A Brief History of Cybercrime and Cyberwarfare - The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - page 408

Skimming
The presence of thousands of automated teller machines (ATMs) in public places
has created a massive new kind of crime called skimming . Thieves are able to use
either small hidden cameras or Bluetooth-enabled magnetic-strip readers to cap-
ture passwords, PIN numbers, and other information from debit and credit cards
when they are used at ATMs.
There are also commercially available handheld card readers, including new
models that plug into smartphones. Any of these could be used by unscrupulous
retail clerks, waiters, or even gas station attendants to copy debit and credit card
information.
According to an FBI report, magnetic credit card skimmers had been secretly
installed in a number of gasoline pumps in Denver, Colorado. Given the number
and distribution of such devices, this was probably the work of an organized group
of cybercriminals and not the work of individual gas station employees.
Skimming and other kinds of unauthorized and illegal access to financial re-
cords are now a serious threat to global banking systems. This topic only identifies
such threats but is not large enough to discuss them in detail.
Readers are urged to use web searches to find out more. On the FBI website
is the congressional testimony of Gordon Snow, the Assistant Director of the FBI
Cyber Division. This testimony provides a very instructive summary of cyber-
crime. At the time of this testimony on September 11, 2011, the FBI was invest-
igating more than 400 cyberattacks on financial institutions. These cases caused
total financial losses of about $255 million.
The problem that both consumers and businesses face in the modern era is that
financial data are comparatively easy to steal and are far safer targets for crimin-
als than many other kinds of crime. Worse, computerized financial crimes attract
a criminal element that is obviously fairly intelligent and also highly computer lit-
erate. Such criminals are hard to catch because they carry out their crimes inside
their own homes or offices and not in public places.
It is unlikely that such crimes can be fully suppressed so long as identities use
only alphanumeric information. Some forms of highly personal information such
as facial recognition, retina patterns, fingerprints, or other unique attributes will
probably be needed in the future. This will no doubt be opposed as a loss of civil
liberties. However, citizens and companies need to balance the use of personal
physical identity information against potential financial losses from cybercrimes.