Culver City (CA) - Most people probably think of China or Russia as the number one source of hacking attempts, but according to Symantec, most online attacks come from the United States. In its Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec says the U.S. accounted for 31 percent of online attacks with China coming in second with 10%. Germany rounded out the top spots with 7%.
Symantec says that just over half, or 51% of servers used in phishing scams or located in the U.S. and that many of these servers are selling pilfered credit card numbers for $1 to $6 dollars a pop. Criminals can use these card numbers to sign up for additional credit or to make fraudulent purchases.
In addition to credit card numbers, the servers are also offering up more complete identification which includes birthdates and identification numbers. These often sell for $14 to $18 dollars each. You probably don't have to be a genius to figure out what a criminal can do with this information.
You can read the full report on Symantec's website here.
