News

• Security researcher urges IT managers to keep up with SAP patches

  More than 95 percent of over 600 SAP systems tested by security firm Onapsis were vulnerable to espionage, sabotage and fraud, mainly because patches had not been applied, according to a researcher.

• Banking malware monitors victims by hijacking webcams and microphones, researchers say

  A new variant of SpyEye malware allows cybercriminals to monitor potential bank fraud victims by hijacking their webcams and microphones, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab.

• FBI issues warning on hotel Internet connections

  The FBI today warned travelers there has been an uptick in malicious software infecting laptops and other devices linked to hotel Internet connections.

• Financial malware tricks users with claims of free credit card fraud insurance

  A piece of financial malware called Tatanga attempts to trick online banking users into authorizing rogue money transfers from their accounts as part of the activation procedure for a free credit-card fraud insurance service purportedly provided by their banks, security researchers from Trusteer said Tuesday.Tatanga is an online banking Trojan horse that was first discovered in May 2011. It is able to inject rogue Web pages into browsing sessions and affects nine different browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari.The malware is known to use social engineering techniques against victims in order to bypass security measures enforced by banks, like one-time passwords (OTPs) or transaction authorization numbers (TANs).A new Tatanga configuration detected recently by Trusteer displays a rogue message inside the browser when the victim authenticates on their bank's website, claiming that their bank is offering free credit-card fraud insurance to all customers.The message claims that the new service is provided in partnership with Visa and MasterCard and covers losses that might result from fraudulent online transactions performed with the victim's credit or debit card. The malware grabs the user's real account balance, rounds it up, and presents the result as the allegedly insured sum.The rogue message includes a bank account number that's supposed to be the victim's new insurance account opened by the bank. However, in reality, this account belongs to a money mule -- an individual paid to receive money from fraudulent activity on behalf of cybercriminals -- said Ayelet Heyman, a security researcher at Trusteer, in a blog post Tuesday.The user is told that to activate the service they need to authorize a transaction from their bank account to their new insurance account. In order to do this, they need to input the transaction authorization code sent by their bank to their mobile phone number.This code allows the malware to finalize the rogue transfer in the background and send the victim's money to the money mule. "In all likelihood, the victim does not expect any funds will be transferred out of their account," Heyman said.The maximum sum that is transferred by the malware in a single transaction is €5,000 or about US$6,500. "We can assume that fraudsters have identified this amount (5,000 Euros) as the upper threshold that triggers the bank to address the transaction as high risk," Heyman said via email.The rogue message displayed by the Tatanga configuration analyzed by Trusteer is written in Spanish, which suggests that it targets users in Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries. The company hasn't seen a version of this attack in a different language yet, but the malware is known to have targeted users in other European countries and the U.S. in the past, Heyman said via email.The Trusteer researcher advises users to call their banks over the phone and check the validity of sudden announcements or requests that appear on banking websites. If an online banking website suddenly starts asking users for sensitive information like card security codes or PIN numbers, it's most likely because of a malware infection, he said via email.Users should also install the security software recommended or supplied by their financial institution and should use some type of browser-based security solution that prevents financial fraud, Heyman said.

• Cisco offers API to fight call fraud

  LAS VEGAS -- Cisco this week at Interop 2012 released an API for its branch routers designed to enable third-party developers to write applications to enhance the security of phone calls over the router network.

• Dutch court temporarily frees 17-year-old KPN hacking suspect

  A Dutch 17-year-old suspected of compromising customer account data on hundreds of servers belonging to telecommunications operator KPN is set to be freed temporarily on Thursday, allowed to wait at home for his criminal proceedings to begin, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service said on Wednesday.

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  IBM melds crime-fighting, big data analytics in one security package

  IBM today came out with its first iteration of the analytics software package that it expects will help law enforcement, government agencies and private businesses wade through the massive amounts of data they collect to help them predict, disrupt and prevent criminal, terrorist and fraudulent activities.

• Russian-speaking cybercriminals earned $4.5 billion in 2011, researchers estimate

  Russian-speaking hackers earned an estimated US$4.5 billion globally using various online criminal tactics and are thus responsible for 36 percent of the estimated total of $12.5 billion earned globally by cybercriminals in 2011, Russian security analyst firm Group-IB said in a report published on Tuesday.

• Cold-calling scammers target antivirus customers, diversify their tactics

  Tech support scammers have started targeting antivirus customers and have diversified their techniques, according to reports from antivirus vendors Avast and ESET.

• Cybercriminals bypass e-banking protections with fraudulent SIM cards, says Trusteer

  Cybercriminals are impersonating victims in order to obtain replacement SIM cards from their mobile carriers, which they then use to defeat phone-based Internet banking protections, security vendor Trusteer said in a blog post.

• Cyberterrorism threat shouldn't be underestimated, some security experts say

  Concern about cyberterrorism was evident this week among security experts at the RSA security conference in San Francisco, who find that some people with extremist views have the technical knowledge that could be used to hack into systems.

• How to get the IRS' attention: Forge nearly $8 million in tax returns, steal identities

  A former Internal Revenue Service employee this week got 105 months in prison for pleading guilty to theft of government property and aggravated identity theft in a case where the guy tried to get away with nearly $8 million in fraudulent tax returns.

• Carrier IQ detection tool converted to premium SMS Trojan

  Android malware writers are taking advantage of the controversy surrounding Carrier IQ's smartphone tracking software in order to distribute a premium SMS Trojan, security researchers from Symantec warn.

• Four charged with hacking point-of-sale computers

  Four residents of Romania have been charged for their alleged participation in a multimillion-dollar scheme to remotely access point-of-sale systems at more than 150 Subway restaurants and other U.S. merchants and steal payment card data, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

• The typical fraudster — the threat from within

  It's time to keep an eye on your manager: The typical fraudster is male, 36-45 years old and in a senior management position, according to auditor firm KPMG.