A cybercrime firm says it has uncovered at least six ongoing attacks at U.S. merchants whose credit card processing systems are infected with the same type of malicious software used to steal data from Target Corp. Andrew Komarov, chief executive of the cybersecurity firm IntelCrawler, told Reuters that his company has alerted law enforcement, Visa Inc and intelligence teams at several large banks about the findings. He said payment card data was stolen in the attacks, though he didnt know how much. IntelCrawlers findings are the latest sign that the cyberattacks disclosed by Target Inc and upscale department store Neiman Marcus are part of a wider assault on U.S. retailer customer data security. On Thursday, the U.S. government and the private security intelligence firm iSIGHT Partners warned merchants and financial services firms that the BlackPOS software used against No. 3 U.S. retailer Target had been used in a string of breaches at retailers - but did not say how many or identify the victims. Government officials declined to discuss current investigations. Komarov, an expert on cybercrime who has helped law enforcement investigate previous attacks, told Reuters on Friday that retailers in California and New York were among those compromised by BlackPOS. Reuters was unable to confirm the retailers names. Komarov said he has not directly contacted those merchants. Security experts typically report cybercrimes through law enforcement rather than going directly to victims because the process can be time-consuming and victims are often suspicious when they first learn of attacks. BlackPOS was developed by a hacker whose nickname is Ree4 and who is now about 17 years old and living in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to Los Angeles-based IntelCrawler. The teenager sold the malicious software to cybercriminals who then launched attacks on merchants, said Komarov, who has been monitoring Ree4s activities since March. Komarov declined to specifically identify the sources of his intelligence, though he said he has been monitoring criminal forums where Ree4 sells his software and posted an excerpt of a chat with a client on the IntelCrawler website. Officials with the Russian Interior Ministry could not be reached for comment when Reuters attempted to contact them after office hours on Friday. The bulk of the attacks have occurred in the United States, but about 30 percent have occurred in other countries, including Australia and Canada, Komarov said.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:06:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015