Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • 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
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Volunteers Prep to Thwart Hurricane Rita Scams

    By
    David Morgenstern
    -
    September 22, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      With Hurricane Rita looming offshore and the Gulf Coast populace heading to higher ground, several Internet watchdogs on Thursday prepared a volunteer effort to combat an expected wave of donation scams.

      An international “call to arms” notice went out on the MWP (Malicious Websites and Phishing) research and operational mailing list by Gadi Evron, the CERT manager in Israels ministry of finance.

      “Over the next few days, some of us are going to process information about sites that will probably be used for Rita scams,” Evron said in his posting. “Through MWP resources and ISP connections, we are going to make sure these sites are taken off-line as soon as we detect them.”

      Evron said that through coordination with a registrar list, the MWP group looked to terminate the domains at the registrar level.

      In addition, the MWP hoped to gain the cooperation of several incident-response mechanisms to build the list of offending sites.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifClick here to read more on the Katrina cyber-looters.

      “This is an excellent example of the degree of behind-the-scenes cooperation between the security, abuse or terms-of-service staff at large ISPs, both between each other, and with law enforcement and the domain registrar community,” said Bill Woodcock, research director with the nonprofit Internet routing education group Packet Clearing House.

      In addition, the Internet Storm Center said bogus charities covering Hurricane Rita had already been discovered.

      The group was working with US-CERT Control Systems Security Center on the problem.

      The group also offered an advisory on the handling of suspect charity URLs.

      “These efforts go on all the time, but I think peoples outrage at fake hurricane relief sites has brought a little more attention to the problem,” Woodcock said.

      Within hours of Katrinas landfall in late August, scam artists snapped up Katrina-related Web domains and began using them to siphon money from unwitting contributors.

      Similar online “cyber-looting” scams were perpetrated following the Asian tsunami in December.

      Officials in several southern states, including Missouri and Florida, took legal action this month to shut down some Web sites, with names such as katrinahelp.com and katrinafamilies.com, that were using the tragedy to direct money to dubious organizations.

      However, the rate that domains can be registered is considerable.

      For example, in the week following the strike of Katrina, more than 2,500 storm-related sites were registered.

      On one day alone, almost 500 domains with the word “Katrina” were registered, according to the SANS Institutes Internet Storm Center.

      /zimages/1/28571.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.

      David Morgenstern
      David Morgenstern is Executive Editor/Special Projects of eWEEK. Previously, he served as the news editor of Ziff Davis Internet and editor for Ziff Davis' Storage Supersite.In 'the days,' he was an award-winning editor with the heralded MacWEEK newsweekly as well as eMediaweekly, a trade publication for managers of professional digital content creation.David has also worked on the vendor side of the industry, including companies offering professional displays and color-calibration technology, and Internet video.He can be reached here.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 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.

      ×