Welcome to Montebello Partners' security home page. Here we include important current alerts, resources, and announcements. If this is your first visit here, you may want to browse:

March, 2005 Update

Hacks

  • An identify theft ring fraudulently obtained personal consumer data on over 145,000 individuals, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, and credit reports, from ChoicePoint, which sells such data to government agencies, insurance companies, and others. At first, ChoicePoint only notified victims in California, which requires notification of unauthorized access to personal data. The company later acknowledged victims in all 50 states, and begain a country-wide notification process.

  • A new phone worm, Cabir, infects Symbian phones using Bluetooth wireless access. Though the virus causes no damage, it is a signal that cybercriminals will soon be using such techniques to steal personal data from mobile phones.

  • A former customer of PayMaxx, an online payroll service, showed that W2 data for over 25,000 people was exposed on the PayMaxx website due to inadequate security, causing PayMaxx to shut down their >site. This type of security flaw can usually be discovered by an independent security assessment before releasing a web application to the public.

Holes

  • In early February, Microsoft announced updates to a wide variety of vulnerabilities in Windows, which would allow attackers full control of a remote system.

  • Texas Instruments makes an RFID cryptography chip used in millions of car keys to prevent auto theft. Johns Hopkins researchers showed it's possible to "crack" the car key, merely by standing next to someone with such a key.

Upcoming Events

  • The March Security SIG will be Thursday, March 24th. Please join our email list for information on the topic and speaker.

Other Updates