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Crimeware Blotter

Welcome to the Crimeware Blotter. Like traditional crime blotters, this page will document criminal activities. Unlike traditional blotter reports, this one will focus exclusively on Internet crime, cyber attacks on your privacy, finances, and identity using crimeware-software developed expressly for the purpose of defrauding you. 

Laptop Losses Total 12,000 Per Week at US Airports
According to a study of 106 U.S. airports published by Ponemon Institute and Dell Computer, around 12,000 laptops are lost in airports weekly. About half of travelers say their laptops contain sensitive business information. 65% of the travelers say there was no protection on the confidential information, highlighting the need for sensitive data to be encrypted. Laptops left unclaimed at the airport for a certain period of time are considered lost for good and are destroyed according to the report.
Dark Reading, Jul2 2008: Laptop Losses at Airports

Spear-phishing Attacks Hooked 15,000
VeriSign researchers estimate that online fraudsters have stolen data from about 15,000 victims with a recent spike in the amount of spear-phishing attempts in the last two months. After following 66 of the attacks over a year since the first quarter of 2007 Verisign also believes that 95% of the incidents are coming from just two crime groups.
Network World, June6, 2008: Spear-phishing Hooks 15,000
Walter Reed Breach Might Be Due to P2P Software
A message briefly posted to the Walter Reed website suggests that the data security breach at Walter Reed Army Medical Center may be due to P2P applications. The breach exposed personally identifiable information of approximately 1,000 patients, although no medical information was exposed.
DarkReading, June3, 2008: Army Hospital Breach May Be Result of P2P Leak
A Treasury Trove of Phish
There is a phishing site based on the U.S. Treasury Department attempting to get users personal information and credit card numbers.
Trend Micro, May1, 2008: A Treasury Trove of Phish
Identity Theft Remains Threat For Those Online
The good news is that identity theft is declining- down 3.6 percent from 8.4 million in a previous year's study. The bad news is that it still affected 8.1 million Americans last year,
TylerPaper, April13, 2008: Identity Theft Remains Threat For Those Online

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Remember, these are informational pages only.

Even when using all techniques we recommend, you may still experience breaches in your information security. However, while the University at Albany does not guarantee and cannot be held liable for any breaches or other problems you encounter when employing these techniques, you are better off with defenses in place than not.