E-Crime Reporting Format To Be Launched in July

An e-crime reporting system that will electronically report spurious activities will start operating by July this year.

According to Peter Cassidy, secretary general of Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), it is essential to have data model so structured that it improves reporting of incidents, shares information, and aids in forensic searches and investigations. PCworld.idg published this on May 21, 2007.

The specification of the chief base was presented in June 2005, according to Cassidy. Soon in about six weeks the Incident Object Description Exchange Format (IODEF) XML Schema added with extensions relating to e-crime would be recognized as an IETF standard, he said.

As of now there are 2.5 million attacks and 13,000 URLs reported every month. An update to the block list takes place every five minutes. It is a 10MB file put on the archive that browser developers use. Banks, retailers, institutions, CERTs and volunteer organizations deliver URLs.

The AusCERT (Australian Computer Emergency Response Team) noted that since this attack carried an encoded JavaScript, the IDS products might fail to recognize and halt it. However, one way to protect users was to block undesirable IP addresses at the gateway itself. Another option would be to abort pop-ups in the unreliable regions of the web browser. But certainly the practice of not submitting to links in unwanted e-mails could be the foremost protection.

Cassidy said when a standard schema would be put to use, it would automate reporting in a more convenient manner. As territory manager at Websense A/NZ said, as soon as a user opens a link, a harmful Trojan is planted that hunts random numbers such as bank numbers.

There are some ISPs that can take sites offline in minutes but certain organizations need to clear their approval process via management at three levels. There, sometimes nothing materializes even after 20 faxes and two weeks have passed, said Cassidy. PCworld.idg published this on May 21, 2007.

According to McGlashan, group leader of coordination center at AusCERT, the Trojan has been spreading widely. He confirmed that its IP address had lately launched an attack targeting Australians. Crn.com published this in news on May 18, 2007.

Related article: E-Vote Machines Can Be Infected With Virus

» SPAMfighter News - 5/29/2007