Illustration by Jimbo Albano

... Conclusion

Cybercriminal team

ACCORDING to software-security outfit Symantec, an attack relies on different roles to be successful. It has categorized cybercrooks into:

§          Spammers. Assigned for sending the phishing e-mails to as many e-mail addresses as possible.

§          Web designers. Tasked for creating malicious web sites that appear to be legitimate.

§          Exploiters. Typically amateur attackers known as “script kiddies” who gather victim computers (referred to as “roots”) that can be used to host a phishing site or a spam relay. In some cases, exploiters will break into credit-card databases directly to harvest credit-card data, skipping the phishing stage entirely.

§          Cashiers. Designated to withdraw funds from a compromised credit card or bank account, and turning it into cash for the phisher.

§          Droppers. These members are able to receive merchandise purchased from stolen credit-card information at an untraceable drop point. Goods purchased with stolen credit or bank-card information are considered “carded” and fraudsters of this sort are also often considered “carders” as well. Unfortunately, original owners of the card can only become aware of what happened when the collections department tracks them down on concerns of late payments.

Meanwhile, leading market-security vendors have enumerated the types of commodities that are traded among phishers and fraudsters. Here is a partial list of items considered valuable:

§          Credit-card numbers. Typically CVV2 numbers (three- to four-digit numbers on the back of a card) are required as well for these to be considered of any value.

§          Root or administrative access to servers. Hacked servers which the fraudsters can access at their leisure are commonly used to host phishing web sites and are often referred to as “roots” by participants in these chat rooms and forums.

§          E-mail address lists. These are used either for spam advertising or for targets of phishing scam.

§          Online banking accounts

§          Online payment-service accounts, such as e-gold. E-gold is popular among fraudsters because funds are sent instantly and are not generally traceable.

§          Counterfeit currency. Counterfeit money is printed and sent via postal mail.

These identified commodities are traded in the blackmarket via impromptu IRC chat conversations or in an organized fashion through the online forums where the seller can obtain a “vendor” account and conduct business.

Al Ramon de la Cruz, Symantec Philippines country sales manager, explains further, “This allows them [cybercriminals] to post a structured price list for would-be buyers. Users provide feedback on their experiences working with the fraud “vendors,” creating a sort of confidence-rating system which discourages would-be “rippers.” Vendors may also pay a start-up fee and go through a basic verification process before they are set up as a vendor within a cybercrime forum.”

“The online underworld is constantly shifting,” says de la Cruz, as he highlights the challenge posed in finding ways to catch criminals of the underground economy operating the reroute servers of genuine high-traffic sites.

“Undoubtedly, there are more secretive black-market groups on the Internet which take great pains to remain hidden from law enforcement,” he says.

Simple TIPS to avoid PHISHING

Online threats: Conclusion

Cybercriminal team

ACCORDING to software-security outfit Symantec, an attack relies on different roles to be successful. It has categorized cybercrooks into:

Online threats

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