At a time when retail IT is getting better at locking down just about every avenue cyberthieves have of breaking in—PINpads, wireless networks, connections with processors—it's nice to know the bad guys are still able to hit retail security where it isn't. (OK, it's not nice, but you know what we mean.) According to FICO (NYSE:FICO), scammers are now using a decidedly low-tech technique for stealing payment-card information from consumers—and there's no special reason the same trick won't work against store employees for the keys to a retail network.
It works like this: A cyberthief phones the target claiming to be from a bank and saying there's been suspicious activity on the target's card. If the target doesn't trust the caller, the thief encourages the target to phone the bank using a number the target trusts. The target hangs up—but the thief doesn't. When the target picks up the phone again to dial, the thief plays a recording of a dial tone. The target dials, but it's the thief who fields the call. From that point, it's all Social Engineering 101.
