Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    FBI: Hackers Must Help Fight Web Mob

    By
    Ryan Naraine
    -
    August 2, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      LAS VEGAS—The FBIs point man for Internet crime wants hackers to join the fight against international gangs of Web mobsters.

      Dan Larkin, unit chief of the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center, used the spotlight of the Black Hat security conference here to call for a new level of trust and cooperation between security researchers and law enforcement, warning that online crime is being controlled by “very sophisticated, very organized” attackers.

      “More often than not, valuable information ends up in your hands before it gets to us,” Larkin told a standing room only gathering of security professionals. “We need to leverage your capabilities and your strengths. You have to be able to tap into us. We have to figure out how to team up and be better partners,” he added.

      Even as his presentation centered on the escalation of what he described as “mobsters on the Internet,” Larkin said his unit has successfully created industry alliances with software vendors and academic institutions in the United States and overseas.

      “We are being proactive to anticipate the threats. We now have frameworks where Citibank can share information with eBay and PayPal and we can track online crimes in the early stages,” Larkin said.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifClick here to read about the return of the Web mob.

      “In the past, the trust wasnt there. We would talk about partnering [with researchers] but the connection never happened,” he said, acknowledging that the public perception of the FBI needed fixing.

      “We took aggressive steps to fix things. We understand that its important that all the stakeholders have access to the best information and we have partnerships now where everyone can access the information immediately,” Larkin added.

      Larkins presentation, which centered on the sharing of cyber-crime “war stories,” included an inside peek of the way the FBI tracks the morphing of spam, phishing and malware attacks.

      “The nature of the threat is complex and more sophisticated. Theyre not just script kiddies anymore. Its highly organized crime networks, with roots in Eastern Europe,” Larkin said.

      He said the crime networks are comprised of “specialist cells” handling specific functions of the attacks. One cell might deal only with ways to get spam e-mails around filters while another cell within the network work on creating malware to exploit high-profile security vulnerabilities.

      Larkin confirmed that the Web mob activity also included a human element in the United States that is used as money mules to re-ship goods overseas.

      He said online merchants have blocked shipments to suspicious destinations in West Africa, only to find that U.S. re-shippers were involved in the bogus transactions.

      Now, he said the FBI is working with online job sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder to quickly identify potential scam listings.

      Larkin also warned that online criminals have “adjusted their operations” to use new forms of social engineering, including telemarketing and the use of penny stock scams driven by spam e-mail.

      “Whatever is the hot story of the day, it will be in a cyber exploit tomorrow,” he warned, noting that phishing attacks during the Hurricane Katrina devastation escalated to the point where 5,000 potential scam domains were registered a full two days before the storm made landfall.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzers Weblog.

      Avatar
      Ryan Naraine

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×