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Human fallibility blamed

By Peter Larsen @ Monday, October 13, 2008

A security researcher has concluded that online identity theft remains a critical threat.

In September, David Porter, head of security and risk at Detica, explained that there was only so much that experts and computer systems can do to prevent identity fraud. According to Porter, final responsibility rests with the consumer.

"Identity fraud attacks succeed largely because of human fallibility; however there are simple steps that people can take to avoid being caught out by fraudsters," said Porter.

Porter also noted that internet surfers need to be more guarded about their behaviour and realise that personal information posted on social networking sites could be "accessed and used by fraudsters."

J Prasanna, CEO of AVS Labs, told IT Examiner that users without an updated antivirus database and personal firewall were susceptible to Trojan key loggers that intercepted usernames and passwords. Prasanna also recommended installing Key Scrambler to encrypt every keystroke.

A number of high-level hacking threats have been highlighted by the Indian press over the past few months.

Economic Times reported that an unidentified Indian hacker had helped the Russian mafia steal the identities of nearly eight million people from the UK's Best Western Hotel website. Another article warned against the dangers of wardrivers, which are utilised by roving individuals to identify unprotected Wifi networks.

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Area Homeowners' Fears Unfold In High-Stakes Courtroom Dramas

By Ovetta Wiggins Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 31, 2009; Page A01

Courtroom

The court clerk calls his name, and Harry Rexrode, not entirely sure what to do, steps to the defendant's table. He is dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt with dried paint spattered on the sleeves and work boots. He has no attorney.

In a stern tone, Prince George's County Circuit Judge Herman Dawson asks Rexrode whether he knows what is happening to him. Rexrode, 50, nods his head. "I want to see if I can get a continuance," he says. Dawson grins, as if amused by Rexrode's use of the legal term. "A continuance? For what?" "To stay," Rexrode says.

Rexrode is seeking a miracle really, in a place where there are precious few. He is in the county's foreclosure court, asking Dawson to let him remain in the Hyattsville home he has owned since 1997 a little longer before the bank takes it and he is put out in the cold. In the foreclosure drama between homeowner and lender, this is the final act. Courtrooms such as this across the Washington region are the forums where banks ask judges to grant a default decree so they can take ownership of a home, and people such as Rexrode try to reverse or delay that decision. They are almost always too late, and tragically ill-equipped to do so.

Seated in Dawson's nondescript courtroom, most share a look of puzzlement, fearful about their futures and uncertain of how the legal system works. They sound confused when the judge begins to pepper them with questions about dates of missed payments and when the bank began warning them about default. Few offer any evidence to support their claims.

In the foreclosure drama between homeowner and lender, this is the final act. Courtrooms such as this across the Washington region are the forums where banks ask judges to grant a default decree so they can take ownership of a home, and people such as Rexrode try to reverse or delay that decision. They are almost always too late, and tragically ill-equipped to do so.

Seated in Dawson's nondescript courtroom, most share a look of puzzlement, fearful about their futures and uncertain of how the legal system works. They sound confused when the judge begins to pepper them with questions about dates of missed payments and when the bank began warning them about default. Few offer any evidence to support their claims.

"Have you talked to a lawyer?" Dawson asks Rexrode. "I didn't know I needed one," Rexrode responds.

Dawson, who often hears criminal and juvenile cases and has a reputation for toughness, shakes his head. Then he says something he will repeat over and over all day. "You don't come to court without a lawyer. This is the problem."

It is obvious to Dawson that many of the homeowners don't understand the process. They wait too long to seek his help, and by the time they arrive, he has no choice but to rule in the lender's favor. Attorneys for the lenders, in contrast, are armed with documents, including returned certified letters notifying homeowners of their late payments and the bank's plans to foreclose.

Dawson estimates that he can help in only about 10 percent of the cases. "The mortgage company has done everything they were supposed to do, but then you have a person saying they have nowhere to go," he said. "It's very disheartening, knowing you can't do anything for them.

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Both Companies Might be Victims of Larger Fraud Schemes

Heartland Payment Systems, the sixth-largest payments processor in the U.S., announced Monday that its processing systems were breached in 2008, exposing an undetermined number of consumers to potential fraud. Meanwhile, Forcht Bank, one of the 10 largest banks in Kentucky, told its customers it would begin reissuing 8,500 debit cards after being informed by its own card processor of a possible breach.

In the case of Heartland, while the company continues to assess the damages inflicted by the attack, Robert Baldwin, the company's president and CFO, says law enforcement has already noted that the attack against his company is part of a wider cyber fraud operation.

"The indication that it is tied to wider cyber fraud operation comes directly from conversations with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Secret Service," Baldwin says. The company says it believes the breach has been contained.

Heartland, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, handles approximately 100 million transactions per month, although the number of unique cardholders is much lower.

"It is still a question as to the percentage of the data flow they were able to get," Baldwin says, adding he would not speculate on the number of cards potentially exposed.

Specifics surrounding when the breach occurred are still being analyzed. But Baldwin says two forensic auditing teams have been working on the breach analysis and investigation since late 2008, after Heartland received the notification from Visa and MasterCard. The investigation began immediately after the credit card companies told Heartland they saw suspicious activity surrounding processed card transactions. Described by Baldwin as "quite a sophisticated attack," he says it has been challenging to discover exactly how it happened.

The forensic teams found that hackers "were grabbing numbers with sniffer malware as it went over our processing platform," Baldwin says. "Unfortunately, we are confident that card holder names and numbers were exposed."

Data, including card transactions sent over Heartland's internal processing platform, is sent unencrypted, he explains, "As the transaction is being processed, it has to be in unencrypted form to get the authorization request out."

No merchant data or cardholder Social Security numbers, unencrypted personal identification numbers (PIN), addresses or telephone numbers were involved in the breach. Nor were any of Heartland's check management systems.

The company delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payments solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide Baldwin says the company moved quickly to announce the breach.

"It is important to get it out, but leaves us with incomplete information for our customers until the investigation is complete," he says. For more information on the breach, the company has set up a website: www.2008breach.com. Heartland advises cardholders to examine their monthly statements closely and report any suspicious activity to their card issuers.

Forcht Bank: "Not Isolated" In a statement to Forcht Bank's customers, COO Tyronica Crutcher says that the bank's debit card processor, STAR, informed the bank that a retail merchant processor's information may have been compromised, and that some unknown persons are possibly creating duplicate debit cards. "According to STAR, there are several other banks affected, and this is not isolated to Forcht Bank customers," says Crutcher.

Forcht Bank has 34 branches in 11 counties, with more than $1 billion in assets.