Cyberthieves still rely on human foot soldiers


Sitting at a computer somewhere overseas in January 2009, computer hackers went phishing. Within minutes of casting their electronic bait they caught what they were looking for: A small Michigan company where an employee unwittingly clicked on an official-looking eMail that secretly gave cyberthieves the keys to the firm’s bank account, reports the Associated Press. Before company executives knew what was happening, Experi-Metal Inc., a suburban Detroit manufacturing company, was broke. Its $560,000 bank balance had been electronically scattered into bank accounts in Russia, Estonia, Scotland, Finland and around the U.S. In August, the Catholic Diocese in Des Moines, Iowa, lost about $680,000 over two days. Officials there aren’t sure how hackers got into their accounts, but “they took all they could” before the bank noticed what was going on, according to Jason Kurth, diocese vice chancellor. The diocese and the Detroit company were among dozens of individuals, businesses and municipalities around the country victimized by one of the largest cybertheft rings the FBI has uncovered…

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