A Walk Through Cybercrime's Underworld

"..any price paid for proper security policy and execution on that policy is worth it," How much is Dynamic Security Policy enforcement worth to you? By Larry Greenemeier, 05:55 PM ET, Feb 2, 2007

What's a piece of data worth? It's not too hard to find out. Just go to one of the dozens of online marketplaces where stolen credit card numbers, PINs, and Social Security numbers can be purchased--individually or in bundles--starting at just a few dollars. A few dollars is all that's needed to ruin someone's credit rating, drive up their debt, and make them question whether to trust you with their information next time.

Anyone in management at TJX Companies would tell you that any price paid for proper security policy and execution on that policy is worth it, as that company faces the consequences of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard violations and class-action lawsuits from banks and consumers. In just a few months, a number of fraudulent transactions have resulted from an intrusion into TJX's IT systems. InformationWeek will soon publish a story that delves deeply into the seedy underground of the cybercrime economy, describing how stealing information begets identity theft and fraud.

Here's just a little of what we've learned so far.

How stolen bits and bytes of data can be monetized by cybercriminals is an interesting process. It starts with data theft, which can take the form of an intrusion into a company's systems through a network hack, a phishing scam where victims are duped into actually volunteering their personal information, an inside job where a disgruntled employee steals an employer's records, or a smash and grab, where a corporate laptop is stolen from an employee or contractor's car.

From there, the data can be advertised on online marketplaces that let thieves sell stolen data to fraudsters. It's always a good idea to be on the lookout for a bargain, so the fraudsters try to buy their information in bundles. According to security vendor Trend Micro, a credit card number with PIN can fetch about $500 on the open market, while billing data, including account number, address, Social Security number, home address, and birth date, goes for between $80 and $300. Not surprisingly, credit cards with a low balance and high spending limit (such as a platinum or gold card) are the most valuable types of cards.

Thieves and fraudsters do business much the same way you and I would use eBay to buy and sell a cocktail napkin signed by a celebrity. A price is negotiated, and then payment arrangements are made through a peer-to-peer payment system like PayPal or E-gold, which lets people exchange electronic currency backed by the value of gold bullion rather than a particular national currency.

Once the fraudsters take possession of the stolen data, they can use it to make online purchases or even sign up for more credit cards, assuming they've purchased all of the different types of information required to fill out a purchase order or card application. The more industrious fraudsters will program the data into counterfeit credit and debit cards, sometimes using discarded gift cards from the holidays. They can then take these cards to stores and attempt to make purchases by signing a bogus name, as long at the cashier doesn't check the signature (and how many do?).

In the early 1990s, the same person took on multiple roles, which included stealing the information and using the stolen information to commit fraud, Uriel Maimon, an RSA Consumer Solutions researcher, told me the other day. Today, one person writes the malware used to steal information, while another person plants and collects the stolen information, and a third person uses that stolen information to steal money. Another new trend is the tendency for attackers to target high-worth accounts rather than stealing smaller amounts of money from a larger number of accounts, Maimon added.

There's plenty more insight into the cybercriminal economy to come, so keep a lookout for our upcoming story in the pages of InformationWeek and on InformationWeek.com.

RSA: Microsoft pledges support for OpenID

Dynamic Security could help integrate this authentication system into your present security programs and policies.

RSA: Microsoft pledges support for OpenID

Robert McMillan

February 06, 2007 (Computerworld Hong Kong) Microsoft Corp. has thrown its weight behind OpenID, an emerging Web authentication standard.

The announcement was made today at the RSA Conference in San Francisco during a joint keynote by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie that was long on vision and short on specifics.

Microsoft pledged to work to integrate OpenID with its CardSpace identity management software, which is now available in conjunction with Windows Vista. "The marriage of CardSpace and OpenID 2.0 is actually a giant step forward," Mundie said.

By integrating these two technologies, Microsoft expects to "eliminate the issue of the man-in-the-middle-attack," Mundie said. In these attacks, which are increasingly being used by phishers, a thief steals sensitive information by setting up a fake Web site that passes information back and forth between the victim and the legitimate Web site.

OpenID is an emerging open-source standard that simplifies the task of logging on to many different Web sites.

Gates and Mundie spent much of their keynote discussing how their company plans to simplify security and make the process of managing digital identities easier.

IT professionals could achieve both ends by getting rid of log-in passwords and replacing them with strong, certificate-based authentication techniques like smart cards, Gates said. "Passwords are not only weak. Passwords have a huge problem. If you get more and more of them, the worse it is," he said.

"We see smart cards ... [and] certificates in general as the way these things should go. You'll be presenting certificates as opposed to weak passwords," he said.

Microsoft hopes to drive the adoption of smart cards, with the launch of its Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007, introduced at RSA. Expected to ship on May 1, this software integrates technology from Microsoft's 2005 acquisition of Alacris with the company's Identity Integration Server. The software will make it easier for users to integrate strong authentication technologies like smart cards into Microsoft networks.

Mundie suggested that in order for security to work, technology companies will need to turn their thinking upside down, to a certain extent. "Security was really a blocking thing," Mundie said. "How do you invert this ... so these security mechanisms become a thing that makes it simpler for anyone to be granted permission to get [network] access."

Microsoft plans to achieve this by switching the focus using technologies like IPsec (Internet Protocol security) and IPv6 (IP version 6), Mundie said. The company has already been using these technologies for the past two and a half years in an internal access control system that is better about granting employees and contractors access to the data and applications that they need, but keeping them away from the rest of the network, he said.

With breaches being reported every week -- often after the loss of a laptop computer -- companies need to think beyond locking down the perimeter of their networks, Mundie added. "The threat model is changing in fundamental ways. We could continue to invest in this fortress mentality of protecting everything, but I don't think that would be sufficient," he said. "Our castle is fairly porous because a lot of our assets leave the castle."

Microsoft's broad vision did not impress one attendee.

"This was the most content-free presentation I've seen at RSA in years," said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer with BT Group PLC's Counterpane unit. "My guess is that most people in the room could have given that talk because it's where we all want to go."

The keynote, in which Gates and his successor sat side-by-side and, at times, finished each others thoughts, appeared to be a symbolic handing over of power, Schneier said.

Gates will be stepping down from his day-to-day duties in July 2008, at which point Mundie will take over Microsoft's research efforts.

But Schneier doesn't expect Gates to appear at next year's conference. "The take-away is Craig's coming back next year, but Bill isn't," he said.

IT security goes mainstream at RSA Conference

How will IT security be integrated with physical access control??

"Protection from internal threats, such as accidental or malicious disclosure of confidential information, is expected to be a major topic this week. Websense is expected to unveil its new Content Protection Suite and McAfee also is entering the space crowded with smaller players such as Vontu, Code Green Networks and GTB Technologies."

OK - How will all of those be integrated? Does anyone really believe one company can provide all the answers?

Dynamic Security can integrate these systems if they have an interface...

Feb 6, 2007 3:39 PM

The annual RSA Conference is showing evidence of a maturing information security industry with an increasing role for big-name companies. The event has developed into an annual gathering for corporate IT pros and a showcase for hundreds of companies, small and large, that market security products and services to businesses.

Security is becoming more structured and part of the IT infrastructure at companies, instead of being added on later, analysts tell USA Today. Companies including Oracle, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems and Intel are vying for a piece of the pie, which may hurt the smaller industry players, they add.

"There seems to have been a recognition among some of the larger vendors that they can make money with security or, more likely, that they're not going to make any money if they don't have security in the future," said Gartner Analyst Ray Wagner. "That's certainly going to hurt some of the smaller vendors."

Case in point: Database giant Oracle for the first time will have a major presence at the RSA Conference. The company will promote its identity management products as well as software to secure the applications it sells to help large enterprises with things like accounting and human resources. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is slated to deliver a keynote speech at the San Francisco event.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates kicked off the conference Tuesday in a keynote.

"In a lot of ways security is becoming more boring," Andrew Jaquith of the Yankee Group tells USA Today. "But boring is good. Boring means maturation. Boring means you're seeing large companies like IBM have a really rounded out security story. This is good for the mainstreaming of security into the way people run their business."

As products have become more mainstream, so have the RSA attendees. The bulk of the event is geared to less specialized visitors. "Security concerns are moving away from tech geeks with pocket protectors monitoring networks in a back closet somewhere, to something that business managers and more senior folks are concerned with," says George Tubin, an analyst with TowerGroup.

Of the more than 340 exhibitors at the RSA Conference in San Francisco's Moscone convention center, many companies in the security arena are using the event to announce new initiatives, products or product updates.

Protection from internal threats, such as accidental or malicious disclosure of confidential information, is expected to be a major topic this week. Websense is expected to unveil its new Content Protection Suite and McAfee also is entering the space crowded with smaller players such as Vontu, Code Green Networks and GTB Technologies.