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See Also: Stepping up Fight Against Omnichannel Financial Fraud

Popular E-Greeting Card Carries Trojan
An e-mail message that claims to hold a link to a greeting card is responsible for a recent series of “Trojan horse” cyber-attacks. The e-mail directs recipients to click on a link in order to pick up an e-card from a “secret admirer.” PC users who do so are sent to a Web page that tries to download a bit of malicious code known as “Dloader-UT Trojan.” Once installed, this software allows hackers to seize control over the victimized PC, which can then be used for illicit purposes such as spamming. Experts say the e-card is effective because people are so curious (and vain!) about the thought of a secret admirer.

London Named ‘Zombie’ Capital
Aaaoooo! Werewolves of London. Looks like they’ve been joined by fellow creature-feature veterans, zombies. A new Symantec survey finds that England’s capital has more than 150,000 PCs secretly controlled by hackers. It’s hard to say why England is such a hot spot for zombie computers, but Symantec estimates that of the 1 million to 2 million computers worldwide with zombie infections, nearly a third are located in that country. “Zombified” PCs allow hackers to send spam, launch distributed denial-of-service attacks, and otherwise cause mayhem. After England, the U.S. and China are the second and third worst countries for zombie infections, Symantec found.

Medicare Cards A Boon to ID Thieves
Your tax dollars at work: while identity theft continues to explode and the Federal Trade Commission struggles against it, many U.S. agencies, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Defense Department, are still using Social Security numbers for identification purposes. By now, everyone is well aware that the Social Security number is the most prized bit of data for ID thieves, who can use them to open fraudulent accounts almost at will. Nevertheless, security experts say they’re frustrated because an estimated 8 million military people, as well as their families, need to use the numbers for a wide array of purposes, from computer access to commissaries.

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