Mark Collier's VoIP/UC Security Blog

Article about Caller ID Spoofing and Using it to Harvest Names

Here is an article about an attack where the hacker spoofed source numbers and made "millions" of calls to harvest caller ID. Apparently the hacker used an automated system, I presume somethink like Asterisk and public network access through SIP, to make calls with spoofed source numbers, to another number which they had set up. By doing this, the network would deliver, if the number was legitimate, the caller ID associated with the source number.

So to give an example, the caller would automatically generate a call, with say my cell phone number, directed to a number they control, which would deliver/display my caller ID, which I assume they captured. By randomly doing this for millions of numbers, they built a database of source numbers/names, presumably to be used for purposes such as telemarketing.

Not really a new attack, but something made a lot more dangerous with simple call automation, SIP trunks, and caller ID spoofing. Here is a link to the actual article:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/16/39024.htm

 

FBI Statement to Congressional Committee on Attacks Including TDoS

Here is a link to an FBI article, covering a statement to a congressional commitee about threats to the financial sector. It includes a discussion of TDoS attacks. Here is the link and the part that describes the TDoS attacks:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/cyber-security-threats-to-the-financial-sector

In 2010, law enforcement agencies and financial regulators observed a trend in which cyber criminals initiated unauthorized financial transactions from compromised victim bank or brokerage accounts. These transactions were paired with a Telephone Denial of Service (TDoS) attack, in which the victim’s legitimate phone line was flooded with spam-like telephone calls to prevent the banks or brokerage firms from contacting the victim to verify that the transactions were legitimate.

In December 2009, a victim in Florida filed a police report stating that $399,000 had disappeared from his online brokerage account while he was simultaneously targeted in a TDoS attack. The online withdrawals occurred in four increments, with progressively larger amounts being withdrawn each time.

Cyber criminals target not only those who trade in securities but also the exchanges in which the securities are sold. These TDoS and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks show a desire by cyber criminals to focus their efforts on high-profile financial sector targets.

 

 

Speaking on VoIP Security At ITExpo in Austin this Week

I am speaking on VoIP/UC security this week at the ITExpo conference in Austin. The conference is going on this week and I am speaking at 11:00 on Thursday. Here is a link:

http://itexpo.tmcnet.com/west/attendees/w11-conferences-program.aspx

 

Speaking on VoIP Security At ITExpo in Austin this Week

I am speaking on VoIP/UC security this week at the ITExpo conference in Austin. The conference is going on this week and I am speaking at 11:00 on Thursday. Here is a link:

http://itexpo.tmcnet.com/west/attendees/w11-conferences-program.aspx

 

New Articles on Toll Fraud

I created a separate list of the articles on toll fraud. They were buried in the long list of general articles. You can find this list to the right of the blog.

Recent Article on Social Engineering/Phishing

Here is a fairly recent article on social engineering/phishing. I know I have been receiving more of these calls on my iPhone.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/cybercriminals-use-computer-security-phone-scam-to-grab-credit-card-details-2298519.html