News19,135 Articles

December 10, 2007

Microsoft demonstrates real online scams

Ethical hacker does the hustle for MS

Matt Egan

Microsoft this week teamed up with Prevx and Get Safe Online to demonstrate the real-life, online scams that criminals use to steal from PC users. Their message was simple: secure your PC, and do it today.

Criminals don't care how much money you earn, where you live or even what operating system you use - if you're online, you're fair game. That was the message this week from Microsoft's chief security advisor in the UK, Ed Gibson.

Former FBI agent Gibson was speaking at a Microsoft event in the heart of London's west end. Microsoft teamed up with Prevx and Get Safe Online to demonstrate the speed and ease with which criminals can target poorly protected PCs and networks.

Prevx's ethical hacker Jacques Erasmus successfully attempted, live, two 'key scams' that cybercriminals use on a daily basis to liberate money from individuals and businesses. And the message was clear: security starts at home, and a layered approach is no longer simply desirable - it's required.

Microsoft said it believes the solution to online fraud won't be found by any one business, organisation or even operating system. According to the company, cybercrime will be curtailed only when the IT industry, law-enforcement and - crucially - users take the necessary and simple steps to make crime not pay.

And best of all, the security tools we all require need not cost any money. Click here for the latest PC security reviews.

Web-based commerce in the UK is now a £30bn industry. But according to Get Safe Online's Tony Neate, where there's money, there's crime.

Neate, who was a police detective for 30 years, estimates that £875 per person, per year is lost to fraud. And in many cases, the loss is preventable. For instance - 40 percent of businesses protect only 25 percent of their network traffic, making them a sitting duck for the kind of crimes we saw demonstrated.

As Tony Neate says: it's actually easy to be safe online. Indeed, Ed Gibson estimates that 10 minutes of work can lead to 10 months of security. And the hacks that Erasmus demonstrated left nobody present in any doubt that the time to act is now.

Get the latest PC security news, reviews and tips & tricks at Security Advisor.

  1. Online scams: live and unleased
  2. Online scams: The USB stick hustle
  3. Online scams: The Wi-Fi hustle
  4. Online scams: Conclusions

Continued...
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | NEXT >

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Comments received


Steven Ballmer said on Saturday, 08 December 2007

Only way to be safe is to subscribe to MS ScamAlert for Vista!
favesteveballmer.blogspot.com

David Gent said on Monday, 10 December 2007

If Microsoft is so keen on preventing real time scans it knows what to do - make its operating & application systems secure.

Their preaching reeks of the government's attitude to ID fraud - lose 25m records then blame everybody else

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