| Computer hackers breached the local authority bank | | | | made four illegal wire transfers. |
| accounts in November 2008 and redirected 34.000 | | | | Bank officials told the town the wire transfers were |
| dollars in taxpayer money to Russia in an elaborate | | | | made using the treasurer\'s name and password. |
| computer hacking scheme. | | | | Investigators believe the hackers breached the local |
| The scheme,involved hacking into the local authority | | | | authorities computers using a virus that logged key |
| computers to steal passwords to withdraw cash | | | | strokes. |
| through wire transfers, there were four illegal transfers | | | | Cyber crime is booming in places like Eastern Europe |
| found during a 10-day period. | | | | and Russia where there are people with technological |
| The money was wired to banks in Florida and Georgia | | | | skills and few job opportunities. That\'s the combination |
| in the United States and at least one transfer was | | | | that adds up to trouble. We do see the threat coming |
| traced to St. Petersburg, Russia. That has law | | | | from all parts of the globe. There are elaborate |
| enforcement convinced that Russian organized crime | | | | networks that include people who don\'t even know |
| is involved. | | | | each other working in different countries. It can have a |
| Hackers used a virus known as a \"sniffer\" to snag | | | | lot of moving pieces, It insulates the mastermind. |
| the password and security information from the | | | | It\'s difficult to quantify the magnitude of the cyber |
| computer system, that type of virus is also called a | | | | crime problem beyond calling it \"massive. Symantec |
| key-stroke logger. | | | | released a report that indicates a thriving underground |
| The hacking was first discovered on Nov. 14 by the | | | | economy. Cyber thieves are finding new ways to |
| town Treasurer when he discovered the bogus | | | | thwart security to steal credit card and bank account |
| transfers when he went to pay the local authorities bills | | | | information. Knowing that more people are aware that |
| for that week and didn\'t have enough money. Bank | | | | they shouldn\'t open attached files, cyber criminals try |
| officials told him that he had authorized the transfers in | | | | to lure victims to Web sites through links embedded in |
| question, which led him to call in police immediately. | | | | e-mails. |
| The local authorities quickly secured its computer | | | | If local authorities computer systems can be breached |
| network and they were able to follow the money trail | | | | like this, as an individual you\'ve got to keep that in |
| to Florida. | | | | mind. You might think,you are in charge of a small |
| Officials believe the initial computer breach occurred on | | | | community and therefor they\'re not going to come |
| Nov. 4th 2008. \"Had this been going on for months, | | | | after you. They are only interested in a big city, but |
| you can imagine how much money would be | | | | there\'s nothing too small for them. If they can get |
| involved\". A small amount of money from one of the | | | | some profit out of it, they will. |
| transfers was still in a bank account in Florida. | | | | Symantec\'s year-long study found that the cumulative |
| A man attempting to withdraw those funds was | | | | value of the stolen information, the majority of which |
| questioned by police who found he was employed for | | | | are credit cards and bank accounts, was more than |
| what he thought was a legitimate company. That man, | | | | $276 million. And the company says that is only a |
| answering a newspaper ad, opened a bank account | | | | fraction of the underground economy. |
| and provided his employer with access to that | | | | If all of the stolen credit cards and bank accounts |
| account information. His job was to move money | | | | were liquidated, the number would exceed $7 billion. |
| between accounts for a fee. The Florida man has not | | | | Measures authorities and companies as well as |
| been charged. | | | | individuals can take to avoid hackers getting into their |
| The theft of $34,000 from the local authorities bank | | | | bank accounts are amongst the following; |
| account is part of growing underground economy | | | | Verify that security patches, anti-virus, and |
| centered on cyber crime. It\'s massive, it\'s growing | | | | anti-spyware software are up to date |
| and it\'s international. \"There are cyber criminals and | | | | Ensure that you have a firewall that is properly |
| cyber victims in many different countries. | | | | configured |
| The hackers stole the password and security | | | | Never open a suspicious e-mail |
| information from the local authorities bank account and | | | | Be especially wary of opening files that end in \". |