FBI warning all consumers and businesses of TDoS attacks

[Arduino]

Imagine getting hundreds or thousands of calls on your home, business, or cell phone, tying up the lines. And when you answer, you hear anything from dead air to recorded messages, advertisements, or even phone sex menus.

It’s annoying, no doubt. But it could be more than that—it could be a sign that you’re being victimized by the latest scam making the rounds. This ”telephone denial-of-service attack” could be the precursor to a crime targeting your bank accounts. The FBI is warning consumers and businesses about a new scheme that uses telecommunications denial-of-service (TDoS) attacks as a diversion to what is really happening: the looting of bank and online trading accounts. The FBI determined fraudsters compromised victim accounts and contacted financial institutions to change the victim profile information (i.e., e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and bank account numbers).

Denial-of-service attacks, by themselves, are nothing new—computer hackers use them to take down websites by flooding them with large amounts of traffic. The TDoS attacks used automated dialing programs and multiple accounts to overwhelm victims’ cell phones and land lines with thousands of calls. When victims answered the calls they heard dead air (nothing on the other end), an innocuous recorded message, advertisement, or a telephone sex menu. Calls were typically short in duration but so numerous that victims changed their phone numbers to terminate the attack.

These TDoS attacks were used as a diversion to prevent financial and brokerage institutions from verifying victim account changes and transactions. Fraudsters were afforded adequate time to transfer funds from victim brokerage and financial online accounts.

Victims don’t immediately think to contact law enforcement because to them, the numerous phone calls appear to be a technical issue with the telephone carrier and not a criminal threat. One trend that the FBI sees with the malicious phone calls is that when they are answered, many of the victims report hearing a recorded advertisement for an American car company with an announcer having an Asian accent. The other prominent trend is hearing a telephone sex “menu” when answering one of these calls.

Protection from TDoS attacks and other types of fraud requires consumers to be vigilant and proactive. In Newark’s Public Service Announcement (PSA), they recommend the following guidelines for consumers to protect themselves:

* Implement security measures for all financial accounts by placing fraud alerts with the major credit bureaus if you believe they were targeted by a TDoS attack or other forms of fraud.

* Never give out personal information to an unsolicited phone caller or via e-mail;

* Check your account balances often;

* Use strong passwords for all financial accounts and change them regularly.

* Obtain and review your annual credit report for fraudulent activity.

* Protect your computers with the latest virus protection and security software.

If you were a target of a TDoS attack, immediately contact your financial institutions, notify your telephone provider, and promptly report it to the IC3 website at www.ic3.gov. The IC3 complaint database links complaints to assist in referrals to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration. The complaint information is also used to identity emerging trends and patterns.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-6564-Chicago-Residential-Examiner~y2010m6d21-FBI-warning-all-consumers-and-businesses-of--TDoS-attacks?cid=exrss-Chicago-Residential-Examiner

[phantomas90]

Trebuie sa recunoastem ca e o inovatie.Oare un Telnel Denial of Service nu s-ar putea?

cercetez si revin.