The messaging around the world “going mobile, social and local” has not been lost on the criminal element that preys on vulnerabilities in commonly used e-commerce and communications systems. In this article the reporter cites the recently issued “Internet Security Threat Report (Volume 16)” from Symantec to make the point that smartphones and social networking sites are about to become the target for cybercriminals both to spread malicious code and to gather personal data that support identity theft.

At VBC2011-Amsterdam, RSA’s Etay Maor made many of the same points, very dramatically. The barriers to entry, for wannabe identity thieves, is very low. For as little as $240, criminals can acquire the technology and wherewithal to harvest thousands of UserIDs, Passwords or other personal information that people provide in order to log-into the electronic banking, shopping or social networking sites that they commonly use. The Symantec report, as noted in the BBC coverage, showed a “93% increase in the volume of web-based attacks between 2009 and 2010.” Whether this translates into a greater demand for stronger user authentication – to prevent unauthorized transactions or access to information – remains to be seen.

Categories: Articles

Tags: Voice biometrics, E-commerce, user authentication