Online Crims Target Card Holders

Credit Card Info the Biggest Item Touted on Black Market Forums. Organised Criminals Behind 90% of Internet Attacks

According to a quarterly report by anti-virus and security company Symantec, 80% of of attacks on computer systems around the world today are targeted at stealing confidential data like credit card information, with the majority being orchestrated by organised criminals who are motivated by the substantial financial gains possible.

Symantec analyses over 8 billion emails a day and monitoring activity at 240,000 different points and over 200 countries across the internet, giving them a real-time insight into developing IT security threats. Their Intelligence Quarterly also reveals:

• Credit Card details are the most commonly advertised item on black market forums
• Attack toolkits and Bank Accounts follow these as the most popular black market items for sale. "Attack toolkits" debut at number 2 and allow novice attackers to launch sophisticated attacks.
• Prices for credit card information ranged from $0.33 to $100
• The number 1 vector by which criminals and malware gets into a company continues to be email.
• 90% of the world's email traffic is spam
• Spam increased by 192% from 2007 to 2008.
• 285 million records were stolen in 2008, compared to 230 million between 2004 and 2007
• The United States was responsible for 30 percent of malicious activity; China ranked second globally with 6 percent of the total
• Top Web based attack IE and PDF readers

Lorcan Kavanagh, Symantec's Country Sales Manager for Ireland, commented: "The growth in well organised and targeted computer attacks for financial reward is a phenomenon that can affect companies regardless of size, or of location. The very nature of how individuals and organisations make use of IT continues to evolve and it is important that they continually assess their systems to make sure they are well secured."

The results come as no surprise to Threatscape Managing Director, Dermot Williams, who also founded and managed IT security company Systemhouse Technology which he sold in 2004 and subsequently re-acquired the assets and business from its (Topsec) liquidators.

Threatscape has recently announced a new partnership with Symantec to sell its solutions in Ireland. Williams claims he predicted a rise in these kind of breaches almost five years ago saying "Notoriety and bragging rights used to be behind the majority of activity. Now it's cold hard cash - pure and simple."

Williams added: "The ingenuity and deviousness of these guys can be astonishing - ranging from the myriad of bogus ‘donation websites' that cropped up within hours of the Haitian earthquake to the way gangs trade details of new ways to compromise computer systems almost as a form of currency in the cyber underworld. Then there's the recent grown in fake antivirus programs and even unsolicited phone calls from phony IT support lines offering to fix problems remotely - for a fee."

One of the fastest growing areas of information security is DLP or ‘Data Loss Prevention' - providing technologies that prevent valuable and confidential corporate data falling into the wrong hands, whether it is through the activities of malicious insiders or by accidental but potentially catastrophic incidents such as lost laptops or emails sent with unintended attachments - or to incorrect recipients. Understanding where confidential data is located, how it is being used, and what steps must be taken to prevent its potential loss is vital.

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