Crime and attacks are business that advertise

It seems that cyber crime does pay, or at least you can hire people to do it for you.

In a recent article KrebsonSecurity describes an Online Service Offers Bank Robbers for Hire.

 An online service boldly advertised in the cyber underground lets miscreants hire accomplices in several major U.S. cities to help empty bank accounts, steal tax refunds and intercept fraudulent purchases of high-dollar merchandise.

Now this is nothing new in the world of cyber crime, but it is a bit new for physical crime.

Last year it was reported that there was a service offering to break Captchas, those often unreadable, always annoying distorted letters that you're required to type in at many a Web site to prove that you're really a human.

Also there is a service for False Answer Supervision.

Or there was the case of out sourcing to hack phone systems for Al Qaeda - $2 million stolen for the cost of $4,000.

It seems that the criminals are working harder to find ways to make money from committing crimes, they share tools and data in forums that cater to cybercrooks or hackers.

It is time that we start to work harder to share information to beat these guys before they unionize.

Guest blogging on Peer-to-Peer blog: 2011's Biggest Frauds and Phreaks

I have another Guest Blog published on Channel Partners Magazine’s Peer-to-Peer blog

2011's Biggest Frauds and Phreaks 

It reviews the many news stories about Telecom Fraud that occurred during the year.

Shssshhhhhh!!!! Al-Qaeda Phreaking!

Humbug Telecom Lab’s Eric Klein will be making a guest appearance on VoIP Users Conference weekly discussion:

Topic:  As shown by the recent arrest in the case of terrorist who were hacking AT&T business customers to fund Al-Qaeda; Telecom Fraud has come a long way from Captain Crunch and Steve Jobs phreaking Ma Bell for fun and glory. It is now big business aimed at stealing from you via your PBX. Let’s discuss actual cases and some things you can do to make sure your PBX is not funding terror.

Friday at December 2^nd at 12 Noon Eastern Time (9AM Pacific)

To connect see instructions on http://www.voipusersconference.org/how-to-participate/date-and-time/

Using the Phone for Shoplifting

I know that this is not exactly telecom fraud, but seeing how that has moved from kids doing pranks to funding global terrorism it is time to look at how phones are being used in ways that were never envisioned.

We have seen how the phoneme of flash mobs have been used for good and bad in the past year. Flash mobs helped topple governments in the Arab Spring. How they were used in the UK riots. In each case the motivation behind the flash mob was different – frustration at years of oppression to looting from frustration at the slow economy.

Now retailers have to worry if they are the next targets. In an article Joan Goodchild offers 4 steps retailers can take to combat flash robs.

Flash robs, technically known as multiple-offender crimes, occur when a group of people coordinate to overcrowd a retail outlet and steal items by overwhelming staff with their numbers and speed.

Earlier this month, a crowd of youths in Maryland, some estimate as many as 50, made headlines when they flash robbed a 7-Eleven in Silver Springs, the third time such an incident has happened in that area this year.

While these types of group attacks are not new the combination of smartphones with Twitter and Facebook make these kind of attacks easier to coordinate and implement.

I will not repeat the suggestions that Joan gives in her article, but I will say that they make sense to me: Product Placement, Cameras, enough Staff, and training are the key.