Major surge in online banking fraud

That\'s according to Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) which told a House of Lords committee it was a serious problem which needed to be addressed urgently. E-Brief News reports that the revelation comes amid reports around the world that there has been a surge in popularity in online banking and shopping. With Christmas less than a week away, e-tailers say demand is \'sky-high\' for a wide range of online goods. Forrester Research predicts that online shopping will top $132bn this year, with a substantial portion of that happening this holiday season. But the threat of phishing and other forms of identity theft is also on the rise. The FSA and the UK payments association Apacs told the science and technology committee that the problem was growing and that the amount stolen was expected to rise by another 90% next year. Around £45m was stolen in the UK this year through phishing. Out-Law.com reports that both the FSA and Apacs rejected calls for consumers to be notified each time a bank suffered a security breach, such as the loss or theft of a laptop containing customer details. Many US states enforce such a rule and Apacs said that that activity caused \'undue alarm\' there. The committee was told that the number of reported phishing incidents in the first six months of 2005 was 312, but that in the first six months of 2006, 5 059 incidents were reported. Apacs head of security Philip Whitaker said that the jump was due to better detection of the incidents. Zone Labs which was one of the first companies to provide personal firewall software to help prevent hacking, spamming and virus attacks, has now entered the hardware field. The New York Times notes that the ZoneAlarm Secure Wireless Router Z100G includes all the software needed to help protect home networked from intrusions. The software defends against standard attacks and updates automatically to handle new ones. Full Out-Law.com report Full report in The New York Times

In the latest online scam in the US, cybercrooks are breaking into the PCs of small businesses and individuals, locking up data and demanding money in return for releasing it. USA Today reports that so-called ransomware is the latest iteration of extortion on the Internet. Typically, hackers threaten to disrupt the Web sites of companies with a deluge of data unless they are paid. With ransomware, however, online crooks implant malicious computer code on sites in hopes of breaking into the PCs of consumers and remotely encrypting a victim\'s files and photographs. The thieves demand a ransom through an online-payment service such as PayPal or e-gold. Full USA Today report

In the UK, three men have been jailed for their part in a massive data theft operation. One of the accused ringleaders of the gang, Anton Dolgov, was sentenced to six years at London\'s Harrow Crown Court for his part in the theft of millions from victims in countries including the UK and the US. The ID thieves used stolen credit card numbers and created false identities to buy high-end electronics and other goods, which they then resold on eBay, prosecutors said. CNET News reports that when the gang\'s premises were raided by the members of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), one of the suspects managed to flick an electrical switch that wiped databases that could have contained records of the gang\'s activities stretching back more than 10 years. Full CNET News report

In SA, police have warned that keying in your personal identification number (PIN) backwards at an ATM will not summon the police. This is according to bank officials who are quashing claims that have been made in an e-mail that is doing the rounds. The Cape Argus reports that Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom said the information was incorrect and that they had fielded calls to their call centre from people making inquiries about the e-mail. Full Cape Argus report