Some of the most invasive computer attacks against individuals may not
Some of the most invasive computer attacks against individuals may not involve infecting a computer, but merely listening to one. With machine patience, sniffers and database programs can accumulate data about peoplelots of peopleover as long a time as is needed to gather enough information to make an attack. Usually, the attack takes the form of making credit card purchases, or applying for credit in the name of the victims whose details have been pieced together. Such crimes, often called identity theft, can be devastating. It is not that the victim is always left liable for the fraudulent purchases; consumer protection laws and the rapid closing of accounts help a great deal to prevent that. It is that the victim may be left unable to exercise his own credit, or establish more because vendors can’t easily be sure if any new transactions after the ID theft is reported are being made by the customer or by the thief. And it is highly likely that the victim will be unaware of any of these activities until the damage has been done.
