Cyber Threats Go Complex and International
Top 9 Security Threats of 2011; Vietnam-linked Cyber Gang Busted in Minn.
Expect more attacks from inside and from overseas countries.
Mobile banking and social networks are expected to pose new security threats in the payments space in 2011. But security experts said those threats would not displace the Zeus botnet, malware attacks, and phishing threats, which for years have plagued banking institutions. Fraud attempts will escalate, not diminish, as new threats and channels blossom in 2011. As 2010 came to a close, Information Security Media Group caught up with a handful of leading industry experts to get their takes on the top security threats of 2011. The top 9 threats of 2011 include:(1) Mobile Banking Risks, (2) Social Networking Risks, (3) Malware, Botnets, and DDoS attacks, (4) Phising, (5) ACH Fraud that leads to Corporate Account takeovers, (6) Cloud Computing Risks, (7) Insider Threats, (8) First Party Fraud, and (9) Skimming Attacks. In related news, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigation dubbed Operation eMule has led federal agents to a pair of 22-year-old foreign exchange students in Winona, Minnesota, who are suspected to be part of a sophisticated cyber crime ring based in Vietnam that has been misusing the identities of countless Americans to bilk online retailers out of millions of dollars. Numerous major companies have been stung in the scam, including eBay, PayPal, Amazon, Apple, Dell, and Verizon Wireless, according to federal court documents. Authorities said the operation is built around stolen identities used to open accounts with eBay, PayPal, and U.S. banks. Through those accounts, the fraudsters sell popular, expensive merchandise at discounted prices. The sellers fill the orders by purchasing the goods from other vendors using stolen financial accounts. When the identity-theft victims protest the charges, the merchants end up holding the bag. The two Winona State University students controlled more than 180 eBay accounts and more than 360 PayPal accounts opened using stolen identities, according to documents unsealed December 29 by a federal magistrate judge in St. Paul.