Credit Cards
Savings
Life Insurance
Car Insurance
Mortgages
Travel Insurance
Loans
Home Insurance
EnergyInternet Explorer security breach: are you at risk?
Filed under: Scams & Fraud
Share
Text Size
A
A
A
AP/Press Association Images
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Staying Safe Online
Related stories
Weakness
The weakness is what is known as a 'zero day' failure in the software - which means it's a weakness that was discovered before there was any time to produce a patch to fix it.It was identified by a Luxembourg-based IT security adviser at ZATAZ.com who was analysing the servers that had been used by a hacking gang. After uploading a sample file to a computer with a fully up-to-date Windows XP operating system along with an up-to-date version of Adobe Flash, he discovered that the malicious software had been uploaded - and that a weakness in Internet Explorer had allowed the virus in.
Staying Safe Online
Related stories
This is alarming on two fronts - first that there is a weakness, and second that criminal gangs are already exploiting it. Graham Cluley, a technology consultant at Sophos, says it's the latter fact that "is a worry'.
Patch
Microsoft has issued an initial 'workaround' to keep out attacks. However, Cluley warns that this isn't a "proper patch", and that users of Internet Explorer 6, 7,8 or 9 will have to wait for an update to restore fully-functional security. These are issued every month, although he says there have been times when Microsoft has brought forward a release in order to respond to a threat.He says: "Users will have to decide whether to install the workaround Microsoft has issued, or switch to another browser. There probably isn't much harm in trying another browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome for a while."
Not inferior
However, he adds that this current security weakness does not make Explorer an inferior browser. He points out that: "All browsers have faced security holes at some point."Whether you switch or patch, therefore, it is worth making sure that you are signed up for automatic security updates on your computer. This, he says: "will ensure that everything from the operating system to the browser receive updates as soon as possible if a security weakness is detected. It is also worth ensuring that you have up-to-date virus software."
The top 10 scams of 2011
- 1. Mid-contract price hikes<p>It is reasonable to assume that if you take out a mobile phone contract at £30 a month for 24 months that's exactly what you'll pay unless you exceed the tariff. Yet mobile phone providers have come under fire for a snag buried in the small print – a clause to allow mid-contract price rises.</p> <p>Prices are rising by a median of 81p a month and 70% of consumers are completely unaware off this sneaky move, according to Tesco Mobile, so be sure to check any new contracts before you sign the dotted line.</p>
- 1. Land banking<p> Land banking involves plots of land offered for sale, often online, with the promise of sizable returns when planning permission is approved for housing or other development. Yet often the land is located in areas protected from development by planning law.</p> <p> The companies involved soon disappear with investors' money and as the firms are not protected by the Financial Services Authority, their funds are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme</p>
- 2. Money mule<p> Fraudsters recruit unknowing accomplices through email under the guise of offering employment, seeking a personal favour, or through internet shopping sites. The recruits are persuaded into receiving what are essentially fraudulent payments and then passing funds on.</p> <p> The 'mules' are frequently offered a small financial incentive to encourage involvement and face difficulties in proving their innocence when the fraud is discovered.</p>
- 3. Carbon credit fraud<p> The scams claim to offer people the chance to profit from carbon credits. Under regulations that permit businesses to emit a tonne of CO2 – the companies claim to offer investment in green projects like a forestry scheme or a solar panel project, which generates carbon credits that are then sold on to heavy industry.</p> <p> A flashy brochure or website tells of a reliable 'government-backed' scheme which provides reliable returns for investors. Such a scheme doesn't exist however – a reality investors only discovered when they have parted with their cash and the company is untraceable. As with land banking, fraudulent companies are not covered by the FSA so victims have no course for recompense</p>
- 4. HMRC phishing scam<p> Receiving an email from the taxman saying you are owed a payment may seem like a nice surprise, but it is actually from fraudsters trying to relieve you of your cash instead.</p> <p> The emails provide a "click-through link" to a cloned replica of the HMRC website. The recipient is then asked to provide their credit or debit card details - all the information the criminals need to clear your account, and sell on your personal details.</p>
- 6. Crash for cash scams<p> Insurer Direct Line reported a hike in the number of 'crash for cash' scams last year – where fraudsters fake accidents by making unnecessary emergency stops at busy roundabouts or slip roads, forcing motorists to crash into them.</p> <p> They then make bogus claims to the innocent motorist's insurer, often including fictitious injuries and passengers.</p>
- 7. Driving school scams<p> Learner drivers have been taken for ride by being unknowingly taught by trainee instructors. An investigation by the AA found up to 27,000 extra driving tests have been failed in the last year because one in 10 learner drivers are unwittingly taught by an instructor they do not know is learning on the job.</p>
- 8. One man mail scam<p> July saw the arrest of a Leicester postman who stole £46,686 worth of mail over two-and-a-half years. Yogeshbhai Patel, 38, was jailed for two years for stealing mail including 2,000 DVDs and 2,250 games along with CDs and other electrical equipment. He intercepting the valuable packages and spent the money on living a luxury lifestyle including helicopter rides and a trip to Las Vegas.</p>
- 9. Smart meter scam<p> The Trading Standards Institute reported over 200 cases where elderly homeowners have been targeted by telephone cold callers, purporting to be from their energy supplier and offering energy saving devices which could cut their bills by 40%.</p> <p> The TSI tested the devices in homes where owners had fallen for the scam, only to find they both failed to satisfy electrical safety standards or deliver any tangible energy savings.</p>
- 10. Thermal camera fraud<p> Thermal cameras that track ATM pin numbers are the latest weapon in their arsenal and US scientists have warned it is the next threat for this form of crime. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego found that up to 45 seconds after a person types their pin code into an ATM machine or door entry pad the numbers and even the sequence are still readable by thermal cameras.</p>
More stories
