Two stories from the latest edition of the NetworkWorld 360 podcast:
First, an inadvertent version of Robin Hood: Thieves are now verifying the active state of stolen credit cards by first making small donations to charitable organizations. The idea here is that you can test a card without tripping the software safeguards that the credit card companies use to watch for unusual spending patterns. The test-by-donation system is now so widespread that one can visit a site, type in a stolen card's number, and have it automatically make a donation and return verification of success. (full text of story)
Second, the management of botnets is now presenting costs significant enough to make it worthwhile for one botnet wrangler to invest in malware to take down zombie computers wrangled by the competition. I'm not sure of the motivation; maybe it has to do with preserving plentiful grazing for one's own herd. A modern version of mob turf wars, to stretch the analogy to the point of pain. (Details on page 3 of this story.)
NetworkWorld is, of course, a magazine aimed at people managing IT infrastructure, which means that it is supported by advertisers interested in selling security systems to these readers. Nonetheless, the full reading of the above stories makes one tempted to run off and live in a cave somewhere. Oh, wait.
Podcast info for NetworkWorld here.
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