The FBI is investigating a series of hacks. But these aren’t hacks to steal money or ID information. These hacks seem to come from a far more sinister nature.
The FBI and international law enforcement are investigating hacks claimed to be by ISIS; it’s logo has appeared on many a site over the past several days. Websites from a Goodwill store in St. Louis to NASCAR star Tony Stewart’s speedway in Ohio to a rape crisis center in Dublin, Ireland are among the ones hit. When someone logged on these websites, they were met with a black ISIS flag and the phrase, “hacked by ISIS, we are everywhere.” Many investigations say this is probably a hoax. Even intelligence say they have no hard evidence that the people behind these web attacks are linked to the terrorist group in any way. But as you can imagine, people are freaked out to have this symbol flash on their screens. They even got a credit union in Montana, which still remains down. In fact, a bar right here in the greater Boston area was hit with this ISIS symbol, but they took it in stride. They wrote on their Facebook post, “It’s Saturday night. Come in and have a cocktail! Don’t let ISIS win!”
I hope ISIS isn’t behind this. Because if they are, I shutter to think what their next step could be. Most cyber criminal experts don’t think they are. But until there is hard evidence to prove they’re not behind this hacking, I’m going to leave it as a real realm of possibility. If domestic hackers are trying to make a name for themselves, why would you use a group like ISIS as a cover? Don’t they know the atrocities this group has committed? Don’t they know about the murder, rape, torture, pillage and destruction they’ve caused to countless people around the world? Or are these domestic hackers just a bunch of copycats who don’t even care? Why would they even do that?
Throughout the United Kingdom, this week has been dubbed ‘strike week’. This isn’t because workers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are going on work stoppages. They’ve dedicated this week to crack down on hacking and other cyber crimes.
Twenty-five operations have been carried out in the United Kingdom and there have been at least 56 arrests. These people have been arrested for ID theft, fraud and virus writing. One operation found a hacker suspected of hacking Yahoo back in 2012. In the West Midlands, England area (the county that holds Birmingham, England), they arrested a man suspected of hacking in the US Dept of Defense last year. But the biggest bust took place between the city of London and county of Essex, just north of London. In these two areas, 25 people were arrested for attempting to steal and launder money through cyber means. It gets better: they already stole information from over 800 people. Also in London, a young man was arrested for his ties with a British hacking group called The D33Ds. This group allegedly stole around 400,000 Yahoo email addresses and passwords. The police group behind ‘strike week’ is called National Cyber Crime Unit.
Why am I talking about a major British story while living in the United States? What does this have to do with us? It shows that the good guys can win against these cyber criminals. It shows these guys who wreck lives behind a computer screen can be held accountable. So good for United Kingdom’s ‘strike week’. I think we should follow their example. We have the tools, manpower and will to do it. We need an anti-cyber crime unit to dedicate a week or month to crackdown on cyber crime. Go after the crime leaders first. If the head is cut off, the body will shut down (sorry if that sounded too graphic). We’re already doing this with revenge porn, cyber bullying, and sextortion. Can’t we do it with financial based cyber crimes?
Over in the Computer Geeks office,? one of the more common problems clients ask us to assist them with are phony solicitations for anti-malware programs. When browsing the internet, users encounter bogus virus and spyware alerts that prompt them to input personal information:
Credit card #
Checking Account #
Social security #
Address and telephone #
These are more commonly referred to as “Phishing”viruses. Understandably, many of them are concerned about surrendering such sensitive information, worried that it?ll be used for purposes other than facilitating the purchase of software that will protect their system against malware.
Well, they?re right.
Our clients will? happen upon a website that spawns a number of pop-ups alerting them to the presence of viruses and spyware,? ending with a solicitation for the purchase of? non-existent anti-malware software. In response to these pop-ups, users usually attempt to close the windows, resulting in the emergence of even more pop-ups.
One of the more notorious nuisances of this sort is Antivirus 2009. Masked as a legitimate program that removes viruses, this annoyance infects the client?s system with spyware, inundating them with pop-ups that insist that they purchase an ?upgraded? version of software that doesn’t exist.
Similar bugs go by the name of:
Winantispyware
Antispyware Pro XP
Anti-virus Lab 2009
If you?re ever met with one of these pop-ups, do NOT click on anything ? do NOT close the window, click on ?No,? or type in a single field. If you?re taken to another website, do NOT click on any of the links.
Instead, Press CTRL-ALT-DELETE, which will bring up your task manager. When reviewing the list of processes, you will notice one that is linked to your internet browser. Highlight that process and click on ?End task,? a button located at the bottom of your task manager window. This will close your internet browser, including any pop-ups it has spawned.
While the pop-ups are momentarily done away with, simply terminating your internet browser will not completely solve the problem, as the source of the issue remains. If left unaddressed, the spyware will continue to see that you’re harassed by pop-ups each time you use the internet
Today is November 18, 2014. The book Spam Nation is being released. It’s written by cyber security expert and investigative reporter Brian Krebs. Krebs’ forecast on cyber fraud is not optimistic.
On a morning show, Krebs is expecting another cyber security breach in the coming holiday shopping season. Remember the Target breach last year? In Spam Nation, he exposes the criminal masterminds behind such cyber attacks. They’re often from organized crime, gang members, and many of them are from Eastern European nations like Russia to Bulgaria. And not only is it getting easier for them, they’re getting more sophisticated. Krebs talks about spam pharmacies, viruses, malware and other devices they use. They’re even digital mob groups like Cosma, who stole untold American passwords and logins through an unforgiving malware attack. Did you know organizations like this will sell your information for as little as $25 to anyone willing to pay? Then these buyers will buy things with your account numbers, gift cards,? and anything else they get their hands on. It’s a win-win for everyone…except you the innocent consumer.
Krebs also sheds light on other issues. Did you know that you can expose yourself to spam pharmacies and hacking mobs even when you don’t open a spam or junk email? Spammers get the email, and sell usernames and passwords to the underground black market. This isn’t just an American problem; this is a global one. It costs consumers and companies billions of dollars every year. It can open the door to ills like divorce, foreclosures, even suicides. Spam Nation isn’t just doom and gloom. It gives the reader common sense things they can do to protect themselves. And it’s an easy and? read. You can read Brian Krebs security blog; he does a great job keeping up on computer security issues. Krebs does a good job exposing cyber fraud, the culprits behind it, and what we can do to protect ourselves and our households. Is Spam Nation a bestseller in the making?
Who ever said hackers had to use computers, smartphones and credit/debit cards? Just ask the Foreman Seeley Foundation Architecture firm in Norcross, Georgia. How does a company run a $166,000 phone bill on a day nobody’s in the office?
This architect firm was a victim of an age old scam that’s come back with vengeance now that most corporate phone lines are so intertwined with the Internet.? Hackers broke into the firm’s phone network and routed $166,000 works of calls to telephone numbers in African nations like Gambia and Somalia. But this scam costs businesses nearly $5 billion a year; in 2011, this fraud was worth only a billion. Major carriers are already hip to this game; that’s why they can catch these hackers and turn the millions meant for the frauds back to the victims. But smaller business don’t have that luxury. Because of tight budgets, many of them use local carriers, which don’t offer these kinds of anti-fraud protection. And though lawmakers have been fighting to make anti-fraud protection available for all telephone companies, it has come to little avail.
Here’s what hackers do: They set up a premium 1-900 style numbers, usually overseas. Then they break into business systems like Foreman Seeley Foundation Architecture and make calls through it to premium number. And because of the Internet, they can make hundreds of calls at a time, thousands over the course over the weekend. Hackers get their cut through wire transfers. Personally, I think lawmakers need to stay on top of this issue to keep all businesses safe. Small businesses are the heart and soul of our economy, and we need to take necessary steps to protect them. So let’s help the smaller phone companies get the tools they need protect their smaller business clients, even if federal laws are needed to make that happen. What else can be done to protect us from phone hackers and their scams?
Has this ever happened to you? You’re getting ready to watch TV or have a get together. Your phone rings. The person of the other end says they’re from Microsoft, a certified partner or professional. From there, they’ll tell you you’re computer is seriously infected or thousands of errors. They will then request to take over your machine remotely and clean your computer out. If you haven’t received this call, please note that this is a scam. If you receive this call, there are many different ways this could go. The best way is to get off the phone with them and call us because they may have put spyware on your computer to get your information. If you have decided to go further, and let them into your computer, you may have even more issues because not only do they have your information, but now can hold your computer hostage for a high sum of money.
Computer Geeks is a well known computer repair company located in downtown Boston. We never solicit outbound calls to people telling them their machine is infected. We rely on customers to call us when they have a problem. The next question you may have is how do I know if I have a problem? In this blog, we’re going to tell you a few things to look out for that could tip the hand that your computer is infected with viruses, spyware, and/or malware.
The key to knowing if your computer is infected is just like any other illness and infections, knowing the symptoms. If your computer is running slow and is under three years old, you could be looking at an issue where your computer is infected. There is always a slight chance you’re overusing your resources by having multiple applications begin at the start of Windows without you even knowing. Another symptom that you may be infected is that you are not going to the websites you have requested to go to. If your computer is redirecting your web browser to another site your computer is infected. If you’re getting multiple pop-up ads, your computer is infected.
