Credit Cards for Terrorists

Interesting article from Brian Krebs of the Washington Post about how stolen credit cards were used by three guys to fund terrorist activities.

They got the card numbers with phishing attacks and Trojan Horse programs (keystroke loggers, etc). Then they used the credit card accounts to pay for their web hosting services, GPS devices, night vision goggles, pre-paid cell phones and airplane tickets. Over US$3.5 million was charged on those stolen cards.

The article is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/05/AR2007070501945_pf.html .

Now think about this other story, also from Mr. Krebs: the US Secret Service arrested six people in Florida for "running an organized credit card counterfeiting ring that netted more than 200,000 stolen account numbers." They bought these card numbers from cyber crooks in Eastern Europe. They then made the counterfeit cards, complete with security features, and sold them for about $15 each. According to the feds, frauds and losses amounted to more than US$75 million. (Link is http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/07/florida_counterfeit_credit_car.html .)

How secure is your computer? Watch for some hints here.