Tag Archives: CyberCrime

Former National Cyber Czar Creates Cybercrime TV

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Washington, DC (PRWEB) November 27, 2009

Former national cyber czar Andy Purdy launched Cybercrime.TV today, an online development site for producers, directors, writers, experts, and others joining him in launching a television network that focuses on cyber criminals and those who enable them.

“Cybercrime.TV is an online network for television people and computer people to work together,” said Purdy.

The website provides tools to develop new projects and showcase them for production financing through Purdy and his associates. Membership is free, and members can upload videos and proposals, create groups, create forums, publish papers and articles, announce events, and publicize their programs.

Cybercrime.TV, as a television network, will focus on all aspects of cybercrime in the form of news and talk shows, specials, movies, and original series.

Topics of greatest interest to Purdy include cybersecurity, cyber terrorism, cyberstalking, encryption, financial crime, financial espionage, hackers, identity theft, information assurance, information warfare, Internet fraud, Internet privacy, Internet safety, malware, money laundering, network security, online predators, phishing, pirated software, social engineering, spamming, spoofing, spyware, and viruses.

Purdy is also interested in new exciting technologies that address cyber risk.

A frequent speaker at international conferences on cybersecurity, Purdy often points out that there is no adequate framework for collaboration between governments and the private sector against cybercrime.

He is working in an alliance with the Internet Law Group to build partnerships between private companies and government to collect and share data about malicious cyber actors, and use civil process to shut them down and seize their assets.

Last year, he created with Dr. Arun Sood of George Mason University the International Cyber Center (ICC) to promote a strategic approach to global cyber issues. The center hosts an international cyber R&D conference series to help delegates better assess and mitigate the cyber risk to the global information infrastructure and address the long-term hard problems of cyberspace.

Purdy’s vision is to now engage the public with awareness-raising television programming brought about through online collaboration. Today’s launch of Cybercrime.TV is the first step in that direction.

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NetClarity Announces Top Ten Cybercrime and Cyberwar Predictions for 2012

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Bedford, MA (PRWEB) February 14, 2012

Today, NetClarity’s Founder & CTO, on the heels of speaking at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and completing his research to expose and predict growing trends for this year released the following Top Ten Cybercrime and Cyberwar Predictions for 2012:

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Cyber-crime security integration for Joomla and Drupal hosting kills hacker threats

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Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 02, 2012

CNP Integrations (a team of Joomla CMS and Drupal experts found online at http://www.cnpintegrations.com, http://www.joomladesignservices.com or http://www.cnpsupport.com) teams up with Secure Live and Rackspace to provide the best of breed hosting solution for Joomla, Drupal and other open source CMS platforms.

In October 2011, CNP Integrations made the shift to a completely cloud based hosting environment for their clients, dramatically improving support coverage, ease of use and site performance thanks to the RackSpace infrastructure and fanatical support. They have now combined this with an added layer of cyber security monitoring provided by SecureLive software solutions and their advanced security resource team. As a mandatory integrated feature for all hosting accounts, this will allow CNP Integrations to deliver an even higher level of focused and responsive application support service for Joomla CMS and Drupal. This new strategic alliance will prove to offer the most robust and responsive security monitoring and cloud based hosting environments available in the marketplace. When combined with the CNP Integrations support team, clients of this group will experience the safest and most competent options for meeting and surpassing their content delivery needs while protecting their investments from cyber-crime.

Experts in the field anticipate cyber-crime in 2012 could rise as high as 7000% from 6 years ago. With this type of rise in cyber crime we are making web security a priority for all of our hosting customers. CNP Integrations collaboration with the SecureLive team backed by the Rackspace hosting infrastructure we feel will offer the highest level of security, service and technical support available. Says Chris Nielsen, CEO of CNP Integrations.

Stats on cyber-crime over the past 6 years:

Cybercrime Prevention Expert Stu Sjouwerman Alerts Businesses to Alarming Implications of FAIL500 Study Findings

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Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) June 06, 2011

Recent phishing study findings released by Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) firm KnowBe4 highlight an urgent need for cybercrime prevention awareness among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and may only hint at the true scope of the problem. KnowBe4 founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman previously cited a false sense of security as the reason companies arent doing more to stop phishing, noting that many erroneously believe antivirus software and a dedicated IT team can thwart all cyberheist attempts. Our FAIL500 experiment demonstrated that without proper cybercrime prevention training, employees can unwittingly give cybercriminals access to company systems. And while our preliminary phishing study findings justifiably raised concerns about the potential for Internet security breaches, the problem is far bigger than most people realize.

Sjouwermans company conducted a two-phase test designed to identify the percentage of Inc. 5000 companies that are Phish-prone, or vulnerable to phishing attempts. The preliminary test used a reputable bulk email service to send a simulated phishing email to employees at 81 companies; and of the 79 businesses that had successful deliveries, an alarming 43% had at least one employee who clicked the link. A subsequent test used a one-time mail server with an unknown reputation, which reduced the number of successful deliveries but still netted a response rate of more than 15% in less than 24 hours. In total, 658 emails were clicked by employees at 485 different companies, which led KnowBe4 to dub its experiment the FAIL500 project.

Unfortunately, denial is rampant when it comes to cybercrime. Everyone thinks it wont happen to them until they find out the hard way just how easy it is for cybercriminals to find a way in, said Sjouwerman. Skilled cybercriminals are able to sneak under the radar; most targets dont even realize that the link they clicked or the file they downloaded has just compromised their data security. Internet-based crime syndicates invest much more time, money and effort into their phishing attempts than we did, using off-shore servers that are difficult to identify and shut down. If we were to employ similar tactics for our experiment and had a longer timeframe, I believe the percentage of respondents could easily double over the course of six months.

Sjouwerman also emphasizes that KnowBe4s test involved phishing rather than spear phishing. Phishing casts a wide net in the hope of landing a small percentage from a large pool, while spear phishing is much more targeted and therefore more difficult to detect. The stealthy cybercriminals who engage in spear phishing generally target a specific organization and have prior knowledge of the recipients business activities and partnerships. Consequently, these perpetrators are able to craft emails that seem legitimate and appear to be sent by a trusted partner, vendor, customer or colleague. Sjouwerman cautions that this is where the real danger lies. If our experiment used spear phishing tactics, I believe our response rate would have been closer to 75%. Thats why businesses need to provide cybercrime prevention training to their staff if they expect to stop phishing attacks.

Businesswoman Karen M. McCarthy has first-hand experience with the consequences of cybercrime. She spent 22 years building a successful marketing agency that was poised for a lucrative merger until Eastern European-based cybercriminals looted her TD Bank account in February 2010. Using the ZeuS virus to gain access to her account information and password, the hackers initiated $ 164,000 fraudulent wire transfers. Even worse, McCarthy discovered that commercial accounts are not insured against such losses and her bank denied any responsibility, even though they had not implemented security measures to combat the ZeuS virus. To fight back against cybercriminals and lobby for federal protection of commercial accounts, McCarthy joined forces with other cyberheist victims and Internet security professionals to found the Cyber Looting Awareness and Security Project (CLASP).

Cybercrime has reached epidemic proportions, and small business owners need to be aware of what theyre up against, exclaimed McCarthy. Cybercriminals have attempted to steal more than $ 220 million from small and medium businesses in recent years, and have succeeded in making off with more than $ 70 million. When you combine all Internet-related thefts including large companies and individuals the losses are in excess of $ 1.7 billion.

McCarthy notes that taxpayers also shoulder the burden of cybercrime, as many hackers have begun targeting state and local government agencies. As an example, she cites staggering losses suffered by two organizations in her home state of New York: the Town of Poughkeepsie lost $ 800,000, while the Duanesburg Central School District lost $ 3 million.

Sjouwerman maintains that knowledge is the key to cybercrime prevention. To that end, he recently published Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses Since the Meltdown of 2008. In addition to providing an overview of the FAIL500 project and examining actual case studies, Cyberheist arms business owners and individuals alike with actionable advice on how to prevent identity theft and cyberlooting, as well as proven methods to stop phishing-related security breaches.

For more details on the FAIL500 phishing study, visit http://www.knowbe4.com/fail500. To learn more about Cyberheist, or to order the paperback or e-book edition, visit http://www.cyberheist.com. Watch for KnowBe4s next release, which will feature top tips for cybercrime prevention.

About Stu Sjouwerman and KnowBe4

Stu Sjouwerman is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) to small and medium enterprises. A data security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the co-founder of Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through advanced Internet security awareness training. He is the author of four books, including Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses Since the Meltdown of 2008. For more information on Sjouwerman and KnowBe4, visit knowbe4.com.

Media Inquires:

Karla Jo Helms

CEO and PR Strategist

JoTo Extreme PR

Phone: 888-202-4614

http://www.JoToPR.com

This press release distribution was issued by PR Syndication via PRWeb, a Vocus company.

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KnowBe4 Cybercrime Case Study Reveals True Cost of Network Breach

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Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) August 01, 2011

While cybercrime statistics hint at the alarming financial consequences of an Internet security breach, a recent case study from Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) firm KnowBe4 breaks down the actual costs incurred by one small business. Cyberheists of bank accounts or proprietary data can result in huge financial losses; but as this case demonstrates, a compromised webserver can have expensive repercussions even when there is no theft of funds or data.

Cybercrime can financially impact a business in several ways. In addition to measurable costs such as those relating to repair/replacement of systems, loss of revenue and loss of productivity there are also more intangible costs associated with loss of reputation. A 2010 Symantec survey found that 75% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) were victims of cyber attacks in the previous year, with an average annual cost of $ 188,242.* Some suffered direct financial costs that were substantially higher; however, even smaller losses in the four- or five-figure range have the potential to cripple a small business.

KnowBe4s founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced shower-man) tells the story of a network breach at a small company, which will be referred to as Acme, Inc., to protect the firms privacy. Acme provides a subscription service to a specialized database, and its network consists of 20 workstations, a SQL server, an Exchange server and a dedicated website server, all linked together via a broadband connection. The company did not have a trained IT team; just one person serving part-time in an administrator role. When Acmes webserver suddenly started experiencing much higher levels of traffic from countries where they did not conduct business, they suspected cybercriminals had broken into their network.

Upon investigating the situation, it was discovered that one of the workstations had become infected with Zeus malware after an employee clicked on a link in a phishing email. All of the servers and a number of workstations were compromised, giving cybercriminals full access to the network. Acmes logs revealed that the webserver was being used to host an illegal music download service, and it was also discovered that the perpetrators had installed hidden rootkits.

The disinfection of Acmes network required considerable time and expense. KnowBe4 spent 110 billable hours correcting the problems associated with the network breach, including:

New Social Networking Site Takes On Big Boys & Tackles Privacy Issues, Anonymity and CyberCrime

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Honolulu, HI (PRWEB) September 09, 2011

The real issues people have about online privacy today are the amount of information social networking sites collect about its users, the way this information is being collected and how this information is being used. Now with all the information social networking sites gather about its users; add real name, add email address and facial recognition, not only do people lose their privacy but also they expose themselves to cyber crimes, predatory advertising and manipulation.

Regardless of what sites today promise regarding security, any site can be hacked. (Some examples would be: governments, banks, and law enforcement agencies who all have so called state of the art security systems as it relates to online protection and privacy). Social networking sites such as Google+ and Facebook are open-door gold mines for cyber criminals. The obvious solution to address these problems involving privacy, anonymity and cyber crime is simple; no real names, no emails. You do not need a real name and an email address to network effectively. You need this information however, to sell to advertisers and companies; you also need this information to sell someday to private interest corporations, governments, companies, etc.

“Some people complain that they would not be able to find friends, family and associates on ONLYMEWORLD.COM. I always apologize and explain, if you want to find a classmate there’s classmates.com, if you want to find friends and family there are sites that’ll help you find them, but if you want to social network with some anonymity, confidently and effectively? There is

ONLYMEWORLD.COM.” said Carlson Yamamoto, President of ONLYMEWORLD.COM.

The ONLYMEWORLD platform is similar to Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Linkedin, yet different because of their approach to Privacy Rights, Anonymity and Protection from Cyber Crime by not asking for real names, email addresses, not engaging in facial recognition software, etc. People again are able to network with some anonymity and privacy, effectively and absolutely free!


Upload YouTube & Personal Videos, Links (Buttons) Directly To Email & Websites, Business & Professional Profiles (Alternative Business E-Card). Compare today a Facebook Business Profile, to http://onlymeworld.com/admin, and you will see the difference.
No Facial Recognition Software, Data Mining or Tracking.
Business Listings, Groups, Blogs, Classifieds, Events and Much More!

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOSCF4h_dI&feature=related

MISSION STATEMENT:

To provide our users with an effective social utility platform, that provides a means to express themselves uniquely and be connected with other like minded networkers in their personal, business and professional lives.

Never asking for a real name and email address, never engaging in questionable privacy rights practices, never developing nor acquiring facial recognition software, allowing our users to network with some anonymity and privacy, confidently and effectively.