http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/hackers-list-of-online-accounts-spooks-users/2008/10/08/1223145446457.html



By Conrad Walters

smh.co.au

October 9, 2008



WHEN Australian web users learned from the Herald that details of their 

online accounts [1] had been posted on a hacker's website for all to 

see, they were suspicious, then alarmed, then furious at the hacker who 

compromised their identities.



Email addresses, matched with user names and passwords for online 

memberships, were offered by the hacker for anyone wanting to try their 

hand at identity theft or even financial fraud.



The Herald stumbled across the site during its investigations into 

online fraud. "It's obviously startling," said Lachlan Yee, a research 

associate in biotechnology at the University of NSW and one of those 

whose details were exposed by the hacker.



Dr Yee instantly recognised a password linked with his university email 

address. Fortunately, the password was only used for "not-so-crucial" 

uses such as online sports forums, he said.



The distributor of the data, a hacker who uses the name Farbod, offered 

9600 identities for free. His motivation? To earn status and credibility 

on a website that rates hackers' skills.



Farbod, who purports to be from Texas, has already advanced in rank from 

lowly "pirate in training" to "Microsoft nightmare".



[1] http://www.smh.com.au/pdf/compromisedaccounts.pdf



[...]





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Received on Thu Oct 09 2008 - 01:02:15 PDT