The British Crown Prosecution Service announced on the 19th that they have created a “110 strong network of high tech crime specialists”. I noticed this today, ironically around the same time as the Register article on ATMs and phantom withdrawls.
Monthly Archives: October 2005
ATM Fraud and Bank Security
The Register has a fascinating report on how British Banks failed to deal with the fact that phantom withdrawls from ATMs were a real problem, until a man of integrity discovered it and (arguably) saved the system:
“This is the story of how the UK banking system could have collapsed in the early 1990s, but for the forbearance of a junior barrister who also happened to be an expert in computer law – and who discovered that at that time the computing department of one of the banks issuing ATM cards had “gone rogue”, cracking PINs and taking money from customers’ accounts with abandon.”
I posted it on Bruce’s blog today as well:
Trafalgar Day
“On 21 October 1805 the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon’s combined French and Spanish fleet in a famous – and crushing – victory.” Naturally, the BBC has more info…
WinXP Security Guide Update
Microsoft released a new Windows XP Security Guide today. Here’s their breakdown of the contents:
“The guide provides specific recommendations about how to harden computers that run Windows XP with SP2 in three distinct environments:
- Enterprise Client (EC). Client computers in this environment are located in an Active Directory® directory service domain and only need to communicate with systems that run Windows 2000 or later versions of the Windows operating system.
- Stand-Alone (SA). Client computers in this environment are not members of an Active Directory domain and may need to communicate with systems that run Windows NT 4.0.
- Specialized Security – Limited Functionality (SSLF). Concern for security in this environment is so great that a significant loss of functionality and manageability is acceptable. For example, military and intelligence agency computers operate in this type of environment.”