Piedmont Credit Union is now using keystroke encryption softwareto enhance its own internal data security and is offering the samesolution to its members.
The Danville, Va., credit union using GUARDED ID from StrikeforceTechnologies of Edison, N.J., a solution the $33 million creditunion bought from IDTELi LLC, a workforce identity theft awarenessand prevention firm in Beaverton, Ore.
IDTELi said the Virginia credit union is one of the first in thecountry to use the software and made the move after several of itsmembers were affected by the Heartland Payment Systems data breach,which was initiated by keylogging malware.
“While Piedmont's management has since determined that theHeartland data breach was not related to any of Piedmont's internalsystems, proactive steps have been taken to prevent a similar eventfrom occurring at its credit union,” IDTELi said in itsannouncement.
IDTELi's Brenda Eaden said that “every financial institution needsto re-examine their data security in light of the Heartland breach.Most, if not all, financial institutions utilize importantstate-of-the-art firewalls, 'best-of-breed' anti-virus andanti-spyware, filters and Web gateway security but they also needto ensure data is secure at its most vulnerable point of exposureto theft, the computer keyboard.”

Fraudsters Cap Busy Year

The holidays were a busy time for cyber-fraudsters, according tothe Anti-Phishing Working Group.
The number of sites infecting PCs with password-stealing crimewarereached an all-time high of 31,173 in December, an 827% increasefrom January 2008, according to the international coalition createdto combat electronic crime.
The number of unique keyloggers and crimeware-oriented maliciousapplications, meanwhile, rose to an all-time high of 1,519 in July,the group said.
The surge is an indicator of electronic crime gangs investingheavily in automated systems aimed at stealing both personal andenterprise data, the APWG said.
In its report on the second half of 2008, released last week, theAPWG also said that detected rogue anti-malware programs increasedfrom 2,850 in July to 9,827 in December. Those are defined as “fakeanti-malware products that can be used for automated phishing,extortion or, most commonly up until recently, the fraudulent saleof a worthless purported anti-malware product.”
“While phishing attacks continued against consumers, we saw thatcyber criminals really focused new efforts on spreading malicioussoftware, Trojans and crimeware,” said APWG Chairman DaveJevans.
“In particular, criminals are attempting to install software ontoconsumer's computers in order to steal their passwords and logincredentials to online sites. Consumers must be wary not only offake e-mails purporting to be from banks, but also beware of fakesecurity software from unknown vendors and, more than ever, Websites programmed to infect their PCs,” Jevans said.
The full report is available at www.antiphishing.org.