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Category: Internet fraud a threat to US economy INTERNET fraudsters, motivated by money and armed with sophisticated technology, pose an increased economic threat as they steal private data from companies ... There is no longer any doubt about that threat... With just a few key strokes, (online fraudsters) can disrupt our nation's economy,' said Mr Ralph Basham at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco.
In addition to protecting the US president, the Secret Service also helps to protect US financial institutions.
Security analysts have warned that Internet hackers, once motivated by the thrill of shutting down computer systems, are joining forces with organised crime groups as they seek to profit from hacking into databases and stealing personal data through a variety of tactics, like phishing.
Phishing scams fool users into entering sensitive information on Web pages that look legitimate.
Mr Basham said several law enforcement agencies in the US and overseas recently disrupted an online organised crime ring that spanned eight US states and six countries. Thirty people have been arrested so far in that case.
He said that seven million credit card numbers had been stolen by the crime ring, costing consumers and credit card companies around US$4.3 million ($7m), though the loses could have been up to US$1 billion.
Analysts have warned that the scale and speed of online threats has increased and quickened as hackers exploit technologies like spyware.
Spyware has been one of the fastest-growing of the so-called malicious code threats. It gathers private data by recording keystrokes and monitoring e-mail without a person's knowledge.
But increased cooperation and information sharing between US agencies, foreign governments, technology companies and the financial community has helped mitigate online fraud, he said.
Internet crime will continue, said experts at the conference. - Reuters.
Source: Electric New Paper - Singapore,Singapore
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