Cyber Thieves Part I
Using today’s technology
By G2S
Thieves in today’s society aren’t coming in through the windows or doors anymore, now they keep their selves at a distance and are attacking their prey by using the technology that so many of us depend on in today’s society. The internet not only provides us with the comfort of performing our every day tasks but it has become a way of life.
And the thieves and hackers are counting on our dependency to stalk and reap the rewards for using the same technology against us. Throughout the United States alone, the thieves have formed groups or rings as you may call them. They utilize technology to intercept financial data that is being transmitted from the businesses that they target and this has turned into a multi-million dollar revenue source.
According to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana AP, in two States alone a cyber “ring” managed to steal information leading to tens of thousands of credit card numbers and costing over a million dollars in losses to the banks that issued the cards.
An expert with the Department of defense said such a scheme can get started by a thief with a laptop, driving around town until he finds a business with wireless computer networks. The thief breaches an insecure wireless network, then inserts malicious software — similar to a wiretap — in the merchant’s computer that will collect customers’ credit card numbers and send them to the thief’s e-mail account.
