So you want to be a cyber-crook...
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Some Web sites are now offering surfers the chance to download free &quot;phishing kits&quot; containing all the graphics, Web code and text required to construct the kind of bogus Web sites used in Internet phishing scams.
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You can't cheat an honest person, they say. Like generations of scammers before them, some malware writers are taking that "advice" to heart, releasing their Trojan software and keyloggers as "cracked" versions of Vista oon peer-to-peer service. Who's going to turn them in, after all -- a would-be pirate?
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If you buy things on the Web--or even just browse--you could be at risk from prying eyes and sloppy security. Some people want to change that.
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Also: Tightening the Net on cybercrime. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.
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If you read the news, you'd think that most cyber criminals are lonely, maladjusted teenage hackers stealing credit card numbers from their windowless rooms. But the real damage is being done by organized syndicates, and they're playing for much higher stakes.
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Consultants in frame? Definitely Maybe The UK government has published guidelines for the application of a law that makes it illegal to create or distribute so-called "hacking tools".â¦
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In a twist, security researchers have discovered a group of hackers who are exploiting a new category of victims -- aspiring Internet scammers.A Moroccan group called &quot;Mr. Brain&quot; is offering free phishing kits on a Web site hosted in France, said Paul Mutton, Internet services developer at Netcraft, a security company in Bath, England.The software packages make it easy to quickly set up a fraudulent Web site mimicking a known brand in order to trick people into divulging credit card details or bank account numbers. Templates for spam e-mail are also included, targeting brands such as Bank of America, eBay, PayPal, and HSBC.Mr. Brain&#39;s Web site lists the kits and what kind of details each one is capable of collecting, such as usernames, passwords or Social Security numbers. Netcraft posted screenshots on its Web site.But what the aspiring scammer doesn&#39;t know is that the phishing kits are designed to send any sensitive information that&#39;s collected back to e-mail accounts controlled by Mr. Brain, Mutton said.&quot;Obviously, that&#39;s why they are offering this stuff for free,&quot; Mutton said. &quot;I was impressed by it.&quot;Mr. Brain hides the special e-mail function in a blend of PHP scripts, one of which is encrypted, Mutton said. Just in case someone decrypts it, Mr. Brain has written at the top of the file &quot;Don&#39;t need to change anything here. Created by Mr. Brain Morocco Team.&quot;The scheme seems to be targeted at new phishers, Mutton said. Mr. Brain benefits since other wannabe scammers shoulder the cost and risk of finding an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host the phishing site, Mutton said.&quot;Essentially, they&#39;re exploiting all these novice phishers -- basically getting them to do all the hard work,&quot; Mutton said.It&#39;s difficult to tell without further research how many of the free phishing kits linked with this latest scam are live on the Internet, but Mutton said Netcraft noticed one earlier this month targeting Bank of America.&quot;Clearly, these are actively being used in phishing attacks,&quot; Mutton said.
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Hackers could bypass security warnings and download malicious content.
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Make what you will of the repeated waves of cyber attacks against Estonia, says CNET News.com's Charles Cooper. But the lesson will be copied by others.
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One way to disrupt the booming malware economy is to use slander and other dirty tricks to undermine hackers' reputations.
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Web villains post do-it-yourself phishing kits to help any amateur become an online con artist.
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When virtual crime finds its way into online role-playing games, should real-world authorities step in?
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Organized crime rings and petty thieves are flocking to the Internet like start-ups in the go-go '90s, establishing a multibillion-dollar underground economy in just a few years. The Internet's growth as an economic engine, particularly for financial transactions, is feeding the felonious frenzy.
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Scammers and hackers are targeting the human factor in system setups. Part of a series on hot security topics.
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In a sign of new threats, a jailed militant's autobiography offers tips on Internet credit card fraud.
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Spammers exploit your Achillesâ heel (or other body part).
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Suspect accused of stealing and distributing source code over the Internet.