Aug 2007

>>> Hacker attempts up 62% for credit unions
The number of hackers attempting to attack the banking clients of an Atlanta security provider is up 81% since last year--with tries against its credit union clients up 62%. From June to December 2006, "we were blocking attacks from approximately 808 hackers per bank per month," said Allen Wilson, vice president of research for SecureWorks. From January through June, the average number of hackers launching attacks at each of its bank clients is 1,462. "For our credit unions, we were blocking attacks from 1,110 hackers per credit union per month. That number has risen to 1,799 hackers per credit union per month," Wilson said.
http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/07/system080307-3.html?ref=hed
http://tinyurl.com/2k2jyq

>>> 10 things you can do to make sure your data doesn't walk out the door
Hacker attacks that bring down the network get a lot of attention, so companies concern themselves with protecting against those threats. Unfortunately, the security precautions that prevent those high profile attacks may not be addressing a much more insidious problem: theft of company data for corporate espionage or other purposes. Yet disclosure of your trade secrets to a competitor or the release of private company information to the media could, in some cases, result in a much greater loss than network downtime. Here's a look at what you should be doing to keep your data from walking out the door.
http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=307311&tag=nl.e101
http://tinyurl.com/2dcwk7

>>> Underground phish kits rise, attacks vs. CUs unchanged
Fraudsters used more "plug and play" phish kits during July while the number of financial institution brands under phish attacks increased to 199, making July the third-highest month for attacks in the past 12 months, according to the RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center (AFCC).
Credit unions were targeted in 39% of the attacks, the same as in May and June. Still, they accounted for the largest share of the attacks. Nationwide U.S. banks were targets in 28% of attacks in July--a significant increase over the 19% they attracted in March, April and June. Regional U.S. banks drew 33% of attacks in July, down from June's 42% in June but higher than May's 28%.
http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/07/system081507-9.html?ref=hed
http://tinyurl.com/yqpfro

>>> Ongoing staff training key to preventing fraud, AACUC told
Protecting credit unions and their members from fraud requires familiarity with current scams, use of fraud prevention tools and ongoing training for employees, a risk management expert told attendees at the African-American Credit Union Coalition 2007 Annual Conference Saturday.
Chetta Hebron-Byrd, risk manager with CUNA Mutual Group, said it's important to understand the mentality of fraud perpetrators. "This is a full-time job for them," she said. "They don't care if you're young or old, or rich or poor. They're out to defraud you and your members."
http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/07/system081507-2.html?ref=hed
http://tinyurl.com/yvpw5o

>>> See a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware
Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, including Microsoft Hotfixes and software serial numbers, and shows the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any Web server. We use Belarc here (William Rogers & Associcate) and it’s great. It will give you a complete overview of your hardware and software on your PC. It’s free for personal use, but a corporate license is available.
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

>>> Capture and save screenshots with the press of a key with Screen Shot Lite
Have you seen these promotions before?

“Capture screenshots with the press of a key or turn on the autosave feature and use the Print Screen button on your keyboard or copy feature on your right-click menu. Even when other screenshot utilities do not work with certain programs, Screen Shot Lite will.”

While some of these programs are pretty good, you have a screen capture option already on your PC. When looking at a screen, just press PrtScn (usually in the upper right hand corner of your keyboard). This captures the screen into memory on your PC. You can then go to any document to paste the captured screen. If you have editing capability, you can crop the screen to remove any data not needed.

>>> Ent launches newest service center in Jackson Creek
Ent Federal Credit Union will celebrate the grand opening of its Jackson Creek Service Center, 16050 Old Forest Point, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 18. The 4,000 square-foot service center has three drive-through lanes, 24/7 ATMs with cash and check imaging capabilities, and biometric accessed safe deposit boxes.
http://www.thepbj.com/story.cfm?ID=10981

>>> List of Data Breaches in The U.S.
The data breaches noted have been reported because the personal information compromised includes data elements useful to identity thieves, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and driver's license numbers. Some breaches that do NOT expose such sensitive information have been included in order to underscore the variety and frequency of data breaches. However, we have not included the number of records involved in such breaches in the total because we want this compilation to reflect breaches that expose individuals to identity theft as well as breaches that qualify for disclosure under state laws. The breaches posted include only those reported in the United States and does not include incidents in other countries.
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm#CP
http://tinyurl.com/3yd7l9

>>> ID-stealing virus creates monster problems for Monster.com
Security researchers continue weighing the damage caused by a Trojan horse that sifted resumes at job-search service Monster.com for personal information. One estimate puts the number of exposed records at 1.6 million, according to security provider Symantec Corp.

According to Symantec, the Trojan discovered recently and named Infostealr.Monstres sought e-mail and home addresses among other information from resumes and sent them back to a mysterious host server for hackers to use later as phishing targets. The realistic-looking e-mails sent back as phishes allegedly contained different Trojans that detected logon and password information used for banking accounts.

Trojans, named after the famous hollow wooden horse of Trojan War myth, are programs that install malicious software while appearing to do something much less threatening.

Infostealer.Monstres likely wound up at Monster.com through fraudulent advertising placed on the site, the researchers said. Other job-search services are under scrutiny from the researchers as well.
(no link available)

>>> 10 pieces of hardware you should replace rather than repair
Any time a computer component stops working, or just becomes unstable — as we all know will happen from time to time — we have to decide whether to replace it, have it repaired, or just get by as is with perhaps a temporary fix. Repair or just getting by will nearly always be the cheapest solution, at least in the short run. Replacement, however, will usually provide a good opportunity to upgrade. In fact, given the rate at which the various technologies behind computer hardware are advancing, unless you replace something a week after you buy it, you may almost be forced to upgrade.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=219&tag=nl.e101
http://tinyurl.com/2hxyyp