Cybercrooks get even more crafty and sophisticated

2008 is a year you want to pay even closer attention to your virus and spam protection. As technology continues to evolve, cybercrooks are finding new ways to access your most private data. A recent USA Today article written by Byron Acohido details the latest scheme to steal data and commit fraud.

“One pioneering gang is taking over home network routers instead of PC hard drives, a sneakier way to hijack online accounts. Another has perfected a way to use compromised PCs to repeatedly click on Internet ads to generate ad payments to the crooks.

Phishing specialists are putting finer touches on scams to trick people into divulging sensitive personal data on fake Web pages. Meanwhile, top-level crime rings are getting stealthier and more efficient at herding millions of compromised PCs, referred to as bots, into networks that they deploy to steal data, commit extortion and spread spam.”

Keeping anti-virus and anti-spyware up to date, installing all software updates and exercising extreme caution opening e-mail and visiting websites will help guard you against these potential schemes.