It's a Trap! Watch your step--pharming scams are lurking around every corner

Iria · Aug 13, 2005, 09:13 PM

Somebody in Brunei Darussalam has it in for you. And you aren't making friends in Belarus or Nicaragua, either. Even Bobby Fisher can catch a break in Iceland--but you can't.

Network security company Netcraft has identified these as some of the exotic locales most likely to broadcast those phishing e-mails that try to scare you and your customers into giving up bank, PayPal or other sensitive information. Servers in those locations also host the copycat web pages used in a scary variation on phishing--pharming.

No longer content to hook victims one spam at a time, phishers are reinvesting their ill-gotten gains in programming techniques that harvest hundreds or thousands of identities within hours or days. The best known is DNS server cache poisoning--basically, switching internet street signs. Type in a legitimate bank or e-commerce address, and you might get routed to a copycat site that asks for unwarranted personal information and infects your PC with a Trojan that can broadcast your whole network's keystrokes to hackers located anywhere from Rhode Island to Romania. But that's the hard way to pharm.

There are many easier ways to compromise business networks and websites, warns Christopher Faulkner, CEO of web hosting company CI Host. These include various blends of phishing, pharming and good, old-fashioned virus attacks.
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Read More / Source: MSNBC

Aug 13, 2005, 09:13 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	It's a Trap! Watch your step--pharming scams are lurking around every corner Somebody in Brunei Darussalam has it in for you. And you aren't making friends in Belarus or Nicaragua, either. Even Bobby Fisher can catch a break in Iceland--but you can't. Network security company Netcraft has identified these as some of the exotic locales most likely to broadcast those phishing e-mails that try to scare you and your customers into giving up bank, PayPal or other sensitive information. Servers in those locations also host the copycat web pages used in a scary variation on phishing--pharming. No longer content to hook victims one spam at a time, phishers are reinvesting their ill-gotten gains in programming techniques that harvest hundreds or thousands of identities within hours or days. The best known is DNS server cache poisoning--basically, switching internet street signs. Type in a legitimate bank or e-commerce address, and you might get routed to a copycat site that asks for unwarranted personal information and infects your PC with a Trojan that can broadcast your whole network's keystrokes to hackers located anywhere from Rhode Island to Romania. But that's the hard way to pharm. There are many easier ways to compromise business networks and websites, warns Christopher Faulkner, CEO of web hosting company CI Host. These include various blends of phishing, pharming and good, old-fashioned virus attacks. __________ Read More / Source: MSNBC