VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 22:48:52 03/11/04 Thu
Author: Billy
Subject: Companies lose millions in web of Internet fraud

Companies lose millions in web of Internet fraud

By Alex Wright


CYBER crime is costing companies billions of pounds according to a survey.

The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit revealed that of 201 businesses questioned, 83 per cent claimed to have suffered from computer crime in the last year, costing them £195m.

Sixty-two per cent lost £121m to Internet fraud.

Furthermore, of 44 financial services business polled, three lost £60m to fraud between them, while virus attacks were experienced by 77 per cent at a cost of £27.8m.

Seventeen per cent lost £23m to criminal use of the Internet, most-ly by employees who sabotaged data and networks.

Alastair Campbell, managing director of UK Data Net, based in Church Street, Bookham, said the dangers of cyber crime are all too apparent.

He said: "There are so many ways that your website can be hijacked, spoofed or copied.

"Your data can be copied or stolen, your e-mail address forged and even your shopping cart copied to steal credit card numbers.

"Against that you have companies who keep client data in clear text, don't secure credit card details, have badly designed or secured websites and servers and therefore won't complain to the police because it is partly their own sloppiness that gets them into trouble in the first place."

The survey shows 11 per cent of firms had data stolen and 15 per cent have had spoofs made of their corporate websites.

Mr Campbell said there are a number of risks companies need to be aware of.

He said: "Ease of copying web pages makes it easy to create illegitimate sites that appear to be published by established organisations.

"Electronic criminals have illegally obtained credit card numbers by setting up websites that mimic legitimate businesses.

"A competitor or disgruntled customer can alter your website so that it refuses service to potential clients, or malfunctions.

"Meanwhile the content of a transaction can be intercepted and altered en route, either maliciously or accidentally.

"User names, credit card numbers, and dollar amounts are all vulnerable to such alteration."

Top tips for companies to guard against cyber crime:

Never keep credit card details on the web server. If you don't have an Internet merchant account then use a third party like www.protx.com who are approved by banks

Keep your client data secured even on your local machines. Limit access to it to those who really need it

Always ensure that you receive payment from you card processor before you release the goods that have been ordered. This can be anything from minutes to days so make sure your delivery policy makes this clear on your website

Use a secure web server (and browser) with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for credit card transactions and other e-commerce transactions

Employ reliable firewall technology for in-house servers and networks. Get a recognised consultant with platform-specific expertise to set this up

Use digital certificates and IDs to verify merchant and customer, and digital signatures to encrypt and authorise messages where appropriate.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.