Hackers Access Florida Students Personal Information
A massive computer security breach at the University of North Florida may have exposed the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of nearly 107,000 students.
The FBI is investigating the attack, which was discovered by the university in a routine check of the server. It is believed that a university file containing current and potential students’ personal information may have been accessed by someone “outside the United States.”
According to University officials, the hacker had access to the system between September 24th and September 29th, but the University did not say when the breach was discovered.
In response to the security breach, the University sent letters and emails to all 106,884 people affected, including 52,853 people whose names and Social Security numbers were compromised, and 54,031 who had their names and dates of birth stolen.
In a statement, the University said no academic records or financial information was taken, but information like names and social security numbers are prime information for identity thieves.
Though the compromised server has been secured, the University suggested those hit by the identity theft place a fraud alert on their credit files.
“It Was an Inside Job:” Cyber Thief Receives 15 Year Sentence
The old cliche from all those old cop shows, “it was an inside job,” has never rung more true today than ever when it comes to cybercrime. SC Magazine recently did a story about Texas woman who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for stealing the personal information of patients while she was employed by a medical billing contractor. The cyber criminal, Katina Candrick, 34, was also ordered to pay more than $163,000 in restitution.
When Candrick was arrested in December 2009, she was living under the name of a person whose identity she had stolen and she used stolen personal identification information of others to pay for living expenses, vehicles and other items.
This was clearly an inside job. Joe Gottlieb, CEO of SenSage, told SC Magazine that cybercrimes involving insiders often are committed by employees who have access to sensitive data, and their company fails to perform any monitoring, he said. The
5 Sneaky Credit Card Scams
#1 Phone Fraud. The phone rings, a scammer poses as your banks fraud department. They may have your entire card number stolen from another source. They ask about a charge made and you deny the charge, but in order for the charge to be removed, they need your 3-4 digits CVV number off the front or back of the card. A variation may be they only have the last 4 digits found on a receipt or statement you threw away. They can also use the same ruse to get the full 16 digits from you.
#2 Clever Clerk. You hand your card to a sales clerk, waiter or waitress and they have a card reading wedge device that looks like this. The device may be wrapped around a band on their ankle. They bend over and make it look like they are fixing a sock, once they swipe the card through, they can make charges on your card.
#3 The Loop. You’re at an ATM that isn’t cooperating. Some nice guy injects himself into the scene to help you. During the process he watches you enter your pin. Aft
ATM Skimming On the Rise
With ATM skimming on the rise consumers need to be cautious when using ATM machines. Identity thieves attach small skimming devices to the machines that copy a credit and debit card numbers, information on the magnetic strip and even personal identification numbers.
“Many consumers may not be aware that an ATM has been tampered with because they’re not educated about this,” said Robert Vamosi, a security, risk and fraud research analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research.
Sophisticated skimming devices placed right over a card reader slot allow scammers to capture the information embedded on the magnetic strip of your debit or credit card. The small devices often are very hard to see and go unnoticed for long periods of time.
Identity thieves also use tiny pinhole cameras that they mount in or around machines that record your fingers typing in your PIN. Or there
One Woman’s Tale of Cybercrime That Goes Pretty Deep
We have all gotten used to receiving the scam emails trying to bilk us out of money. Many of these faux emails are from relatives in dire need of money, but they are so poorly written, we know they are fake. Well, we came across a story of a woman who was the target of a cybercrime that went a bit deeper that the usual fake email scam.
Julie Burkhart-Haid of Hudson, NY, knew immediately that something was wrong when on the morning of Oct. 1 friends from all over the nation started to call her with concern. According to the Hudson Star Observer, a number of Julie’s friend had received a long e-mail message for her detailing the fact that they had taken an unexpected trip to Wales and had been robbed at gunpoint. The email from Julie also said that she was injured and nearly raped in front of her son (also identified) and Joseph was seriously injured and still being treated. I