Computer Forensics Expert Warns Employers of Computer Fraud

Don't underestimate the wrath of a disgruntled ex-employee.

As the downturn forces businesses to shed jobs, employers should watch for computer sabotage by laid-off employees, says Gary Kessler, a computer forensics expert.

Just one vengeful act can cost a company thousands of dollars in repairs and lost productivity, and he said that these days it probably happens more often than many employers realize.

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UAB Students Uncover "Obama Speech" Virus

Computer science and criminal justice students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have uncovered a series of fraudulent e-mails that claim to link to video of Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech, but could put a visitor's personal information in the hands of criminals.

According to Gary Warner, UAB's director of research in computer forensics, the spam links to Web sites registered Tuesday in China.

Visiting the Web site requires the user to install an "Adobe Flash Player" to watch the speech. Installing it will cause all user IDs and passwords, whether for online banking, online stores, e-mail, or even chat programs, to be sent to the criminal's computer.