Internet criminals use “gaping security hole” to easily commit identity theft and fraud

August 6, 2008 – 10:52 am

Government investigators, academic researchers and heads of large corporations are gathering this week to learn more about a fundamental flaw in the internet. The glitch allows identity thieves and hackers to remain invisible while redirecting internet users to “evil twin” sites.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you type in your bank’s web address. Just like always, the familiar page comes up within seconds. You proceed to use your bank’s convenient bill pay service to pay a credit card bill and your utility bill. Within about three minutes you’ve taken care of personal business that used to take 15 minutes, a trip to the post office to buy stamps, and a week for your creditors to post your payment. The internet is a wonderful thing…

…a wonderful thing with “a gaping secuity hole,” according to security experts.

If your bank’s website is one of those duplicated by hackers, your computer was redirected to an identical site, and identity theives just sucked all that money—and more—from your bank account. And by the way, you’re about to be hit with late fees on your credit card bill and you’ll soon be sitting in the dark because you failed to pay your utility bill. And just watch what happens to your credit score.

Experts are scrambling to develop patches to correct the problems. On initial testing, 84% of all examined servers were found to be vulnerable; roughly 31% of those are still working on a solution. Though it was just discovered last month, the weakness is in the basic workings of the internet, and has been there from the internet’s inception.

Paul Vixie, president of the nonprofit consortium that develops most of the software used in servers around the world, said “This is the mother lode all right, from the point of view of internet criminals looking for easier access to other people’s money and secrets.”

Learn how you can protect your identity and your money at LifeLock.com. Life Lock is the industry leader in identity theft protection, providing service to more than 1 million customers in the United States.

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