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Fraudsters attempting to get consumers to reveal sensitive online-account data increased the sophistication of their attacks in 2008, according to the MessageLabs Intelligence 2008 Security Report released last week. MessageLabs is a unit of Symantec Corp., a Cupertino, Calif.-based online-security company. Fraudsters improved their methods by using specialized "botnets," or software that operates independently to control a computer, to capture log-in information, such as user names and passwords. Typically, consumers click on a link in an e-mail that takes the online user to a fraudulent online-banking site Web site made to look like a legitimate one to capture their sensitive data. Such botnets are often delivered via a harmless-appearing email and called Trojans because of their deceitfulness. "As it becomes harder [for consumers] to secure credit, financial institutions are more likely to deploy two-factor authentication techniques for online banking. Consequently, the number of specialized banking Trojans is set to rise further," the MessageLabs report says. Specifically, during the financial crisis, MessageLabs says, fraudsters increased the volume of phishing e-mails targeting banks involved in the crisis and updated their phishing templates to include others banks as more news reported the fraud.
