12 GLOBAL FIRMS INTO PRODUCING SKIMMERS
Cyber criminals turn to biometric skimmers to clone cards
said that there were about 12 firms across the globe that manufactured such devices. Of the 12 firms, nine manufacture fingerprint and palm-print stealing devices, and the three others manufacture iris pattern stealing devices,” he says.
Card skimmers were used to perpetrate frauds in developed countries between 2003 and 2014.
Such frauds began being committed in India in 2008 when the first case of credit card cloning was registered in Kolkata.
Similarly, while biometric skimmers have been used by criminals abroad since 2015, cybercrime experts expect it to take some time for their use to become widespread in Telangana and the other south Indian states.
However, they advise the public to remain alert while providing biometric authentication. Kaspersky Labs, a major cybersecurity and anti-virus service provider, has come up with a solution to control the theft of biometric information.
In September 2016, experts from Kaspersky identified the possibility of identity theft being committed through the use of biometric skimmers. They were also able to ascertain that the technology had been in use by cybercriminals since 2015. “While many financial organisations consider biometric-based solutions to be some of the most promising additions to current authentication methods, cybercriminals see biometrics as a new opportunity to steal sensitive information,” they said in a report. Their report also mentioned that 12 companies across the globe were producing skimmers capable of stealing biometric data.
“At least three underground sellers are already researching devices that could illegally obtain data from palm vein and iris recognition systems. The first wave of biometric-skimmers was observed to be in presale testing in September 2015. Evidence reveals that during initial testing, developers discovered several bugs. The main problem was the use of GSM modules for biometric data transfer – they were too slow in transferring the large volume of data obtained. As a result, new versions of skimmers use different, faster datatransfer technologies,” it said.
At least three underground sellers are already researching devices that could illegally obtain data from palm vein and iris recognition systems. The first wave of biometricskimmers was observed to
be in presale testing in September 2015. — A SpiceJet flight with over 59 passengers on-board to Jabalpur from Hyderabad had to make an emergency landing in Nagpur due to a technical snag.
According to sources, the SpiceJet flight (1096) had departed the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 1.30 pm on Friday and was scheduled to reach Jabalpur at 2.30 pm.
“The pilot identified identified a technical snag in the engine midair and informed the nearest Air Traffic Control Center at Nagpur Airport requesting for an emergency landing. After receiving clearances from the ATC, the flight landed safely at the airport,” said the source.
Confirming the incident, sources in the budget airline said, “It was a technical snag and our engineers are attending to it. All the passengers and crew were deplaned safely.”
The passengers were put on alternative planes for their onward journey to Jabalpur.