Cyber breaches kept secret

By Reuters
25 Nov 2009

Cybercriminals regularly breach computer security systems, stealing millions of dollars and credit card numbers in cases that companies keep secret, said the FBI's top Internet crimes investigator.

For every break-in like the highly publicised attacks against TJX and Heartland Payment, where hacker rings stole millions of credit card numbers, there are many more that never make the news.

"Of the thousands of cases that we've investigated, the public knows about a handful," said Shawn Henry, assistant director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Division. "There are million-dollar cases that nobody knows about."

Companies that are victims of cybercrime are reluctant to come forward out of fear the publicity will hurt their reputations, scare away customers and hurt profits. Sometimes they don't report the crimes to the FBI at all. In other cases they wait so long that it is tough to track down evidence.

"Keeping your head in the sand on filing a report means the bad guys are out there hitting the next guy, and the next guy after that," Henry said.

He said the cybercrime problem has gotten bigger over the past three years because hackers have changed their attack methods as companies have tightened up security.

"It's absolutely gotten bigger, yes, absolutely," he said.