Category Archives: A Little Sunshine

Includes investigative blog posts meant to shine a light on the darker corners of the Internet.

Police Arrest 178 in U.S.-Europe Raid on Credit Card ‘Cloning Labs’

June 15, 2010

Police have arrested 178 people in Europe and the United States suspected of cloning credit cards in an international scam worth over 20 million euro ($24.52 million), according to a report from Reuters.

The stories so far are all light on details or whether this bust was connected to specific fraud forums that facilitate the trade in stolen credit card data, but the wire reports include the following information:

Don’t Need Java? Junk It.

June 11, 2010

I am often asked to recommend security software, but I think it’s important to bear in mind that staying secure is just as often about removing little-used software that increases your exposure to online threats. At the very top of my nix-it-now list is Java, a powerful application that most users have on their systems but that probably few actually need.

ATM Skimmers: Separating Cruft from Craft

June 3, 2010

ATM skimmers, fraud devices that criminals attach to cash machines in a bid to steal and ultimately clone customer bank card data, are marketed on a surprisingly large number of open forums and Web sites. For example, ATMbrakers operates a forum that claims to sell or even rent ATM skimmers. Tradekey.com, a place where you can find truly anything for sale, also markets these devices on the cheap.

The truth is that most of these skimmers openly advertised are little more than scams designed to separate clueless crooks from their ill-gotten gains. Start poking around on some of the more exclusive online fraud forums for sellers who have built up a reputation in this business and chances are eventually you will hit upon the real deal.

Revisiting the Eleonore Exploit Kit

May 24, 2010

Not long after I launched this blog, I wrote about the damage wrought by the Eleonore Exploit Kit, an increasingly prevalent commercial hacking tool that makes it easy for criminals to booby-trap Web sites with malicious software. That post generated tremendous public interest because it offered a peek at the statistics page that normally only the criminals operating these kits get to see.

I’m revisiting this topic again because I managed to have a look at another live Eleonore exploit pack panel, and the data seems to reinforce a previous hunch: Today’s attackers care less about the browser you use and more about whether your third-party browser add-ons and plugins are up-to-date.

ReclaimPrivacy.org: Facebook Privacy 101

May 20, 2010

If you’ve been watching the slow motion train wreck that is Facebook.com’s recent effort to revamp its privacy promises, you may be wondering where to start unraveling all of the privacy “choices” offered by the world’s largest online social network. Fortunately, developers are starting to release free new tools so that you don’t need a masters in Facebook privacy or read a statement longer than the U.S. Constitution to get started.

Fraud Bazaar Carders.cc Hacked

May 18, 2010

Carders.cc, an German-language online forum dedicated to helping criminals trade and sell consumer data stolen through hacking, has itself been hacked. The once-guarded contents of its servers are now being traded on public file-sharing networks, leading to the exposure of identifying information on both the forum’s users and countless passwords, credit and debit cards swiped from unsuspecting victims.