As soon as almost all computer users already got used to -- or at least heard about -- the word "phishing", another somewhat confusing word appeared. Pharming. Does it differ from phishing -- if yes, how?
<b>Two Pharmings</b>
Actually, two completely different fields use the term "pharming" now. We can say there exist two separate "pharmings".
If genetics or businessmen from pharmaceutical industry are talking about pharming (spelled like that) it might have nothing to do with computers. This word has long been familiar to genetic engineers. For them, it's a merger of "farming" and "pharmaceutical" and means the genetic engineering technique -- inserting extraneous genes into host animals or plants in order to make them produce some pharmaceutical product. Although it is very interesting matter, this article isn't about it.
As for PC users, the term "pharming" recently emerged to denote exploitation of a vulnerability in the DNS server software caused by malicious code. This code allows the cybercriminal who contaminated this PC with it to redirect traffic from one IP-address to the one he specified. In other words, a user who types in a URL goes to another web site, not the one he wanted to--and isn't supposed to notice the difference.
Usually such a website is disguised to look like a legitimate one -- of a bank or a credit card company. Sites of this kind are used solely to steal users' confidential information such as passwords, PIN numbers, SSNs and account numbers.
<b>Dangerous Scams</b>
A fake website that's what "traditional" phishing has in common with pharming. This scam can fool even an experienced computer user, and it makes pharming a grave threat. The danger here is that users don't click an email link to get to a counterfeit website.
Most people enter their personal information, unaware of possible fraud. Why should they suspect anything if they type the URL themselves, not following any links in a suspiciously-looking email?
Unfortunately, "ordinary" phishers are also getting smarter. They eagerly learn; there is too much money involved to make criminals earnest students. At first phishing consisted only of a social engineering scam in which phishers spammed consumer e-mail accounts with letters ostensibly from banks. The more people got aware of the scam, the less spelling mistakes these messages contained, and the more fraudulent websites looked like legitimate ones.
Since about November 2004 there has been a lot of publications of a scheme which at first was seen as a new kind of phishing. This technique includes contaminating a PC with a Trojan horse program. The problem is that this Trojan contains a keylogger which lurks at the background until the user of the infected PC visits one of the specified websites. Then the keylogger comes to life to do what it was created for -- to steal information.
It seems that this technique is actually a separate scam aimed at stealing personal information and such attacks are on the rise. Security vendor Symantec warns about commercialisation of malware -- cybercriminals prefer cash to fun, so various kinds of information-stealing software are used more actively.
Spy Audit survey made by ISP Earthlink and Webroot Software also shows disturbing figures - 33.17% PCs contaminated with some program with information stealing capability.
However, more sophisticated identity theft attempts coexist with "old-fashioned" phishing scams. That is why users should not forget the advice which they all are likely to have learned by heart:
<ul>
<li>Never follow a link in an email, if it claims to be from a financial institution</li>
<li>Never open an attachment if the email is from somebody you don't know </li>
<li>Protect your PC from malware </li>
<li>Stay on the alert </li>
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Summary:
As soon as almost all computer users already got used to -- or at least heard about -- the word "phishing", another somewhat confusing word appeared. Pharming. Does it differ from phishing -- if yes, how?
Showing posts with label Internet fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet fraud. Show all posts
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Phishing, Fraudulent and Malicious Websites
Whether we like it or not, we are all living in the Information Age. We have nothing left but adapt to rapidly developing information technology, no matter who we are and what we do for living.
The Internet, in particular, means for us boundless opportunities in life and business – but also lots of dangers unheard of just a decade ago. We should be aware of these dangers if we want to use the huge potential of the Internet and to avoid the hazards it brings us.
<b>Warning: There are Websites You'd Better Not Visit</b>
<b>Phishing websites</b>
Thanks to authors of numerous articles on this topic, "classic" phishing technique is relatively well known. This scam involves setting bogus websites and luring people to visit them, as a rule, by links in emails. Phishing website is disguised to look like a legitimate one -- of a bank or a credit card company, and users are invited to provide their identifying information. Sites of this kind are used solely to steal users' passwords, PIN numbers, SSNs and other confidential information.
At first phishing consisted only of a social engineering scam in which phishers spammed consumer e-mail accounts with letters ostensibly from banks. The more people got aware of the scam, the less spelling mistakes these messages contained, and the more these fraudulent websites resembled legitimate ones. Phishers are getting smarter. They eagerly learn; there is enough money involved here to turn criminals into earnest students.
Since about November 2004 there has been a lot of publications of a scheme which at first was seen as a new kind of phishing. This technique includes contaminating a PC with a Trojan horse program. The problem is that this Trojan contains a keylogger which lurks at the background until the user of the infected PC visits one of the specified websites. Then the keylogger comes to life to do what it was created for -- to steal information.
It seems that this technique is actually a separate scam aimed at stealing personal information and such attacks are on the rise. Security experts warn about commercialisation of malware -- cybercriminals prefer cash to fun, so various kinds of information-stealing software are used more actively.
<b>Fraudulent websites are on the rise</b>
Websense Security Labs -- a well-known authority in information security -- noticed a dramatic rise in the number of fraudulent websites as far back as in the second half of 2004. These sites pose as ones for e-commerce; they encourage users to apply for a reward or purchase something, of course never delivering the product or paying money. The most popular areas for such fraud are online pharmacies, lottery scams, and loan / mortgage sites. Experts predict there will be more fake merchants in future and their scams will become more sophisticated.
<b>Malicious websites</b> are especially dangerous. Cybercriminals create them exclusively to execute malicious code on the visitors' computers. Sometimes hackers infect legitimate sites with malicious code.
Bad news for blog readers: blogs can be contaminated, too. Since January, Websense Security Labs has discovered hundreds of these "toxic" blogs set by hackers.
When unsuspecting users visit malicious sites, various nasty applications are downloaded and executed on their computers. Unfortunately, more and more often these applications contain keyloggers--software programs for intercepting data.
Keyloggers, as it is clear from the name of the program, log keystrokes --but that's not all. They capture everything the user is doing -- keystrokes, mouse clicks, files opened and closed, sites visited. A little more sophisticated programs of this kind also capture text from windows and make screenshots (record everything displayed on the screen) – so the information is captured even if the user doesn't type anything, just opens the views the file.
In February and March 2005, Websense Security Labs researched and identified about 8-10 new keylogger variants and more than 100 malicious websites which are hosting these keyloggers EACH WEEK. From November of 2004 through December 2004 these figures were much smaller: 1-2 new keylogger variants and 10-15 new malicious websites per week. There is by all means a disturbing tendency--the number of brand-new keyloggers and malicious website is growing, and growing rapidly.
<b>What a user can do to avoid these sites?</b>
As for phishing, the best advice is not to click any links in any email, especially if it claims to be from a bank.
Opening an attachment of a spam message can also trigger the execution of malicious program, for example a keylogger-containing Trojan horse.
As for fraudulent websites, maybe buying goods only from trusted vendors will help -- even if it is a bit more expensive.
As for malicious websites… "Malicious websites that host adult entertainment and shopping content can exploit Internet Explorer vulnerabilities to run code remotely without user interaction."(a quote from Websense's report). What can a user do about it? Not much, but avoiding adult sites and buying only from known and trusted online stores will reduce the risk.
Hackers also attract traffic to malicious websites by sending a link through spam or spim (the analog of spam for instant messaging (IM). So a good advice never follow links in spam is worth remembering once more.
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Summary:
Warning: There are Websites You'd Better Not Visit.
The Internet, in particular, means for us boundless opportunities in life and business – but also lots of dangers unheard of just a decade ago. We should be aware of these dangers if we want to use the huge potential of the Internet and to avoid the hazards it brings us.
<b>Warning: There are Websites You'd Better Not Visit</b>
<b>Phishing websites</b>
Thanks to authors of numerous articles on this topic, "classic" phishing technique is relatively well known. This scam involves setting bogus websites and luring people to visit them, as a rule, by links in emails. Phishing website is disguised to look like a legitimate one -- of a bank or a credit card company, and users are invited to provide their identifying information. Sites of this kind are used solely to steal users' passwords, PIN numbers, SSNs and other confidential information.
At first phishing consisted only of a social engineering scam in which phishers spammed consumer e-mail accounts with letters ostensibly from banks. The more people got aware of the scam, the less spelling mistakes these messages contained, and the more these fraudulent websites resembled legitimate ones. Phishers are getting smarter. They eagerly learn; there is enough money involved here to turn criminals into earnest students.
Since about November 2004 there has been a lot of publications of a scheme which at first was seen as a new kind of phishing. This technique includes contaminating a PC with a Trojan horse program. The problem is that this Trojan contains a keylogger which lurks at the background until the user of the infected PC visits one of the specified websites. Then the keylogger comes to life to do what it was created for -- to steal information.
It seems that this technique is actually a separate scam aimed at stealing personal information and such attacks are on the rise. Security experts warn about commercialisation of malware -- cybercriminals prefer cash to fun, so various kinds of information-stealing software are used more actively.
<b>Fraudulent websites are on the rise</b>
Websense Security Labs -- a well-known authority in information security -- noticed a dramatic rise in the number of fraudulent websites as far back as in the second half of 2004. These sites pose as ones for e-commerce; they encourage users to apply for a reward or purchase something, of course never delivering the product or paying money. The most popular areas for such fraud are online pharmacies, lottery scams, and loan / mortgage sites. Experts predict there will be more fake merchants in future and their scams will become more sophisticated.
<b>Malicious websites</b> are especially dangerous. Cybercriminals create them exclusively to execute malicious code on the visitors' computers. Sometimes hackers infect legitimate sites with malicious code.
Bad news for blog readers: blogs can be contaminated, too. Since January, Websense Security Labs has discovered hundreds of these "toxic" blogs set by hackers.
When unsuspecting users visit malicious sites, various nasty applications are downloaded and executed on their computers. Unfortunately, more and more often these applications contain keyloggers--software programs for intercepting data.
Keyloggers, as it is clear from the name of the program, log keystrokes --but that's not all. They capture everything the user is doing -- keystrokes, mouse clicks, files opened and closed, sites visited. A little more sophisticated programs of this kind also capture text from windows and make screenshots (record everything displayed on the screen) – so the information is captured even if the user doesn't type anything, just opens the views the file.
In February and March 2005, Websense Security Labs researched and identified about 8-10 new keylogger variants and more than 100 malicious websites which are hosting these keyloggers EACH WEEK. From November of 2004 through December 2004 these figures were much smaller: 1-2 new keylogger variants and 10-15 new malicious websites per week. There is by all means a disturbing tendency--the number of brand-new keyloggers and malicious website is growing, and growing rapidly.
<b>What a user can do to avoid these sites?</b>
As for phishing, the best advice is not to click any links in any email, especially if it claims to be from a bank.
Opening an attachment of a spam message can also trigger the execution of malicious program, for example a keylogger-containing Trojan horse.
As for fraudulent websites, maybe buying goods only from trusted vendors will help -- even if it is a bit more expensive.
As for malicious websites… "Malicious websites that host adult entertainment and shopping content can exploit Internet Explorer vulnerabilities to run code remotely without user interaction."(a quote from Websense's report). What can a user do about it? Not much, but avoiding adult sites and buying only from known and trusted online stores will reduce the risk.
Hackers also attract traffic to malicious websites by sending a link through spam or spim (the analog of spam for instant messaging (IM). So a good advice never follow links in spam is worth remembering once more.
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Summary:
Warning: There are Websites You'd Better Not Visit.
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