The banking sector has been a frequent target for hackers nowadays. As much as US$1 billion were stolen from banks and other financial companies worldwide in about two years, wherein it is considered as one of the biggest banking breaches known, by a multinational gang of cybercriminals dubbed as the "Carbanak gang" originating from Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Europe as well as from China.

The gang targeted banks, electronic payment systems, and other financial institutions worldwide with the majority of the targets in Russia, USA, Germany, China and Ukraine. They already infiltrated more than 100 banks in 30 countries, stealing as much as $10 million in each raid.

Kaspersky Lab and authorities from different countries had combine efforts to uncover how the criminals act. On average, each bank cyber robbery took between two and four months from infecting the first computer at the bank's corporate network to cashing the money out.

The cybercriminals used Carbanak malware to infect the bank's network giving them access to the employees' computers, and letting them see and record everything that happened on the screens of staff who service the cash transfer systems. This way the fraudsters got to know every last detail of the bankers work that show them how to mimic the staff to transfer the money and cash out.

Once the time came to exploit on their activities, the fraudsters used online banking or international e-payment systems to transfer money to their accounts.  In the second case, the stolen money was transferred to banks in China and the US.

In other cases, cybercriminals penetrated right into the very center of the accounting systems, inflating account balances before getting the extra money through a counterfeit transaction. For instance, the account has $1,000 and the criminals can change its value to $10,000 and then transfer $9,000 to themselves. The account holder doesn't suspect a problem because the original $1,000 dollars is still there.

In addition, the cybercriminals can also take control of banks' ATMs and order them to dispense cash at a specific time. When the payment was due, one of the gang's underlings was waiting next to the machine to collect the 'voluntary' payment.

Kaspersky did not identify the banks affected by the attacks because of a confidentiality agreement. They are still working with law-enforcement organizations to investigate the attacks.

Research says that the first malicious samples were compiled in August 2013 when the cybercriminals began to test the Carbanak malware and the first infections were detected in December 2013. The gang was believed to successfully steal from their first victims during the period of February to April 2014. The peak of infections was recorded in June 2014.

However the campaign is still currently active. Kaspersky urge all financial organizations to carefully scan the network for presence of Carbanak malware and if detected, report the intrusion to law enforcement.

Government to Call on Companies to Help Improve Information Sharing as Breaches Get More Sophisticated

President Barack Obama will convene top executives from Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and a number of other industries on Friday in a first-of-its kind cybersecurity "summit" taking place as the government and corporate executives each struggle to adjust to persistent and sophisticated breaches.

Mr. Obama will be joined at the Stanford University event by top officials at the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The officials will call on companies to share more information with the government in an effort to combat future cyberattacks, a plea officials have made for months with limited success.

Mr. Obama's presence at the event has drawn what has emerged as a Who's Who of corporate leaders, reflecting a growing acknowledgment that many companies need to rethink their cyberdefenses.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook will deliver remarks about his company's push toward a more secure payment system, a theme the White House is expected to try to reinforce for other companies throughout the event.

An Apple spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Cook will be speaking at the summit. He is expected to focus on Apple's experience with mobile payments. Apple introduced Apple Pay in October, touting a security feature aimed at reducing the chances of credit-card theft.

Mr. Cook will be joined at Stanford on Friday by the CEOs of Bank of America Corp., U.S. Bancorp, American Express, Kaiser Permanente, Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc., and PayPal who also will speak on panels at the daylong event, along with representatives from Facebook Inc., Google, Intel Corp., and a numerous other companies.

Input from these executives is notable, as they collectively hold health, financial, search-engine, and social-media records on tens of millions of Americans. A number of the firms, particularly the technology companies, have sparred with the federal government over privacy concerns in recent years.

To acknowledge those concerns, the White House is expected to make privacy a central theme at the summit, in addition to consumer protection and cybersecurity techniques.

In addition to remarks from Messrs. Obama and Cook, the seven-hour event will include multiple panel sessions, including separate discussions of public-private collaboration, consumer protection, and payment technologies.

The entire event will be live-streamed on the White House's website.

Senior administration officials see the event as a continuation of two years' worth of cybersecurity initiatives, but the issue has taken on more urgency in recent months as the number of cyberattacks has increased dramatically. And recent large-scale breaches at Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Anthem Inc. have led to an internal debate among government officials over whether the government should heighten its response to cyberattacks carried out by foreign countries.

Also notably, the White House's list of panelists and speakers at the summit doesn't include representatives from many of the large companies that have suffered major breaches in recent years, such as Home Depot Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Target Corp., Sony, or Anthem. A senior administration official said these companies weren't excluded from panels at the event.

Also missing from the list of panelists and speakers are officials from the U.S. intelligence community, such as the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. Intelligence officials often collect information about cyberthreats, and the White House on Tuesday announced a new office that is meant to collect and analyze their data.

But many technology companies remain skeptical about the operations of these agencies, particularly the NSA. A senior administration official said officials from the intelligence agencies would be at the event but officials from the agencies like the FBI and DHS were tapped to speak because they interact directly with the public to discuss cyber issues.

Cyber Monday is set to be among the biggest shopping days of the year - but how can you avoid becoming the victim of online shopping fraud on Monday?

Experian found that last year saw a huge lift in Black Friday's significance, with a 19 percent increase in visits to retail websites last year (29 Nov) compared to 2012. Cyber Monday is also increasing, with a 9 per cent increase last year on 2012's figures.

Meanwhile, the rise of 'click & collect' services, and a greater trust in retailers being able to deliver well in time for Christmas, has resulted in a trend for people being more comfortable leaving their Christmas shopping until a Monday later: Manic Monday, you might call it.

A few things to remember if you are doing the bulk of your Christmas shopping online, according to Experian:

1. It's best to use websites that you know and trust. Always look for a security padlock icon in the top left hand corner of a page before you register financial or personal information on a website. And if an online deal you find, or have been emailed, sounds too good to be true, it quite probably is.

2. Use strong passwords, especially if you have stored payment details, and it's a good idea to change them every now and then. If possible, install the latest anti-virus and firewall software. If you're out and about, make sure you can't be overlooked when you make a mobile payment - be especially careful around wi-fi, even at home.

3. Keep an eye on your bank and credit card account balances. Your credit report can also show you if there are any irregularities, such as suspect applications for credit and rises in card balances. As a CreditExpert member you can get unlimited views of your Experian Credit Report and alerts to credit activity in your name so you can spot potentially fraudulent activity.

4. Buying on credit can give you protection. If you buy goods or services on your credit card, you have extra protection if things go wrong (clothes don't fit, unwanted gifts etc.) compared with paying by cash or even debit card, under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Corliss Tech Review Group provides some tips and reviews on how to secure you through online and technical issue. Our substance is short yet to the point, and intended to challenge you to live in and nurture with IT technologies. For more update, just visit our blog site.

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