well as opportunistic attacks.
You might be wondering, “If the attack is virtual, where’s the harm?” A future press release may well be, “There Are No Victimless Cyber crimes”. Cyber attackers may steal proprietary corporate or personal information. Personal privacy is invaded as well, but the harm comes from what is done with the stolen information. Cyber attackers commit acts of industrial espionage to defamation of character to identity theft. On the corporate scale, hundreds of millions of productivity hours are lost annually. And, when the security surrounding proprietary information that the attackers may or may not want or be able to use is breached, the cost to re-secure this data cannot be calculated. That’s not all….There are worse fates, but the horror scenarios are too numerous to detail here.
The type of cyber attack that “makes headlines” is the opportunistic attack. These target various parties, not knowing how well defended their servers might be in hopes that some will be vulnerable and their security easily breached. Here, the intended victim is faceless; the object is the number of scalps “inconvenienced”. Examples of these cyber crimes are Mass Mailing Worms, Trojan Horses emailed to selected victims, and scams perpetrated by attackers posing as “household name” services such as major banks, popular payment services and online auction houses such as Ebay.
These cyber crimes have been perpetrated by bright high-school kids as well as career hackers with a sadistic bent toward authority of any kind. Additionally, there are cyber assassins who, for a hefty fee, will attack and attempt to infiltrate the security of any corporation or institution, even a government system. The point here is that anyone, regardless of our station in life is vulnerable and safeguards should be taken to prevent aggravation and potentially serious personal losses.
The hows and whys of cyber attacks are not the issue. The means or medium is usually demon email- that friendly convenience that connects even shut-ins with the entire outside world. The scope of email is truly astounding; the scope of the toxins that use email as a conduit is horrific. And, despite the global threat, opportunistic cyber attacks are not as invasive or as damaging as targeted attacks. To diminish being a victim, be vigilant- remember anybody, anywhere can contact you for any reason. Having an email account is like having a listed number in a global phone book. Enjoy email but remember to:
- Corporate email accounts are not personal email accounts. Only use them for business emails.
- For your personal email accounts remember that banks, creditors and other financial service providers WILL NOT contact you for personal information via email. Bar none. Do not respond to requests from any so-called financial service provider via email- even if the tone of the email is threatening such as they’ll terminate their services if you fail to respond immediately.
- If you receive such an email. Contact the financial service provider being spoofed -impersonation is a criminal offense- you may well be assisting your legitimate service provider in curtailing cyber fraud.
- In future, when you receive an email request such as a stranger asking you to safeguard funds, delete it without opening and then delete the contents of your delete folder.
Where’s the harm in opening yet another request from an alleged Third-World dignitary asking if you’ll receive his family’s heirlooms in exchange for your filthy lucre? Or asking you to purchase, offshore, pharmaceuticals intended for gratifying the opposite gender? Or offering mortgage loans at rates so low they defy sound economic principles? Because of the damage that can occur. Some of these emails contain Trojan Horses that, when innocently launched by opening an attachment, gather proprietary information that can rob you of your assets and livelihood, that’s why. Click on a suspect attachment and you truly unleash a Pandora ’s Box of trouble that will be hard, if not impossible to “undo” (“Control Z” cannot help you here!).
Trojan Horses collect usernames and passwords for email accounts, critical system information including the scanning of network drives, and now that your machine is infecting, before long, every computer in your office will be compromised as well. Congratulations! By clicking on that suspect attachment you have now opened a portal for further worm and Trojan downloads without having to open another attachment! Also, now that you are infected, any document or data connected with your network may unobtrusively be uploaded to a remote computer- and used in any way, legitimate or not, that the cyber attacker wishes.
How can you protect yourself and your business? Kessler International, the computer forensics firm with a global reputation and thousands of successful cases involving corporate and cyber fraud, is the company you can trust to investigate these potential destructive issues and make recommendations to avoid recurrence. Kessler will analyze individual situations and create a customized strategy to both provide damage control and future intervention. Call on us for all your forensic requirements.
For More Information: Protecting Your Computer- 10 Simple Steps
http://www.investigation.com/press/press38.htm
For more information about Kessler International, contact Michael Kessler at 1-800-932-2221 or visit the Kessler International website at www.investigation.com.
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