Since when did hackers start worrying about moral turpitude? In the underground cybercrime economy where lies, deception and maintaining complete anonymity are the key attributes for success, I find it ironic that trust, yes trust, has climbed the ladder of qualifications that today’s online fraudsters need to profit in the digital black market.

In the article, “Cybercrime is now a booming industry,” the new Global Risks for 2012 report says that along with a steady increase in cyber attacks on businesses and governments around the globe, the top concern for illegal digital data sellers is maintaining trust with their customers.

According to an ethical hacker in India, the digital black market has become so competitive that entrepreneurial cyber criminals depend on their trustworthiness, along with free trials, discounted offers and money-back guarantees on stolen goods, to succeed in the shady underworld. (more…)

Part of maintaining a strong corporate image is ensuring your customers are protected from all types of security threats. This is true for any organization as the health of their brand is often closely linked to their business success. That said, a recent study by TD Bank found that even with fraud cases on the rise, only one percent of small business owners surveyed said falling victim to fraud was a top business concern.

This casual, unwary approach toward security continues to boggle my mind, particularly in today’s highly volatile business environment. But while three-quarters of the small businesses polled said they are incorporating steps to protect their computer systems from fraudsters, Fred Graziano, head of the commercial and small business banking at TD Bank, said companies need to keep up with the latest available fraud preventative technologies and criminal tactics used by more sophisticated fraudsters. (more…)

A recent report, published by the Office of Cyber Security & Information Assurance in the Cabinet Office and Detica, on the cost of cyber crime revealed that online crime costs the UK economy £27 billion per year. In the article, “UK Cabinet Office Report: The Cost of Cyber Crime,” UK businesses shell out more than three-quarters of the total annual cybercrime costs at £21 billion, while private citizens (£3.1bn) and the government (£2.2bn) round out the overall economical impact.

The study found that IP theft (£9.2bn) and industrial espionage (£7.6bn), combined, account for over two-thirds of the overall cost to UK businesses per annum. IP theft is largely committed against companies with high volumes of IP or IP that’s easy to hack, while industrial espionage includes stealing or exploiting non-IP data from organizations that depend on large amounts of financial transactions and monetary activities.

Other significant cyber crimes that impact UK businesses include extortion (£2.2bn), direct online theft (£1.3bn), and loss or stolen customer data (£1bn), according to the report.

Because organizations today are becoming increasingly dependent on cyber space for business commerce, communications, and daily operations and production, cyber threats pose a significant threat to individual nations, as well as the global economy. This is why reports like these are so important.

Understanding the economical impact cyber crime can have on businesses, industry, and the economy can play a critical role in setting effective security policies and implementing proactive fraud preventative strategies, such as iovation’s device reputation service, which combats new and evolving forms of cyber crime that have a negative impact on organizations across the globe.

Infographics: Hotel Credit Card Hacking © CreditDonkey

When travelers go online to research hotels to plan a vacation or business trip, things like proximity, cleanliness, amenities, and safety play a huge role in their decision-making process. But those priorities may be changing. With credit card fraud becoming more prevalent in the hotel industry, a hotel’s reputation in relation to online security and fraud risks may soon override many of the traditional considerations that consumers have for choosing hotel accommodations.

According to the article, “Hotel Guests More Likely to Be Credit Card Hacking Victims, CreditDonkey Illustrates Danger,” a study estimates that 38% of all credit card hacking involves hotels. That’s two-times more than the financial industry (19%), which surprises Charles Tran, founder of the credit card comparison website, CreditDonkey.

“We were surprised at the numbers showing that hotel visitors run the greatest risk of all for having their credit card information stolen.”

One of the reasons for these unexpected numbers may be the recession. Because the hotel industry has been hit so hard, many hotels and hotel chains have not adequately upgraded their computer security systems. This, along with the fact that travelers typically use credit cards to pay for their hotel stays, may explain why hotels have become prime targets for cyber criminals.

All of this could create a shift in priorities for travelers selecting a hotel. As a result, hotels need to make sure they implement effective anti-fraud security strategies that help reduce the risk of credit card fraud.

As cyber thieves get more sophisticated, hotels must deploy security tools that help them identify fraudulent activity before they happen. Fraud prevention tools like iovation ReputationManager 360 uses device reputations to identify in real-time when a device with a history of fraud or is associated with other known fraudulent accounts is attempting a transaction.

By recognizing or re-recognizing any type of Internet-connected device — whether it’s a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone — before the transaction takes place, hotels can mitigate their risk of credit card fraud and other unwanted activities, all of which can have a significant impact on their brand reputation and, ultimately, their business revenues.

With today’s cyber criminals more financially motivated, organizations need ways to better protect sensitive areas of their websites that process electronic payments. To handle the volumes and high availability requirements of demanding financial institutions, iovation has partnered with Affirmative Technologies, which provides a suite of Automated Clearing House (ACH) services and other risk management and verification solutions to its financial clients.

Through this partnership, Affirmative Technologies will offer customers iovation’s ReputationManager 360, which combines customizable business rules, risk profiles, and the shared experiences of more than 2,000 fraud analysts from leading brands worldwide, as a strategic component of its risk platform. By combining Affirmative Technologies expertise in electronic payments with our risk assessment and global device reputation solution, companies get an extra layer of security to authenticate users before they enter their secure websites. (more…)

When it comes to running an online business, there’s really only one thing that matters — trust. With criminal activity rampant across the Internet, building and maintaining a trustworthy website is essential for online business success.

According to the article, “In the new Wild West, the bad guys are online,” cyber crime costs global e-commerce tens to hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Armando Dacal, director of authentication services at VeriSign, says in order for companies to succeed in this wild west environment, they need to ensure their websites are trustworthy. (more…)

More evidence that cyber criminals are using personal information from social networking sites to create socially engineered attacks was recently disclosed when VeriSign iDefense reported a cyber crook was trying to sell 1.5 million Facebook accounts on an electric fraud Web forum. In the article, “1.5 Million Facebook Accounts for Sale in Web Forum, VeriSign Reports,” social networking credentials are gaining value in the cyber-underworld. According to Rick Howard, director of cyber-intelligence at iDefense, the more Facebook friends an account has, the more valuable the credential. (more…)

The FBI recently released some interesting findings about cyber crime that confirmed what we suspected all along — cyber criminals are very business-like, working together, and operate like most other businesses that are out to make a profit. In the article, “The rise of Mafia-like cyber crime syndicates,” Deputy Assistant FBI Director, Steven Chabinsky, said a number of sting operations have uncovered the various roles individuals play within a criminal organization down to the specific titles and duties.

For example, Coders write the malware. Hackers are actively searching for vulnerabilities to exploit. Fraudsters create and deploy social engineering schemes. Hosters provide safe hosting of content on servers and sites. Techies maintain the infrastructure. And Leaders are the managers who keep the team together. (more…)

Last week, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its 2009 Annual Report on Internet fraud activity, and the results were staggering. According to the report, in 2009 U.S. citizens lost nearly $560 million to online scams. That number more than doubled the $265M in online fraud losses reported in 2008. The IC3, which tracks worldwide complaints of Internet fraud through its Web site, also said the total number of complaints in 2009 jumped 22% compared to 2008.

In the article, “Internet fraud’s U.S. price tag put at $550 million,” Donald Brackman, director of the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), said the growing figures can be largely attributed to increasingly sophisticated online schemes and cyber criminals’ ability to hide their true identities online. (more…)

Security experts from around the globe will soon meet in Nigeria to help boost the West African country’s parliament to fight Internet fraud and terrorism worldwide. In the article, “Foreign cybercrime experts to partner with lawmakers,” anti-cyber crime and terrorism experts from the US and other European countries will partner with members of the National Assembly to explore the extent of the fraud problem in Nigeria and discuss strategies to combat it.

Over the years, online schemes operating out of Nigeria have cost victims millions in fraud losses. The proposed conference of worldwide anti-fraud, economic and strategic Nigerian government agencies and groups will evaluate the country’s electronic payment system and ensure that measures are taken to protect public funds for a new payment system and other online transactions. (more…)

For some time now I’ve been writing about the importance of businesses working together to combat cyber crime. Echoing this sentiment is retired Air Force General Dale Meyerrose, who sat down this week with The New New Internet to discuss the importance of building partnerships, the challenges of building those alliances, and the question of who is ultimately responsible for protecting critical infrastructures in cyberspace.

In the article, “Cybersecurity Partnerships are Absolutely Critical, says Gen. Dale Meyerrose,” Meyerrose, now the VP for Cyberspace Solutions at Harris Corporation, expressed his concerns surrounding cybersecurity and the economic impact of cyber crime:

“The [issue] of most concern to me is cyber crime… elements of cyber crime, particularly economically for our country, have come to the point where we need to really be concerned. There have been estimates that we’ve lost over a trillion dollars a year to cyber crime in the last couple years. And it now exceeds all other crime in terms of the amount of money.” (more…)

Yesterday, President Obama took an important step toward putting cyber security front and center by appointing Howard Schmidt as cyber security coordinator. Not only will this significantly aide in advancing the current administration’s cyber security initiatives—it’s also a critical step forward in the private sector’s fight against cyber crime.

Given the impact that cyber crime has on our economy, online businesses especially have a lot riding on the success of these government initiatives. A recent report from LexisNexis estimates that U.S. businesses lose $191 billion annually from computer related crimes. This is why Mr. Schmidt’s combined experience in both government and the private sector will hopefully be an important asset, allowing him to simultaneously understand the issues currently facing businesses and be able to cut through the red tape on Capitol Hill to make real change happen. (more…)