Symantec Releases Troubling Identity Theft Data

Symantec, a major web security firm based in Northern California, released a report highlighting the underground sale of credit cards, social security numbers, government issued I.D. numbers, and date of birth information.

Symantec said it tracked the traffic of stolen confidential information, which it found being sold on “underground servers” throughout the world, with prices for credit cards complete with CVV2 numbers going for as little as $1 USD, and a complete identity selling for between $14-18 USD.

The data revealed that some 4,943 bank cards were sold over the tracked networks in the last six months of 2006, along with bank accounts, Paypal accounts, and e-mail address lists.

The source of much of the stolen information was attributed to viruses that allowed hackers to steal sensitive password information from infected users’ computers, and through the use of phishing, a technique which uses fake e-mails to pose as real banks to update critical user information.

If your computer was recently hacked, it may be wise to order a free credit report to monitor any unusual behavior. Many people focus on restoring their computer without thinking outside the box and realizing their critical data could be in the hands of those who infected their computer to begin with.

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