By Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Responding to the rising cybercrime threat, the Federal Trade
Commission on Tuesday unveiled an online tool designed to help
consumers avoid becoming victims of Internet scams.
At the website, http://www.onguardonline.gov, consumers can take
interactive quizzes designed to enlighten them about ID theft,
phishing, spam and online-shopping scams.
If the user selects a wrong answer, the program explains why that
particular misconception about Internet security can lead to trouble.
Elsewhere on the site, consumers can find detailed guidance on how to
monitor their credit histories, use effective passwords and recover
from identity theft.
"We're trying to make the information as accessible as possible, with
tips so people can take action," said Nat Wood, the FTC's assistant
director for consumer and business education.
The education push comes as the tide of cybercrime continues to rise.
Special reports by USA TODAY have detailed how online thieves are
sidestepping computer firewalls, anti-virus and anti-spyware programs
to conduct elaborate scams centered around use of the Internet.
Inherently difficult to track, evidence of cybercrime nonetheless continues
to mount:
Malicious software.
During the first half of 2005, 74% of the top 50 malicious attacks
contained code to steal account logons, passwords and other sensitive
data, compared with 54% the previous six months, according to security
firm Symantec.
Keystroke loggers. The number of programs designed to directly swipe
logons and passwords, as a computer user types them on a keyboard, soared to
about 6,191 last year, up from 3,753 in 2004, says iDefense, a division of
VeriSign.
Hijacked online accounts. Computers in an estimated 9.9 million U.S.
households that engage in online banking transactions have been
infected by keystroke loggers, giving cybercrooks potential access to
an estimated $24 billion in deposits, says the tech security think
tank The Sans Institute.
"The threat to a consumers' data is everywhere," says George Waller,
executive vice president at computer-security firm StrikeForce Technologies.
"There are worms and viruses on instant messages, web links, shared files."
Five federal agencies and 13 private organizations partnered to
sponsor the OnGuard Online website. Information on the site is not
copyrighted, and the FTC encourages companies and other organizations
to download and widely disseminate the information.
"The increasing concern about online threats is one of the reasons we
could put together such a blue-chip coalition for a program like
this," says the FTC's Wood. "E-commerce is great, but we just want
people to have the tools to use it safely."
Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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Byron Acohido & Jon Swartz (USAtoday@telecom-digest.org)