Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk
FBI investigates a case of cyber-extortion
Posted on 15 Dec 2000 at 15:42
The FBI is investigating a case of online extortion after hackers went ahead and published credit card details on the Internet after a demand for money wasn't met.
The company involved, the Los Angeles-based Creditcards.com, manages online credit card transactions on behalf of other companies. It seems more than 55,000 of its credit card numbers were obtained, with over 20,000 published on a Web site that has since been taken down by the FBI.
USA Today reports that Creditcards.com was first contacted by hackers - believed to be from Russia - about three months ago. Basically, if the company didn't pay a sum of money, it faced the threat of its data being publicly compromised. The company, however, adopted a policy to neither cooperate with the hackers nor pay any extortion money.
Author: Alun Williams
advertisement
- Motorola pays Lucas for its Droid
- Where are the killer apps for Windows?
- Will you hit the Orange iPhone "unlimited" cap?
- USB 3 first benchmark - it's here, and it's fast
- Why Windows 7 has forced me to worry about security
- How Dixons is (under)selling Windows 7
- Do I like Windows 7 because it's so like a Mac?
- No Windows 7 drivers turn Dell M1330 into a doorstop
- Is Windows 7 good looking enough to sway an Apple fan?
- Typekit brings print-like typography to the web
- The bulletproof Dell that costs an arm and a leg
- Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview: Q&A
- Lawnmowers, the TyTN II and one odd insurance request
- There'll never be a bulletproof OS
- How far can we trust apps?
- Five nice touches in Outlook 2010
- Building a better Google
- Beware HP's horrendous printer-driver glitch
- Microsoft debuts free Morro antivirus package
- Getting started with Search Server 2008 Express
advertisement
