http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137215/Security_test_prompts_federal_fraud_alert?taxonomyId=17 By Robert McMillan August 28, 2009 IDG News Service A sanctioned security test of a bank's computer systems had some unexpected consequences this week, leading the federal agency that oversees U.S. credit unions to issue a fraud alert. On Tuesday, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) warned all federally insured credit unions of a bogus letter that an unnamed credit union had received along with two CDs. The bogus letter claimed that the CDs contained NCUA anti-fraud training materials, but in its fraud alert, NCUA warned that running the CDs "could result in a possible security breach to your computer system, or have other adverse consequences." Only it turned out that the CDs were not sent by fraudsters. They were sent by employees of MicroSolved, a Columbus, Ohio, security testing company. "It was a part of some social engineering we were doing in a fully sanctioned penetration test," said MicroSolved CEO Brent Huston in an e-mail message. Companies like MicroSolved are routinely hired to independently test the security of corporations and government agencies. [...] ________________________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.orgReceived on Fri Aug 28 2009 - 02:01:42 PDT
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