The danger of key loggers and the security of public funds

This article provides an example of the risks posed by key logger infections. Here the bad guys were able to get bank account information for a city treasury and transfer out hundreds of thousands of dollars. Internet banking is getting very dangerous, and our major public and private systems are relying on it.

Computer hackers steal Carson funds – Los Angeles Times

If Carson Treasurer Karen Avilla had had a nagging feeling she was being watched whenever she got on her laptop computer, she would have been right.

Cyber-thieves were able to shift nearly $450,000 from the city’s general fund last week by using a program that was able to mimic the computer strokes made by Carson’s financial officer. Each time Avilla logged on to her city-provided laptop in the morning, someone was — virtually — looking over her shoulder, recording every single keystroke.

Armed with the spyware program, the hackers obtained bank passwords. They wired $90,000 to a “Diego Smith” in North Carolina. One day later, on May 24, the thieves got bolder and wired $358,000 from the city’s bank account to a bank in Kalamazoo, Mich.

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