Elton Williams

MIS 300

Assignment 12-3

                           System Fraud, Destruction, Error, and Abuse

            A reoccurring systems fraud that is currently becoming a destructive organized cyber crime is identity fraud. Several technology firms such as America Online, Earthlink, Yahoo, eBay and other organizations are being targeted by internet hackers sending sophisticated scamming electronic mails. The name of the fastest growing and most dangerous type of spam on the internet is called “phishing”.

            Phishing is creation of email messages and web pages that are replicas of existing sites. As a result, internet scammers use emails to lure internet users like fish for passwords and financial data. The initial setup of the fraudulent intent starts from a spam email that contains a link to a web address that directs the internet user to the hacker’s website; this website displays a bon fide usage of a real website resembling a bank, financial institution, or an internet service provider’s site. Most spam email states that the customer account is about to expire and most instances the customer needs to provide detailed information to ensure that account accessibility can continue; these series of events introduce companies and individuals to be victims of systems and identity fraud.

            After several complaints and incidents of “phishing”, technology firms proposed solutions to address the threat of phishing. These solutions start with effective educational detection and prevention techniques.

Technology firms started their solution strategy with detection procedures; organizations such as America Online provided free downloadable software that monitors scans, filters, and alerts of potential infected and spammed emails. In addition, technology firms are educating partnering organizations and individuals of tutorials of anti-phishing techniques; theses educational techniques introduce a prevention and report system tool to slow down “phishing’ organized crimes.

            The general recommendations that I would give to users of information systems to prevent abuse of system fraud are instructions of protecting personal information and how to detect fraud emails. Generally, my instructions will imply of not responding to emails that you do not know; unfamiliarity is always a key notion that flags susceptible fraudulent activity.  Cyber-crime is becoming a notable crime world wide; the crime of “phishing” is reforming how personal information should be transmitted over the internet world. Victims of internet fraud are changing their ways of e-communicating to the old ways of communication through manual organization. In the long run, digital firms will seek a way to over come the wave of this system fraudulent crime.                                                    

Reference:

Retrieved on December 1, 2004:http://www.antiphishing.org/

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing