Identity Thieves’ New Ploy: Pharming

 

By Dan Lee / ©2005,

San Jose Mercury News,

Knight Ridder Newspapers.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.

 

 

In these high-tech times, criminals are finding new ways to wreak havoc on society

 

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First online crooks went “phishing” to reap their harvest of potential identity-theft victims. Now they’re getting into “pharming.” Phishing uses e-mail spam to deliver fake messages designed to look like they’re coming from banks or other legitimate companies. These messages lure many unsuspecting individuals into revealing personal or financial information.

 

Pharming is a new scam that automatically directs computer users from a legitimate Web site to a fraudulent copy of that site. The fraudulent site collects passwords, credit-card numbers or other private information. Pharming uses a fundamental Internet technology known as the Domain Name System, or DNS. DNS servers translate a Web site’s address into a numerical code for Internet routing. A hacker breaks into an Internet service provider’s DNS servers and switches legitimate addresses stored in the server’s “cache,” a temporary holding area, with bogus addresses. This practice is called “DNS poisoning.”

 

Why is pharming so dangerous

 

Pharming cuts out the need for a response from the victim as required by phishing schemes, where the recipient of the scam e-mail must open the message and link to the bogus site. “It’s almost entirely out of the user’s hands. They’re simply connecting to a Web site that they believe is a legitimate site,” said Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager for Symantec’s Security Response Center. “If you look at phishing like you’re pulling individual fish out of the ocean, pharming would be more like you’re throwing a big net.”

 

On a positive note, users may get tipped off they are on a pharming site because the log-in process or information will not look the same as on the legitimate site, said Christopher Faulkner, CEO of CI Host. He added that the scam sites would most likely ask users for information that is not normally required.

Vocabulary Focus

wreak havoc (idiom) to cause destruction or damage, usually in a violent, confusing or uncontrolled way

fraudulent (adj) [5frC:djulEnt] dishonest and illegal; intended to deceive

out of one’s hands (idiom) no longer one’s responsibility

 

Specialized Terms

pharming (n) 网址嫁接 a scam used to obtain personal or private (usually financial related) information by redirecting Web users to phony sites where criminals can capture passwords and other private information

hacker (n) 黑客 a skilled computer user who breaks into someone else’s computer system without permission in order to find out information or do something illegal

身份窃贼新伎俩：网址嫁接

张梵 译

 

值此高科技时代，不法人士正在找寻大肆破坏社会的新方法

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网络骗子起初利用“网络钓鱼”窃用潜在受害者的身份获利，如今他们开始利用“网址嫁接”。   

网络钓鱼利用垃圾电子邮件，传递看似来自银行或其它合法公司的不实信息，这些讯息吸引了许多无疑虑的人士透露个人或财务资料。   

网址嫁接是一种新型骗局，会自动将计算机使用者从一合法网站转接至诈骗版本的同名网站。欺诈网站会收集密码、信用卡号及其它个人资料。网址嫁接使用称为“网域名称系统”或简称 DNS 的基本互联网络技术；DNS 服务器将网址转换成数字代码，以利网际网络决定路由过程。黑客会入侵互联网络服务业者的 DNS 服务器，将储存于服务器“快取区”（即暂存区）的真实网址改为伪造网址，这一做法称为“域名系统下毒”。

 

为什么网址嫁接这这么危险？

网址嫁接不需要受害者的响应，不像网络钓鱼骗局中诈骗邮件收件者必须开启邮件并链接至诈骗网站。诺顿安全应变中心资深经理奥立佛·弗雷德里希说：“使用者可以说是完全无辜；他们自认为链接到了一个合法的网站。如果你把网络钓鱼想成是把鱼一条条从海中钓出，网址嫁接更像撒下大网来捞鱼。”   

所幸网址嫁接有迹可寻，让使用者知道已经进入网址嫁接网站。CI Host 执行官克里斯多佛·福克纳说，网址嫁接网站的登陆过程或所显示信息与真实网站不同。他又说，诈骗网站也很可能会询问使用者一些一般而言不须询问的资料。