Senator Joe Lieberman recently announced the opening of a new Cyber Center. Homeland Security spent about $9 million for the new center. It will help better coordinate the government’s response to cyber attacks. Senator Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said legislation being drafted by his committee will require federal agencies and private companies to set up a system to share information on cyber threats.
Government lags in cyber security
The feds are playing catch up when it comes to cyber security. There have been numerous reports about coordinating efforts at various agencies to better protect the U.S. critical government and critical infrastructure. Obama has been attempting to hire a Cyber Security Czar but has been turned down by numerous executives.
About Mailprotector
Mailprotector has been providing email security for customers for nearly 10 years. It didn’t take an act of Congress to get the ball rolling either. Just an abundance of annoying junk email flooding our inboxes gave the inspiration to put a stop to that nonsense. If you’re tired of waiting on Congress, Obama and the rest of the U.S. government to get started then join us in the good fight. Mailprotector will provide protection from spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing attacks and other email borne malware from getting to your inbox.
Facebook won a victory against a notorious spammer on October 29th when a federal judge awarded them $711 million. The judge found the spammer Sanford Wallace guilty of violating the Can-Spam Act as well as a restraining order. Wallace and two others used phishing sites and other methods to take control of Facebook accounts to use in their spamming operations.
Not the first lawsuit for “Spam King”
Sanford Wallace is better known as “Spam King” and “Spamford”. He’s been sued numerous times for spam and spyware related damages. Facebook attorney Sam O’Rourke was cautious about the win:
Facebook happy with outcome
“While we don’t expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals,” blogged O’Rourke, Facebook’s lead counsel for litigation and intellectual property. “Most notably, the judge referred Wallace to the U.S. Attorney’s Office with a request that Wallace be prosecuted for criminal contempt, which means that in addition to the judgment, he now faces possible jail time. This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers.”
About Mailprotector
Mailprotector’s services help mitigate “Spam King’s” ways by blocking spam, spyware, phishing, Trojans, viruses, and other email borne malware to your inbox.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption police have shut down 800 scam websites and busted 18 syndicates of email fraudsters. “Over 800 fraudulent e-mail addresses have been identified and shut down,” Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss Farida Waziri said. “There have been 18 arrests of high profile syndicates operating cyber-crime organisations,” she added.
Microsoft lends a hand
In a statement EFCC, which has previously relied on raiding cyber cafes and complaints from the public to clampdown on the crime, said it has now adopted smart technology working in conjunction with Microsoft, to track down fraudulent emails. The operation, dubbed “Eagle Claw” should be able to forewarn around a quarter of million potential victims when fully implemented within the next six months.
Nigeria has a history of email fraud
Nigeria has the notorious reputation of being the center of email fraudsters. Spanish police arrested 23 people in March, mainly Nigerians, suspected of running an email and letter scam thought to have defrauded over 150 people in the United States and Europe. The gang sent out thousands letters every day to potential prey. Victims were swindled of their money when asked to pay processing fees or supply their bank account details into which non-existent funds were promised to be transferred. Some of the email fraudsters hacked into private email accounts of prominent personalities and sent e-mails to their contacts claiming to be stranded and asking for emergency cash.
How you can prevent email attacks
Mailprotector’s services help prevent many of these types of email scams. Our services are great for keeping spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing and other email-borne malware and attacks from reaching your user’s inbox. Contact us today to learn more.
The “balloon boy” story is a testament to keeping your guard up against hoaxes that some are willing to perpetrate to get past your defenses.
Media frenzy
Reports indicated that 6 year old Falcon Heene had climbed into a box attached to a home-made high altitude balloon. Media outlets piled onto the story – CNN, FOX, DRUDGE Report and others all had headlines indicating the balloon was adrift but the box was no longer intact. America was anxiously awaiting to learn the fate of the small child.
Emergency services scrambled
The balloon floated for approximately 50 miles. Emergency responders rushed to the scene as the balloon touched down to search for the young boy. Once they did not find him they activated other teams to expand the search. All this effort was for naught because the child was safely on the ground the entire time.
The joke’s on us
As this story continued to unfold it became apparent that it was a hoax. As details have emerged it has been learned that the parents concocted this scheme for self-promotional purposes. Law enforcement officials are still investigating the case. Sheriff Jim Alderden of Larimer County along with other authorities have indicated that charges may be forthcoming against the parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene:
“Charges have not been filed, but authorities expect to recommend felony charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant, Alderden said. They also plan to recommend a charge of filing a false police report, which is a misdemeanor.”
Sherriff Alderden said it is unlikely that someone convicted of these charges would face jail time.
Their plan was pretty much a success
Based on the Sherriff’s comments it appears that the Heene’s have accomplished their goal to heavily promote themselves for another reality show without actually getting into a bunch of trouble. They previously appeared on ABC’s “Wife Swap” and had approached other outlets in the past few months about doing another reality show. Based on all the media reports it’s apparent these folks crave the spotlight and were willing to perpetrate this hoax to create the buzz for a new “reality show.”
News such as this can create an “in” for cyber villians
Spammers and cyber-thieves have a way of using these types of news events to push spam out to unsuspecting recipients. Be wary of phishing emails with headline grabbing subjects. Many times there are links that will direct you to an infected site that will infect your computer with a bot net virus, password stealing Trojan, key logger Trojan, or other malware. Don’t fall for these tricks.
Don’t be fooled again
The Heenes may have been able to pull off their hoax with seemingly little consequence. However, you’ll find that if you fall for the spammers bait then the consequences may be quite harmful. Continue to educate your users against the perils of opening spam and Implement Mailprotector’s award winning email security to protect against cyber hoaxes.
The recent blockbuster sci-fi movie “District 9” was reviewed by some of our staff a few weeks ago. They give the movie a ‘thumbs up’ so you should definitely go see it. It’s about an alien spacecraft that becomes stranded hovering over Johannesburg and how the earthlings deal with keeping the aliens in quarantine. It’s a moral tale about the evils of apartheid and its potential out of this world consequences.
Film “makes Nigerians look bad”
It was reported that Nigerians are upset because of how they are portrayed in the movie. Information Minister Dora Akunyili has asked that movie houses stop screening the movie because it makes Nigerians look bad. “We have directed that they should stop public screening of the film,” she said. “We are not happy about it because it portrays Nigeria in bad light.” Nigerians are portrayed as gangsters, prostitutes and cannibals in the movie. They have asked the producer for an apology and also edit the film.
A more accurate portrayal?
Well, I’m upset about the portrayal of the Nigerians in this film, too. I’ll suggest the following character rewrites. Instead of Nigerian characters posing as gangsters and prostitutes make them Nigerian “princes” and “princesses”. Place them in exciting scenes crafting email messages asking for assistance from the aliens in recovering their family fortune. That would be much more appropriate. Once they start sending their spam to the aliens then all heck is gonna break loose. If the aliens didn’t have enough to be upset about before now they’ll really be ticked off after getting scammed out of their “cat food” money (oops – I should have given you a “spoiler alert”).
Mailprotector saves the day!
Of course, Mailprotector could become a prominent player in the movie. The aliens would adopt Mailprotector’s superior email security technology then we could all just get along. Nothing like a happy ending 
In celebration of National Cyber Security Awareness Month I’ve adopted one of Lou Holtz’s little stories. Lou has a special way of delivering a message. I recently caught this nugget:
The organization had just experienced a severe data breach. Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody – they were all given an important task.
“Everybody was to do it. Everybody felt sure that Somebody would do it, because Anybody could do it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got mad because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody felt that because Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Somebody didn’t do it.
In the end Everybody got mad at Somebody because Nobody did what Anybody could do.”
-L.Holtz
It’s a funny delivery but with a serious message. Admins and users need to stay aware of what’s happening with their email. Reveiw your current email usage policies and security posture to make sure you don’t have any vulnerable areas. You can implement one of Mailprotector’s award winning services to help mitigate email-borne threats: spam, Trojans, viruses, etc. Don’t fall prey to the cyber tricksters! Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month!
Two Romanians were just extradited to face charges related to a phishing scheme. The phishing scheme targeted customers of some well known financial institutions.
Plead “not guilty”
FBI officials announced on September 29 that Petru Bogdan Belbita, 25, of Craiova, Romania, and Cornel Ionut Tonita, 28, of Galati, Romania, were brought to the US to face charges of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. They have pleaded “not guilty” to these charges.
Trail of evidence
The pair were caught after an investigation was launched about a complaint of a fraudulent email made to appear as if it came from Connecticut-based People’s Bank. The email directed users to a compromised computer in Minnesota that hosted a counterfeit web site for People’s Bank. As the investigation unfolded it was determined the duo also engaged in similar phishing schemes targeting customers of Citibank, CapitalOne, JP Morgan Chase & Co., PayPal, and others.
Roundup
The two men, as well as five other Romanian citizens, were indicted by a grand jury in 2007. Belbita was arrested in Canada on Jan. 24, 2009, and brought to the United States Sept. 25. He appeared before a federal judge in Connecticut Sept. 29 and pleaded not guilty. Tonita was arrested in Croatia in July and extradited to the United States Sept. 4. He pleaded not guilty six days later. The other five Romanians indicted in this scheme are looking over their shoulders now. It shouldn’t be long before they face the music (cue Hawaii Five-O theme).
Keeping their buddies away
Mailprotector’s services mitigate the risk of phishing attacks. Whether you host your own mail server or need us to do it for you it’s a given that you need advanced email security to prevent phishing, Trojans, spam and other malware from reaching your inbox.
According to numerous recent reports Hotmail users have had their login credentials stolen.
About 10,000 users had their user credentials swiped in this latest phishing attack and millions more have been warned they could be at risk. Cyber-scammers set up a fake Hotmail login page that users entered their information.
Hotmail not alone
Not only did Hotmail users get cyber-mugged but Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Comcast and Earthlink account holders were targeted, too. A spokesman for Google said, ‘We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail account. As soon as we learned of the attack, we forced password resets on the affected accounts. We will continue to force password resets on additional accounts when we become aware of them.’
Not a breach, but a scam
Google stressed that the scam was ‘not a breach of Gmail security’ but rather ‘a scam to get users to give away their personal information to hackers’.
Unrest remains among the affected
Account logins had been posted online. They were taken down soon after that discovery. However, users now fear they may have had personal information (credit cards, bank account numbers, etc.) taken from their accounts as a result of their user credentials being publicly posted. Police are advising affected account holders to pay close attention to their credit card and banking accounts for any unauthorized activity.
To help protect yourself from falling prey to phishing scams:
- Change passwords frequently (every 30 days to 90 days).
- Use “strong” passwords: include upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers and characters randomly dispersed within the password.
- Don’t use the same password for your email account as you do for other online accounts. Many online accounts use your email address as the user name.
- Never click through any warnings your browser may raise about certificates.
- Be wary of pop-up security warnings.
- Be wary of mispelled words, poor grammar, blurry graphics on the web site as these items may indicate a phishing site.
- Implement email security that protects against spam, phishing, malware and other email-borne attacks.
No sign of a cool down for phishing
These phishing attacks will only continue due to the hackers success stealing thousands of email account user credentials. “Hotmail” now conjures up a completely different connotation.
According to a recent report from brand reputation firm MarkMonitor, phishing attacks reached a record high of 151,000 unique attacks during the 2nd quarter of 2009.
They want your login info
Favorite subjects and themes of phishing emails sent out in Q2 of 2009 include those which appeared to be from social media websites (up 168% from last year), and most commonly (4 out of 5 of all phishing attacks) from financial/payment service-related businesses. Almost all phishing emails are sent with the intent of tricking unsuspecting recipients into giving up their login information to various websites, thus severely jeopardizing the security of those who fall prey to such attacks.
The land of the free, and the home of most phishing sites
According to the report which looked at the number of unique Phishing sites, 50% originated in the United States — significantly more than any other individual country.
Conflicting data…who has it right?
The rise in attacks from phishing sites as reported by MarkMonitor conflicts with data which was published by IBM in August of this year. IBM claimed that attacks from phishing sites were actually on the downfall. This difference of opinion could be explained by looking at how the data was collected. IBM looked at phishing email as a percentage of spam, while MarkMonitor based their numbers off the number of unique URLs used by phishing sites.
How to prevent phishing attacks
- Use a spam filter to stop phishing emails from reaching your inbox
- Always be very careful to only open email from trusted senders
- Never click links in emails that seem even remotely suspicious
These latest figures show that phishing is still a big problem. Unless everyone gets wise to the tactics of the phishers (which is unlikely), phishing will continue to threaten the security of individuals and organizations worldwide. Be safe, and be prepared.
Concerned citizens and privacy groups have been up in arms of late after hundreds of people have claimed they received unsolicited spam email from the White House.
The mass email written by senior presidential adviser David Axelrod contained a heavily biased message that defended President Obama’s health care proposals and encouraged supporters to help rebut criticism circulating on the Internet.
Opponents of President Obama’s health care plan who received this and other spam messages from the White House have argued that they never signed up to receive email from the White House, and have been outspoken with their concerns regarding their privacy. After a few days of silence in regards to the email list, the White House finally released an official statement to Fox News on Sunday which stated:
“The White House e-mail list is made up of e-mail addresses obtained solely through the White House Web site. The White House doesn’t purchase, upload or merge from any other list, again, all e-mails come from the White House Web site as we have no interest in e-mailing anyone who does not want to receive an e-mail,” the statement said. “If an individual received the e-mail because someone else or a group signed them up or forwarded the e-mail, we hope they were not too inconvenienced.”
Some recipients of the spam have said that they have never even browsed to the official White House Web site. The White House claims that the email may have been sent to such unwilling recipients as a result of on-line petitions from advocacy groups. On-line petitions can contain both the name and email address of the those who sign the petition, and the White House may have added the email addresses from submitted petitions to the White House distribution list.
The White House has stated that it’s Web site managers will seek out and block on-line petitions so that those who wish to receive email from the White House may sign up to do so on an individual basis only.
