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Information Security

The risks from Cyber cime - Hacking - Loss of Data Privacy - Identity Theft and other topical threats - can be greatly reduced by implementation of robust IT Security controls ...

Uri Rivner - BioCatch - Tel Aviv | 10/05/2013 | 1334 views

Take the 45 Million and Run

It was one of the largest cyber-heists in human history. Like in many other cyber attacks, it started with breaching a secure network. This time the target was a US-based processor of prepaid cards issued by Bank of Oman. The attackers went in, took control of several accounts, raised the withdrawal limits and, most importantly, stole the PIN numb... Tags: Mobile & online, Payments

Pat Carroll - ValidSoft - London | 25/01/2013 | 3003 views

Could EC3 help Europol see sense?

This month, we saw Europol’s launch of EC3, the new European Cybercrime Centre that aims to be at the heart of combating cybercrime in the EU. As I blogged back in July 2012, it’s fantastic the EU recognise cybercrime as a serious enough issue to warrant a dedicated centre. In my opinion EC3 can help protect Europeans and businesses ag... Tags: Cards, Security

Pat Carroll - ValidSoft - London | 20/12/2012 | 5252 views

Dexter malware, targeting Christmas shoppers

The holiday season is a prime time for fraudsters to target consumers' credit cards and it's not surprising that Dexter has come to light a week before Christmas. Dexter is yet another malware variation that targets point-of-sale purchases by skimming debit and credit cards and stealing account holders' details for subsequent fraudulent use. Dex... Tags: Cards, Security

Steven Murdoch - University of Cambridge - Cambridge | 11/09/2012 | 3162 views | 3 comments

Chip and Skim: cloning EMV cards with the pre-play attack

The EMV (Chip & PIN) protocol requires ATMs and point-of-sale terminals to generate a random number. If this number (known in EMV terminology as the "unpredictable number") isn't random, Chip & PIN is left vulnerable to the "pre-play" attack, which is indistinguishable from card cloning to the bank which issued the card. In the course of in... Tags: Security, Payments

Uri Rivner - BioCatch - Tel Aviv | 28/08/2012 | 2106 views

The Tricia Bennett Mystery

A couple of weeks ago I got a LinkedIn invitation from someone called Tricia Bennett. I don’t know Tricia, and in such cases I’ve developed a best practice of first asking “hey mate, do I know you from somewhere”? What’s the rationale for linking yourself professionally only to people you’ve actually met? Well, ... Tags: Security, Online banking