Scams we keep falling for, scammers paying their dues and other Cyber Security Issues in this special edition of Government Technology's Security E-Newsletter.

Features

Naughty or Nice: Is Santa Putting Children's Information at Risk?
Data protection laws lay down strict conditions for the use of personal data and there is no evidence that Santa Claus has an adequate compliance program in place.

Identity Theft in 2007, Predictions for 2008
Consumers, government agencies, educational and medical facilities and businesses all need to handle personal information with the greatest care to prevent ID theft.

False Sense of Cyber Security Reported Among Americans
"The education initiatives happening throughout National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October are a must because Internet users need to understand the dos and don'ts of cyber security to protect themselves from the potential risks of the Internet and being online."

Cyberstalkers -- Today's Wild West Villains
When Susan started receiving threatening messages on her MySpace account, she knew she'd made a mistake.

Cyber Criminals Rely on Mind Games to Scam Internet Users
"Scam spam works best by providing recipients with a sense of familiarity and legitimacy, either by creating the illusion that the e-mail is from a friend or colleague, or providing plausible warnings from a respected institution."

Social Networking Users Happy to Reveal All to Potential ID Thieves
"Freddi may look like a happy green frog that just wants to be friends, but actually he's happy because he's just encouraged 82 users to hand over their personal details on a plate."

Scams We Keep Falling For

Social Engineering

Rash of Spam Uses Social Engineering to Exploit Victims
Spam claims to offer free tickets and a trailer of new movie.

Worms, Trojans and Harry Potter?
A dangerous Trojan disguises itself as a trailer for the latest Harry Potter movie in order to infect users' computers.

D'oh! Spammers Exploit Interest in The Simpsons Movie
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