Reports on the Latest Cybercrime Organizational Structures and Modus Operandi

The Scale of This Fraud is Quite Breathtaking

(18.08.08) - Finjan Inc., a provider of secure web gateway solutions for the enterprise market, says that the major criminal case involving the theft of 41 million payment card details from nine US retailers confirms Finjan’s Q2 Web Security Trends Report findings on the latest cybercrime organizational structures and modus operandi.

"As confirmed in our Q2 2008 Web Security Trends Report and in our research reports during May and April of this year, each cybercrime organization is well structured, operates globally and has between 8-12 members involved.Based on our discovery of a Crimeware server containing more than 1.4GB of business and personal data stolen from infected PCs and on the contents of our online conversations with cybercriminals, it became clear to us that these kind of cybercriminals are taking a highly professional approach to their frauds," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Finjan's Chief Technology Officer.

The recent arrests demonstrate the essential cooperation between law enforcements around the world to fight cybercrime. According to Ben-Itzhak, Finjan's Q2 Trends report indicated that its discoveries were clearly the tip of the fraud iceberg. The fact that nine major retail chains have been hacked and payment card details of 41 million cardholders were obtained, confirms this once again.

"The scale of this fraud is quite breathtaking, and illustrates the professional approach that these fraudsters take. It might be all business to them, but such a fraud leaves a lot of damage, hassle and misery for its victims in its wake," he said. "For companies such as the ones victimized, safeguarding their networks and financial and business data has become a top priority.”

For more on the 41 million payment card details theft case: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7544313.stm

(Finjan: ma)