Crimeware Apps Allow Average Internet User to Access Confidential Information

by Project Censored

As the cyberage advances, there has been a hike in identity theft over the web. Millions of Americans every year lose their identity to hackers. Previously, a knowledge of computer and web programming was a necessity in order to steal someones identity over the web. Now it has become as easy as downloading a program. There are a variety of programs available for use. They allow you to: track keystrokes, spoof wire transfers, and steal credit card information straight from hard-drives. These programs cost anywhere from 500 to 7000 dollars, offering large payoffs. A German gang intercepted nearly $6 million dollars in banking transactions with the help of a program called ZeuS.

These crimeware apps are being produced and distributed at an excessive rate. This is allowing cyber-theives to access millions of confidential information, and steal billions of dollars. As regulations and government intervention attempt to reduce or stop these crimes, it has become an arms race between the two opposing sides. When a regulation is put forth, cyber-theives have found loopholes to work around them. The responsibility is given straight to the consumer to stay safe from identity theft on the web.

 

Title: Your Guide to Crimeware Apps

Author: Noah Shachtman

Source: Wired Magazine, January 31 2011

URL: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/st_crimeware/

 

Title: Cyber-Identity Theft: A Conceptual Model and Implications For Public Policy

Authors: Angeline Grace Close, George M. Zinkhan, R. Zachary Finney

Source: University of Nevada, Las Vegas

URL: http://faculty.unlv.edu/angeline/Close%5B1%5%5B1%5D.Zinkhan.CyberIDTheft.pdf

 

Student Researcher: Shah Baig, Sonoma State University

 

Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips, Sonoma State University