Global spam volumes have fallen precipitously in the past two months, thanks to a cessation of junk e-mail from Rustock — until recently the world’s most active spam botnet. But experts say those behind Rustock haven’t gone away, but have merely shifted the botnet’s resources toward other money-making activities, such as installing spyware and adware.
A malware-laced e-mail that spoofed seasons greetings from The White House siphoned gigabytes of sensitive documents from dozens of victims over the holidays, including a number of government employees and contractors who work on cybersecurity matters, KrebsOnSecurity.com has learned.
The attack appears to be the latest salvo from ZeuS malware gangs whose activities over the past year have blurred the boundaries between online financial crime and espionage, by stealing financial data and documents from victim machines. This activity is unusual because most criminals using ZeuS are interested in money-making activities – such as stealing banking passwords and creating botnets – whereas the hoovering up of sensitive government documents is typically associated with threats from China that are deployed to gather industrial or military intelligence.
Criminals this week hijacked ChronoPay.com, the domain name for Russia’s largest online payment processor, redirecting hundreds of unsuspecting visitors to a fake ChronoPay page that stole customer financial data.
ChronoPay chief executive Pavel Vrublevsky said the bogus payment page was up for several hours on Christmas day, during which time the attackers collected roughly 800 credit card numbers from customers visiting the site to make payments for various services that rely on ChronoPay for processing.
Carders.cc, a German security forum that specializes in trading stolen credit cards and other purloined data, has been hacked by security vigilantes for the second time this year. Also waking up to “you’ve been owned” calling cards this Christmas are… Read More »
Earlier this year, KrebsOnSecurity featured a post highlighting the most dangerous aspects of GSM-based ATM skimmers, fraud devices that let thieves steal card data from ATM users and have the purloined digits sent wirelessly via text message to the attacker’s… Read More »
Many sites and services require customers to present “proof” of their identity online by presenting scanned copies of important documents, such as passports, utility bills, or diplomas. But these requests don’t really prove anything, as there are a number of online services that will happily forge these documents quite convincingly for a small fee.
Researchers have discovered that dozens of Web sites are using simple Javascript tricks to snoop into visitors’ Web browsing history. While these tricks are nothing new, they are in the news again, so it’s a good time to remind readers about ways to combat this sneaky behavior.
FBI investigators have identified a 23-year-old Russian man as the mastermind behind the notorious “Mega-D” botnet, a network of spam-spewing PCs that once accounted for roughly a third of all spam sent worldwide.
According to public court documents related to an ongoing investigation, a grand jury probe has fingered Moscow resident Oleg Nikolaenko as the author and operator of the Mega-D botnet.
The text above was the lead for a story published April 3, 2006 in The New York Times. It described Zo0mer as a “kingpin” of the criminal underworld market for stolen identities and credit cards.
What’s remarkable is how — almost four years later — Zo0mer’s business is now stronger than ever.
This time of year, it seems like everyone has a guide on how to shop safely online. Most of these tip sheets focus on ways to spot insecure Web sites and harden your computer against data-stealing malware, but it’s equally important to research the reputation of the merchant before it’s too late.
