Cybercrime as a Service Drives Cyber Attacks on Uber Accounts and More
January 26, 2016
Several articles lately have shined light on the dynamics at play in the cybercriminal marketplaces of the Dark Web; How much is your Uber account worth?, for example, was recently published on Daily Mail. Summarizing a report from security researchers at Trend Micro for CNBC, the article explains this new information extends the research previously done by Intel Security’s The Hidden Data Economy report. Beyond describing the value hierarchy where Uber and Paypal logins cost more than social security numbers and credit cards, this article shares insights on the bigger picture,
“’Like any unregulated, efficient economy, the cybercrime ecosystem has quickly evolved to deliver many tools and services to anyone aspiring to criminal behavior,’ said Raj Samani, chief technology officer for Intel Security EMEA. ‘This “cybercrime-as-a-service” marketplace has been a primary driver for the explosion in the size, frequency, and severity of cyber attacks.
‘The same can be said for the proliferation of business models established to sell stolen data and make cybercrime pay.’”
Moving past the shock value of the going rates, this article draws our attention to the burgeoning business of cybercrime. Similarly to the idea that Google has expanded the online ecosystem by serving as a connector, it appears marketplaces in the Dark Web may be carving out a similar position. Quite the implications when you consider the size of the Dark Web.
Megan Feil, January 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Hackers Opt for Netflix and Uber over Credit Card Theft on Dark Web
January 25, 2016
It is no surprise that credit cards and other account information is sold on the Dark Web but which accounts are most valuable might surprise. Baiting us to click, the article It turns out THIS is more valuable to hackers than your stolen credit card details on the United Kingdom’s Express offers the scoop on the going rate of various logins cybercriminals are currently chasing. Hacked Uber, Paypal and Netflix logins are the most valuable. The article explains,
“Uber rolled-out multi-factor authentication in some markets last year which decreased the value of stolen account details on the Dark Web, the International Business Times reported. According to the Trend Micro study, the price for credit cards is so comparatively low because banks have advanced techniques to detect fraudulent activity.”
The sales of these accounts are under $10 each, and according to the article, they seem to actually be used by the thief. Products and experiences, as consumable commodities, are easier to steal than cash when organizations fail to properly protect against fraudulent activity. The takeaway seems to be obvious.
Megan Feil, January 25, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Total Patent Counts for 2015 Are in, and IBM Wins (Again)
January 21, 2016
The article on Reuters titled IBM Granted Most U.S. Patents in 2015, Study Finds confirms the 23rd consecutive win in this area for IBM. Patents are a key indicator of the direction and focus of a given business, and top companies take these numbers very seriously. Interestingly, 2015 was the first year since 2007 that the total count of U.S. patents fell. Following that trend, Microsoft Corp’s patents were also 31% lower than past totals, and as a result the company took only tenth place on the list. The article provides some other details on patent rankings,
“Among the technology giants notable for their intellectual property, Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google stepped up its patent activity, moving to the fifth position from eighth in 2014, while Apple Inc (AAPL.O) stayed at the 11th position. Patents are sometimes the subject of legal battles, and investors, analysts and enthusiasts alike track patents closely to see what companies are looking to develop next. Following IBM, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Canon Inc (7751.T) rounded off the top three spots…”
There are no big surprises here, but one aspect of patents that the article does not cover is whether patents count as revenue? We were under the impression that money did that trick, but the emphasis on patents seems to suggest otherwise.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Woman Fights Google and Wins
January 21, 2016
Google is one of those big corporations that if you have a problem with it, you might as well let it go. Google is powerful, respected, and has (we suspect) a very good legal department. There are problems with Google, such as the “right to be forgotten” and Australian citizens have a big bone to pick with the search engine. Australian News reports that “SA Court Orders Google Pay Dr. Janice Duffy $115,000 Damages For Defamatory Search Results.”
Duffy filed a lawsuit against Google for displaying her name along with false and defamatory content within its search results. Google claimed no responsibility for the actual content, as it was not the publisher. The Australian Supreme Court felt differently:
“In October, the court rejected Google’s arguments and found it had defamed Dr Duffy due to the way the company’s patented algorithm operated. Justice Malcolm Blue found the search results either published, republished or directed users toward comments harmful to her reputation. On Wednesday, Justice Blue awarded Dr Duffy damages of $100,000 and a $15,000 lump sum to cover interest.”
Duffy was not the only one who was upset with Google. Other Australians filed their own complaints, including Michael Trkulja with a claim search results linked him to crime and Shane Radbone sued to learn the identities of bloggers who wrote negative comments.
It does not seem that Google should be held accountable, but technically they are not responsible for the content. However, Google’s algorithms are wired to bring up the most popular and in-depth results. Should they develop a filter that measures negative and harmful information or is it too subjective?
Whitney Grace, January 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
A Death of Dark Web Weapons
January 20, 2016
President Obama recently announced some executive orders designed to curb gun violence; one of these moves, according to the U.S. Attorney General, specifically targets weapon purchases through the Dark Web. However, Deep.Dot.Web asks, “Do People Really Buy Weapons from Dark Web Markets?” Not many of them, as it turns out. Reporter Benjamin Vitáris writes:
“Fast Company made an interview with Nicolas Christin, assistant research professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The professor is one of the researchers behind a recent deep-dive analysis of sales on 35 marketplaces from 2013 to early 2015. According to him, dark web gun sales are pretty uncommon: ‘Weapons represent a very small portion of the overall trade on anonymous marketplaces. There is some trade, but it is pretty much negligible.’ On the dark net, the most popular niche is drugs, especially, MDMA and marijuana, which takes around 25% of sales on the dark web, according to Christin’s analysis. However, weapons are so uncommon that they were put into the ‘miscellaneous’ category, along with drug paraphernalia, electronics, tobacco, viagra, and steroids. These together takes 3% of sales.”
Vitáris notes several reasons the Dark Web is not exactly a hotbed of gun traffic. For one thing, guns are devilishly difficult to send through the mail. Then there’s the fact that, with current federal and state laws, buying a gun in person is easier than through dark web markets in most parts of the U.S.; all one has to do is go to the closest gun show. So, perhaps, targeting Dark Web weapon sales is not the most efficient thing we could do to keep guns away from criminals.
Cynthia Murrell, January 20, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Many Companies Worldwide Underprepared for Cyber Attacks
January 19, 2016
A recent survey from KPMG Capital suggests that only about half the world’s CEOs feel their companies are “fully prepared” to counter a cyber breach in the next three years. One notable exception: businesses in the U.S., where about ninety percent of CEOs feel their companies are ready to fend off hackers. We are not surprised that KPMG is gathering information on in the subject, since it recently took an equity stake in cyber-intelligence firm Norse Corp.
KPMG Australia comments on the survey’s results in its post, “Cyber Security: A Failure of Imagination.” The write-up relates:
“According to the 2015 KPMG CEO Outlook Study [PDF] of more than 1,200 CEOs, one out of five indicated that information security is the risk they are most concerned about. ‘Collectively we sleepwalked into a position of vulnerability when it comes to cyber,’ said Malcolm Marshall, Global Head of Cyber Security at KPMG. ‘This combination of lack of preparedness and concern, from those organizations that are among the best equipped to deal with risks of this magnitude, clearly illustrates cyber security challenges remain severely unaddressed.’”
A lack of skilled cyber-security workers seems to be a large part of the problem, particularly ones who also have management or social-science skills. However, we’re told the root cause here is the “failure to imagine” what hackers can do and might try before they’ve tried it. Clearly, many executives would do well to get themselves up to speed on the subject, before their companies fall victim.
Cynthia Murrell, January 19, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Hello, Big Algorithms
January 15, 2016
The year had barely started and it looks lime we already have a new buzzword to nestle into our ears: big algorithms. The term algorithm has been tossed around with big data as one of the driving forces behind powerful analytics. Big data is an encompassing term that refers to privacy, security, search, analytics, organization, and more. The real power, however, lies in the algorithms. Benchtec posted the article, “Forget Big Data-It’s Time For Big Algorithms” to explain how algorithms are stealing the scene.
Data is useless unless you are able to are pull something out of it. The only way get the meat off the bone is to use algorithms. Algorithms might be the powerhouses behind big data, but they are not unique. The individual data belonging to different companies.
“However, not everyone agrees that we’ve entered some kind of age of the algorithm. Today competitive advantage is built on data, not algorithms or technology. The same ideas and tools that are available to, say, Google are freely available to everyone via open source projects like Hadoop or Google’s own TensorFlow…infrastructure can be rented by the minute, and rather inexpensively, by any company in the world. But there is one difference. Google’s data is theirs alone.”
Algorithms are ingrained in our daily lives from the apps run on smartphones to how retailers gather consumer detail. Algorithms are a massive untapped market the article says. One algorithm can be manipulated and implemented for different fields. The article, however, ends on some socially conscious message about using algorithms for good not evil. It is a good sentiment, but kind of forced here, but it does spur some thoughts about how algorithms can be used to study issues related to global epidemics, war, disease, food shortages, and the environment.
Whitney Grace, January 15, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Strong and Loud or Quiet and Weak, Googles Robot Grandkids Fail to Impress the Marines
January 15, 2016
The article titled Why the Marines Don’t Want Google’s Robot Soldiers in Combat on Fortune discusses the downside of the Google-owned company Boston Dynamics’ robots. You might guess, moral concerns, or more realistically, funding. But you would be wrong, since DARPA already shelled out over $30 million for the four-legged battle bots. Instead, the issue is that a single robot, which looks like a huge insect wearing a helmet and knee and elbow pads, emits a noise akin to a motorcycle revving, or a jackhammer drilling, for small movements. The article explains,
“Anyone who’s seen Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robots in action typically is wowed by their speed, strength, and agility, but also note how loud they are. They sound like chainsaws on steroids. And that decibel level is apparently a problem for potential customers, namely the U.S. military.
For Marines who took the robot out for a spin, that noise is apparently a deal breaker. “They took it as it was: a loud robot that’s going to give away their position.”
The reason for all this hullaballoo on the part of the robot is its gas engine, intended for increased robustness. The military was looking for a useful helpmate capable of carrying heavy loads of up to 400 lbs. There has been some back and forth between military representatives and Boston Dynamics, but the current state of affairs seems to be a quieter, and weaker, robot. Not ideal.
Chelsea Kerwin, January 15, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Big Data Shows Its Return on Investment
January 13, 2016
Big data was the word that buzzed through the IT community and made companies revaluate their data analytics and consider new ways to use structured and unstructured information to their benefit. Business2Community shares how big data has affected companies in sixteen case studies: “16 Case Studies Of Companies Proving ROI Of Big Data.” One of the problems companies faced when implementing a big data plan was whether or not they would see a return on their investment. Some companies saw an immediate return, but others are still scratching their heads. Enough time has passed to see how various corporations in different industries have leaned.
Companies remain committed to implementing big data plans into their frameworks, most of what they want to derive from big data is how to use it effectively:
- “91% of marketing leaders believe successful brands use customer data to drive business decisions (source: BRITE/NYAMA)
- 87% agree capturing and sharing the right data is important to effectively measuring ROI in their own company (BRITE/NYAMA)
- 86% of people are willing to pay more for a great customer experience with a brand (souce: Lunch Pail)”
General Electric uses big data to test their products’ efficiently and the crunch the analytics to increase productivity. The Weather Channel analyzes its users behavior patterns along with climate data in individual areas to become an advertising warehouse. The big retailer Wal-Mart had added machine learning, synonym mining, and text analysis to increase search result relevancy. Semantic search has also increased online shopping by ten percent.
The article highlights many other big brand companies and how big data has become a boon for businesses looking to increase their customer relations, increase sales, and improve their services.
Whitney Grace, January 13, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Business World Is Not Prepared for a Cyber Attack
January 12, 2016
Cyber threats have been a concerning topics since computers became functional and daily tools for people. The idea of a hacker brings up images of IT geeks sitting in a dark basement with their laptops and cracking top secret codes in a matter of keystrokes. Hacking has turned from a limited crime to a huge international problem comparable to the mafia. While hackers are interested in targeting individuals, the bolder thieves target big businesses. News of Bahrain shares that “Biz Not Prepared For Cyber Threat,” translated from headline speech that means the business world would not withstand a cyber attack.
KPMG International released the 2015 KPMG CEO Outlook Study that found businesses are aware of risks associated with cyber attacks, but only forty-nine percent have prepared for one. The study surveyed 1,200 CEOs and one out of five are concerned about cyber risks. The concern has led many CEOs to take action with security measures and safety plans.
“ ‘The most innovative companies have recognized that cyber security is a customer experience, not just a risk that needs to be managed or a line item in the budget. In Bahrain, some firms are finding ways to turn cyber preparedness into a competitive advantage with customers, and they are using this as a differentiator.’ ”
Many companies that are attacked thought they were prepared for any threats, but they underestimated hackers’ intelligence, sophistication, and persistence.
Some of the companies with good cyber security are advertising their technical achievements to prevent attacks. It is a desirable feature, especially as more information is housed on cloud storage and businesses need to be aware of potential threats.
Whitney Grace, January 12, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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