Malicious Software Attacks Rise; Suspect Arrested in Theft of PC with Bank Data; Olympics Insecure, Even with Security

Malicious Software Attacks Rise

The New York Times reports that according to the security company Symantec, the overall rate of attack activity from malicious software rose nearly 20 percent in the last year. The paper reports that attempts to educate consumers are growing, with the founding this year of the National Cyber Security Alliance, a partnership of the federal government and high-technology companies. Suspect Arrested in Theft of PC with Bank DataThe Mercury News reported on Thanksgiving. Edward Jonathan Krastof was arrested Tuesday night and is being held at the Contra Costa County jail, accused of burglarizing several offices in the early morning hours of Nov. 1 or 2 and stealing three computers and other items. There is also an identity theft charge, not related to the stolen computers but to evidence that the suspect had been reproducing checks, driver’s licenses and identification cards. A column in yesterdays San Francisco Chronicle says Secret Service technicians are now trying to determine whether any of the names, addresses or Social Security numbers stored on the stolen computers hard drive were accessed or downloaded. But, the columnist points out, this is an unusually rapid resolution for this kind of case. For example, just one day before Wells’ data were stolen, thieves made off with about a dozen computers from a branch office of brokerage Merrill Lynch near Sacramento, and there are no suspects in the case. The FBI estimates that stolen computers are responsible for more than half of all thefts of confidential corporate data. The bureau, working with San Francisco’s Computer Security Institute, says cyber-crimes caused more than $201 million in losses to 530 companies surveyed last year.

Police have arrested a suspect in the theft earlier this month of a computer that held the personal information of thousands of Wells Fargo customers,

Olympics Insecure, Even with SecurityThe Boston Globe, the Greeks are budgeting $750 million on security for the 2004 Olympic Games, more than twice what Salt Lake spent five months after the Sept. 11 attacks. They’ll have more than 45,000 armed guards, triple what Sydney had in 2000. They’re getting help from a seven-nation consortium that includes the United States. And yet, in the wake of the recent bombings by Islamic terrorists that killed 57 people in nearby Turkey, next summer’s Games seem more vulnerable than ever.

According to a story in