Organized crime

Hackers have created various types of key-watching programs and spyware that steal personal information as it’s being typed. That information is then resold. It’s a $62 billion industry, according to computer-security guru David Stelzl, who travels the country telling businesses the gory details of digital theft.

BLOOMINGTON — Jeff Mercier came into work one morning, turned on his laptop, logged into the corporate server and quickly got a call from the IT department.

Somewhere during work travels, a virus attached to his laptop computer with hopes of stealing personal information. Fortunately, he hadn’t put his entire company and customers at risk.

While the laptop couldn’t detect a problem, the well-secure corporate server quickly identified the virus when Mercier logged on at the office. Mercier erased and reinstalled the programs on his laptop. Secure information was not compromised.

“If it wouldn’t have been caught, it probably would have got my banking account information,” said Mercier, director of operations at Bloomington Offset Process Inc. in Bloomington.

Or worse, the virus could have spread into the corporate server and started stealing company information or even the private information of customers. Mercier and his employer are secure. Read more.

OSA Editorial Comments:

Popularity: 5% [?]

• Boring But Entirely Necessary Use Offsite Data Backup in the UK Protect Your Important Data From Disaster We all have insurance for our homes, cars and for when we travel, but so many people and organisations ignore something much more vulnerable – insuring their business and personal data with data backup. Think about the data and files that you store......
• Surfing the Web Anonymously - Questions to Ask When you surf the web it is possible to learn information about you even when you don't want to advertise who you are. This is true even if your system contains no virus or malware software. Specifically information that is easily available online includes your IP address, your country (and......
• Criminal Public Background Check - How To Avoid Being Scammed By Doing Criminal Background Checks The world has become a cautious place. Just take a look at the availability of resources that can help an employer perform a criminal background check. The sad fact is, it's an essential part of the landscape today but without this ability to check someone's credentials, issues can hurt a......
• Stolen PC had student SSNs Helen Schamrai Issue date: 1/23/07 Section: News Computer owners at Rutgers-Newark now have more to worry about than just viruses and busted hardware. Gabriela Kutting, associate professor of political science, reported her laptop stolen to Rutgers police Sept. 5, 2006. The laptop contained the social security numbers of 200 R-N......
• 10 Online Monitoring Tips For Parents With Internet Loving Kids Are You a Parent of Internet Loving Kids? Here are 10 Online Monitoring Tips You Can Use to Keep Your Child Safe It's difficult for kids not to love the internet. With the innumerable opportunities it presents as a source of information, entertainment and communication, the internet is just too......

• need Search Engine optimization? don't get ripped off... I don't know about you but I get approached all the time by companies (mostly from somewhere in the Southwest) telling me they can get me first page listing on Google by search engine optimizing my website for me. Obviously, these morons haven't even looked at my website or......
• 3 Reasons Why You Need Multiple Streams of Income One of the hottest concepts right now is the premise of creating multiple streams of income. While everyone wouldn’t mind making a little extra cash, there are even more benefits that can be reaped from having more than one source of income. Let’s go over just a few of them.......
• Save Time, Money and Space in Over 80 Ways If you're looking for handy gadgets, tools and various items that can save you time, money or space (or all three!) this list of more than 80 top products is just what you need. Everyone's got saving money on their minds these days. Some of us are always looking to......
• Identity Theft and You - Simple Tips To Protect Yourself Stories abound warning consumers about the perils of shopping on the internet. Internet shoppers have every justification to be concerned about the growing problem of identity theft and having their credit card information compromised. Having your identity stolen can be an expensive and complicated matter to clean up. Don’t think,......
• Corporate Blog Security Issues If you are planning on starting your own corporate blog or executive blog, or if you already have a corporate blog that you are writing in, then one of your greatest concerns should be corporate blog security issues. There are a variety of different corporate blogging security issues that you......