 Friday, May 28, 2004 ( 5:57 AM ) Andy Phishing without a license seems to be a top Internet sport nowadays. Government Computer News reports Treasury has issued an alert because of the increase in these attempts to use the U.S. governments position over people to obtain confidential and personal information. BOL issued a Special Tech Advisory on May 24, 2004 which has some alarming statistics in it. That alert has information on preventing problems both within your bank and with your customers. You must be proactive on these issues and can no longer shake you head and believe it is the problem of the unsuspecting Netizen, the "other guy". If your customer is compromised, they may blame you and in any case, you will have to help resolve the problem when account numbers at your bank are used. That means you will have costs. Address these issues up front and demonstrate to your employees and customers that you care and want them to be aware how these schemes are working. # Friday, May 21, 2004 ( 9:17 AM ) Andy At the risk of sounding repetitive, "phishing" growth is "phantastic". The Anti−Phishing Working Group (APWG) received reports of more than 1,100 unique phishing campaigns in April, a 178% increase from the previous month. And attempts at getting confidential information are expanding around the globe. CitiBank Russia sent a statement denying it sent messages asking clients to enter credit/debit card information into a phony site. We are becoming used to hearing of these phishing expeditions coming from countries such as Russia and we are used to hearing that CitiBank customers are those getting picked on. But this was the first attempt reported on Russian's. # ( 8:49 AM ) Andy In the category of "Ain't Technology Grand" the latimes.com has a story of how digital cameras are letting Servicemembers stay in touch and send pictures home faster than ever before. Obviously there are rules here and these can be used for more than staying in touch. Just ask an MP group in the Abu Ghraib detention facility. But they do allow families to communicate with loved ones. I still remember the shots my dad sent from Vietnam. And to really stay in touch we had little reel to reel recorders, he there and the family at home. That was high tech. And now we have gone to a higher level. The still pictures and even some motion pictures sent over the Internet are just the beginning. To avoid missing one of life's achievements, some high school graduation ceremonies will be broadcast over the Net. Local schools in Central Texas, surrounding Ft. Hood, will send these pomp and circumstance ceremonies to the mothers and fathers serving thousands of miles away. # Thursday, May 13, 2004 ( 3:21 AM ) Andy In a May 12, 2004 speech to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit of the Committee on Financial Services U.S. House of Representatives, John Reich, Vice Chairman of the FDIC stated that there have been 801 final rules issued in the last 15 years. These would be things like new regulatory requirements. Lets do the math and see what changes you have had to review, comment on, review, plan for, implement, and verify. 53.4 changes per year 4.45 changes per month 1.03 changes per week .206 changes per day That is less than a quarter of a new rule each day. So what are we doing in our spare time? # Friday, May 07, 2004 ( 7:39 PM ) Andy Following on a related CAN SPAM blog entry from April 29, the FTC recently settled two similar cases. Brian D. Westby of Ballwin, Missouri, and Martijn P. Bevelander from the Netherlands, allegedly used "spam" to drive users to an adult Website, "Married But Lonely." They used false subject lines and false header information in their e-mail messages. Unsuspecting users, adults (likely some in their workplace) and children saw subject lines pertaining to "New movie info" and "Did you hear the news", which could certainly appear valid. While this false header information would be illegal under the CAN SPAM Act which took effect January 1, 2004, these messages pre-dated that so the new law was not used against them. This suit was filed in April 2003. The settlement requires that them to forfeit the $112,500 they had earned doing this. Read more at PCWorld. # Monday, May 03, 2004 ( 9:13 AM ) Andy The IRS is warning taxpayers about a new phishing expedition. The bait is fear of the IRS and the catch is your personal information. The taxpayer gets an official looking email and is told they are the subject of a tax fraud investigation. To dispute it, they need to enter confidential information such as their Social Security Account Number, driver's license number and credit card numbers in a Website. That site has been shut down at Treasury's request. But beware, another could replace it. In depth information is available on BankersOnline.com, "Email from IRS? Nope, Just More Phishing". # |
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