Speaking of Security – The RSA Blog and Podcast

In a research study by Harris Polls (commissioned by RSA) on digital identities, the most popular online accounts for consumers are email, financial and banking, and entertainment/shopping. And on average, they access these online accounts from two different digital devices. But what does a digital identity really mean? I like to think of myself as an average consumer/online user so let’s take a look at what I consider to be my digital identity – and perhaps make you think a little more about yours.

Amy Blackshaw, Sr. Product Marketing Manager for RSA’s Identity Protection and Verification business talks about the burgeoning issue of Account Takeover fraud of online bank accounts through malware and sophisticated attacks. Amy also discusses new features being introduced in the newest version of the RSA Adaptive Authentication solution to help banks and their customers protect against these threats.

Biometric authentication is all about something you are – it could be your fingerprint, your retina or iris pattern, your facial profile, a voiceprint or even the speed and pressure you apply when typing or signing. How long will it be before instead of passwords and PIN numbers, systems simply scan you or listen to your voice to know that you are who you say you are?

Online banking losses have increased 28% year-on-year. UK Cards offered some explanation quoting the fact that phishing attacks had increased by 199% over the past 12 months. The only reason I can think of why phishing attacks continue to rise is because fraudsters are still catching victims. Phishing is still a viable form of credential harvesting providing a meaningful return on investment for fraudsters.

Evolution isn’t just about making things better but to adjust living creatures to their ever changing surroundings. Fraud in that sense is also adapting, but instead of searching for food like a giraffe, it adapts to obtaining as much money as possible. If money from one fraud chain depletes, it would adapt and create a different one.

The results are in for the first half of 2012, and once again, phishing attack numbers mark a notable increase on the global scale. Compared with H2 2011, end of June numbers show a 19% increase as phishers heavily target the UK, U.S. and Canada – and their associated brands – with the same old online [...]

Mobile apps, and the content they provide, are the reason smartphones and tablets are so popular; recent statistics show that mobile users around the globe download over 67 million app every day! Although these numbers are staggering, security-awareness did not follow, and it was a matter of time – and only logical for cybercriminals – before online threats, such as phishing and malware, became a reality on mobile devices.

To me, online dating these days is not much different than online fraud. I speak from personal experience on both – as someone who has experienced the thrills of online dating sites (NOTE sarcasm here) and has the privilege of witnessing the latest online scams that fraudsters pull on a daily basis. I live in both worlds – and trust me, they are not much different.

They say history repeats itself, or perhaps this is the story of a community recovering from a catastrophe. Either way, the underground is returning to its former glory, and not just in how much business is being conducted – but how it is conducted.

Everybody knows that the Russian fraudsters are more sophisticated than their English-speaking counterparts. However, this isn’t the only geographic-related difference between fraudsters.