Security Watch | Matt Hines » Laptop Theft, cellphone eavesdropping and phishing attack (sort of)

March 30, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Laptop Theft, cellphone eavesdropping and phishing attack (sort of)

TAGS: None

Okay, I'll agree with this week's column by Oliver Rist on not blaming the laptop for data theft (but please don't tell him, he's already got a big enough noggin). When it comes to sensitive mobile data access, policy is the key. Why should all of those employees have all of that sensitive data on a laptop anyway? Unless they really need it, and I'm sure if it comes down to brass tacks, they probably don't.

Okay, if you've read my blog before you know what I'm going to say next - encryption! If sensitive data must be floating out there unsecured in hotel rooms, taxis, airports and outside restaurants, at least take the time to encrypt it. The inconvenience of having to put in a password to encrypt and decrypt the sensitive data will pay off in the long run.

From KLIV Radio - LAPTOP THEFTS 03/28/06 R.Mc. Laptop theft is on the rise in Silicon Valley. The FBI, U.S. Customs Department and a dozen local police agencies met last week to discuss the growing problem. Palo Alto Police have taken 65 reports of stolen laptops since January of 2005. Campbell police recently caught some robbers from the East Bay stealing laptops out of three cars outside a Campbell restaurant. Police believe the thieves erase the data, strip the computers and then sell them overseas or on eBay. Many of the thefts are occurring outside restaurants along the peninsula or outside hotels near San Francisco International Airport.

While these thieves are thoughtful enough to erase the data, other laptop thieves might not be so stupid, er, I mean considerate.

Phishing or man-in-the-middle?

A unique attack using defacement of a bank's own web page is being used gather banking customer's data. It looks like this type of sophisticated attack may be on the rise and may be the replacement to common banking phishing attacks.

Cell phone turns around and bites customer

So, if you plan on spying on someone's cell phone and you install this little app, be aware that it's now classified as a Trojan by the Anti Virus firm F-Secure. What I found most interesting about this story is in the last paragraph:

According to its Web site, Vervata is working on a more advanced version of the surveillance software. FlexiSpy Pro will offer up information on e-mail sent via cell phone, and will include a real-time eavesdrop feature that lets users "listen in on what [the cell phone's user is] doing from anywhere in the world!"

Posted by Victor R. Garza on March 30, 2006 12:42 PM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: