P2P Software Leads to ID Theft
- by Bill Lindner on 20070914 @ 10:37PM EST | google it | send to friends
- Filed under Security | (related terms: identity theft, kopiloff, information, financial, credit)
In what's being described as the first case of its kind, a Seattle man has reportedly been arrested on 4 counts for using peer-to-peer (P2P) software to steal digital data and commit identity theft, alleging that he victimized at least 83 people. Gregory Thomas Kopiloff used Limewire, Soulseek and other P2P software to rummage other people's computers for financial, medical and tax information, which he would use to open credit cards and for online shopping sprees. He bought more than $73,000 worth of merchandise online, then turned around and resold them at steep discounts.
"If you are running file-sharing software, you are giving criminals the keys to your computer," said assistant U.S. attorney Kathryn Warma. "Criminals are getting access to incredibly valuable information." She also referred to Kopiloff as "the poster child of a 21st-century theft."
Robert Boback, a P2P risk management expert called it a "new age of crime" and said that people who engage in P2P file sharing "don't realize what they are sharing is their entire hard drive."
Research performed by Boback's company for a two week period found almost 800,000 suspicious P2P search terms involving credit cards, credit reports, tax returns, bank accounts, medical insurance and passwords, and about 966 million P2P searches are done every day around the world. "This is the new world of identity theft," he said. "There are tens of thousands of individuals making a living doing this kind of work."
Kopiloff began using free P2P programs about 2 1/2 years ago to search for computer users who inadvertently allowed access to their sensitive files. He also obtained some information the old-fashioned way -- his associates would go dumpster diving for financial records.
Kopiloff has been charged with mail fraud, accessing a protected computer and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Visit Bill's Links and More for more great tips, just like this one!
Related articles:
- 2007/12/12 Wireless Keyboards Handy For Hackers, Too
- 2008/02/15 Criminals Pay High Price To Keep Security Vulnerabilities ...
- 2007/10/25 Baffling Identity Theft Leads to Arrest
- 2008/02/27 Popular Encryption Methods May Be Flawed
- 2008/02/21 Online Shopping Hobbled by Security Concerns?
- 2008/04/01 New, Scary Malware Attack Blamed for Supermarket Fiasco
- 2007/10/02 eBay Customers' Financial Details Leaked
- 2007/12/18 Invasion of the BOT e-Snatchers?
- 2007/05/24 Dell Sued for Deceivingly Low Improbable Financing
- 2008/02/18 Best Buy Slapped With $54 Million Lawsuit for Lost Laptop
Stay Informed: Subscribe Free to Infopackets, Today! Get your daily fix of Microsoft Windows news, reviews, tech tips, plus free software (freeware) goodies daily -- all absolutely free -- delivered straight to your email inbox! Bonus: join our website today and you'll also receive our highly coveted Top 10 Tech Reports, including: Top 10 PC Security Essentials, Windows Optimization Secrets, Top Freeware Antivirus, MS Office alternatives and more. Don't delay: subscribe today! Click here for more info.
Infopackets Game of the Week
Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain Collector's Edition
