Any small business, educational organization or local government needs to be wary these days. In the past year, cybercriminals have increasingly targeted these less-than-security-savvy groups with malicious software tailored to facilitate bank fraud.
In one case, which I documented for an article in Technology Review, online thieves targeted the accountant at a small California firm with a banking trojan. When the worker signed into the company’s bank account, the thieves initiated 27 fraudulent transactions totaling approximately $447,000. Former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs has reported on over two dozen such cases. In total, the government estimates that businesses have lost more than $100 million as of early November.
Now, financial institutions and the government are preparing to advise businesses and other organizations on how to better bank online in these treacherous times.