Cyber crime hits record levels
Tuesday February 12 2008
And computer giant Microsoft is predicting the three biggest threats in 2008 will be from bogus electronic greeting cards, phishing emails and telephone scams.
The latest report from the Microsoft Malware Protection Centre in Dublin found that there was a significant increase in criminals targeting Irish computer users in the first six months of last year, up by 44pc. There were more than 166,000 incidents of computers being infected by viruses during that period.
Separate research undertaken as part of the 'makeITsecure' campaign found that the average computer connected to the internet is subjected to a barrage of almost 300 attempted attacks each day.
Electronic greetings cards are being flagged as one of the biggest imminent threats.
These are sent via email and when opened unleash a virus which can then steal personal information from PCs.
Unlike genuine cards, which contain a friend's name in the subject line, these bogus emails are usually sent from an unnamed "family member".
Phishing, or online scams that trick computer users into handing over confidential information such as bank account numbers, is expected to reach unprecedented levels this year, according to experts.
Last year, cases jumped by almost one-third as unsuspecting people responded to bogus emails purporting to be from their bank or credit card company.
Internet users are also warned to beware of a new telephone scam in which they are sent an email asking them to verify a credit card or tax refund through a telephone number.
The number then turns out to be a computerised phone answering system that collects the information for criminals.
As more and more of us use the internet to shop online, the chances of being caught by a scammer are even higher.
A survey of 800 users found that over half regularly shop online. One in three has been exposed to some sort of threat such as spam, phishing, identity theft or having their credit card details stolen.
And while most parents keep tabs on what their children are doing online and have rules in place to protect them, up to a third admit they don't monitor their children's use of social networking sites such as Bebo.
- Breda Heffernan
