Stolen Medical, Business and Airline Data Discovered on Crimeware Servers in Argentina and Malaysia
- By Grey McKenzie
- Published Wednesday 18th 2008
Grey McKenzie
National Cyber Security Founder
Cyber security watchdog Grey McKenzie is one of the nation's leading Internet security experts.
Some of his clients include members of the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Defense & the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
His SpyCop security software products are in use by over 50,000 individuals & companies worldwide
To schedule an interview or consult with Grey call 850-708-7660
The data included healthcare and business related data, as well as personal identifiable information (stolen Social Security Numbers).
This data is part of the premium offering that the operating the Crimeservers were selling to the highest bidder online.
The compromised data came from all around the world and contained
information from individuals, businesses, airlines and healthcare providers.
The report contains examples of compromised data that Finjan found on the Crimeserver, such as:
- Compromised medical related data of hospitals and publicly owned healthcare providers
- Compromised business related data of a U.S. airline carrier
- Identity theft (stolen Social Security Numbers)
Some of the implications of stolen medical and patient data include:
illegal and/or bogus treatments; obtaining prescription drugs for the purpose
of selling them; loss of health coverage for the victimized patient;
inaccurate records of victimized patients, which could result in incorrect
and potentially harmful treatments.
Healthcare providers could also face potential HIPAA violations or breach of general data protection legislation.
Finjan's Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC) detected a Crimeserver
operated by cybercriminals who used campaigns to steal data.
These campaigns consisted of highly sophisticated attacks, incorporating Crimeware toolkits, Trojans and Command and Control (C&C) servers to drive traffic from a specific region, with specific characteristics.
"This report illustrates the latest development in cybercrime.
It shows
the business cycle of data collecting and trading by today's cybercriminals.
Crimeware infecting PCs is a serious business problem that has far-reaching
consequences, such as impacting the security of businesses and patients
around the world," said
"We see that
cybercriminals go after premium data that they can trade for substantial
profit.
The increase in Web-based attacks is staggering. Industry figures include a growth of more than 200% of Web-based malware, with an increase of over 800% in backdoor and password-stealing malware, illustrating that sensitive corporate and medical are at risk."
According to Finjan, the fact that sensitive business, patient and personal data were compromised in a timeframe of less than one calendar month underscores the necessity for enterprises and organizations to have a comprehensive security technology in place that provides effective protection against these sophisticated threats.
The compromised data and the Crimeserver applications were detected using Finjan's patented active real-time code inspection technology while diagnosing users' Web traffic.
The research is described in detail in Finjan's latest "Malicious Page of the Month" report released today.
To download the report, please visit http://www.finjan.com/mpom
