Symantec Develops Dark VisionTo Prevent The Sale Of Stolen Identities

 
'Dark Vision' is the new technology created by Symantec Corp. to scan underground web presences looking for personal information being sold. The system was created about a year ago and permits Symantec to 'track the underground economy," according to Oliver Friedrichs, a director at Symantec Security Response.
 
If or when the program will be released for sale is yet unknown, Friedrichs says, "At this point it's really an early prototype. But we see a number of different opportunities, including the potential to warn consumers where we see their information being disclosed."
 
At this point there is a lot of activity among identity thieves that gather online to sell information to criminals. The deals are done in chat rooms or Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels.
 
For as little as $6, a credit card number can be purchased, alone or with a variety of other personal information. Friedrichs reports, "You can actually buy a complete identity of someone for … $14 to $18 on average."
 
"They're really dumping a variety of records," Friedrichs adds.
 
The Dark Vision system can provide the exact location where the stolen information is being posted. However, due to the highly secretive nature of such dealings, Dark Vision is only able to gather a small amount of the information that has been stolen, usually only a sample of the data.
 
Dark Vision discovered nearly 800 stolen credit card numbers within the first three months of testing. Yet, Friedrichs doesn't believe the system to be useful to companies interested in early warnings on security breaches.
 
Symantec's Dark Vision is not the first of its kind, CardCops, a small company in California, has also been developing a way to troll online for stolen identities, and then notifying the individuals, police and venders involved.
 
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that stolen identities plagued millions of households annually and resulted in losses of $6.4 billion each year.