Computer Security Alert! Cybercrooks Selling Your ID Online

Cybercrooks are selling your online usernames and passwords in return for a profit.

About 63 percent of all password stealing Trojan programs come from China. The number 2 source is Russia, which accounts for 12 percent. Cybercriminals from these regions are selling hacked usernames and passwords online to make hundreds of dollars.

Hackers have maliciously been creating Internet data-stealing spyware since 2005. Now it's becoming a growing problem on the Internet as these programs become more sophisticated. Some corrupt programs seek banking passwords, others hunt for online gaming credentials. But according to online security experts, the fastest-growing data stealers are generic spying programs which steal as much information as possible from their victims.

Cybercrooks are starting to realize that they can do more than simply swipe credit card numbers. In 2009 about 70 000 of these programs were identified, twice as many as the year before, and almost three times the number of banking password stealing programs.

Gmail accounts have been compromised and put up for sale on Russian hacker forums, (asking price 2500 rubles, or $82) RapidShare accounts going for $5 per month, as well as Skype, instant messaging and Facebook credentials being offered. The prices vary depending on who owns the account and the number of followers the person has. Attackers usually look for a trusted stepping stone from which to send malicious Twitter messages and infect more machines. One Twitter account, with just over 320 followers, has been offered at $1 000 in an underground hacker forum. Compared to MSN accounts has which have been seen priced at €1 ($1.40) the price for Twitter accounts is really high.

When the value of stolen credit cards and other types of credentials are added up, hackers can easily take in $1 000 worth of data from just one hacked computer.

Does this make you want to take action now to protect yourself? What steps will you take for protecting your information online? Post your comments below.