business service

Growing job market: Online fraud

Judi Hasson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:40:36 -0400

It's a tough job market out there with unemployment rising, the financial sector in a meltdown and the economy tanking. But there seems to be at least one area where there is real growth--the online fraud business. Uri Rivner, head of new technologies for RSA Security, said at an analysts' briefing last week that the Internet fraud business has grown so large and enmeshed in legitimate online activities that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell who's good and who's bad.

He said the con men are using software-as-a-service models to sell their services to customers for a monthly fee. He also said new super-Trojans are being employed that hijack legitimate bank websites, and fool people into disclosing personal financial information such as ATM account numbers and personal identification numbers.

Rivner said that if a willing participant knows where to go, he or she can simply order a phishing or other criminal business service online and pay a fee per month to participate as an investor in order to share in the "profits.

"This fee at one of these services is $299 per month," Rivner said. "This puts you into the food chain of [identity] harvesters, phony ATM card makers, delivery specialists--a whole infrastructure of criminals. There looks to be quite a career path in there for some people."

For more on online fraud:
- see this eWeek.com article

Survey: CIOs, IT managers differ on spending views

Mon, 21 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

A new survey from business service management platform provider Managed Objects found that while 42 percent of IT managers believe that their IT departments are spending too little on IT, only 29 percent of senior executives felt the same way. Twelve percent of senior executives believe too much is spent on IT, while 5 percent of IT managers feel that way. Among the largest companies, respondents in both categories felt that spending was either "about right" or "too little", with only 4 percent saying too much was being spent. Among companies with more than $10 billion in sales, 68 percent claimed that spending was about right. The survey polled 200 U.S. senior corporate executives and IT managers.

Read more survey results:
- read the article at eChannelLine

Execs: We need to spend more on tech

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Here's news that will make your week: It seems that nearly half of today's corporate leaders believe their companies are not spending enough on IT. A study by Managed Objects, which does business service management, reports that top executives see their value proposition in technology. Only 10 percent of those surveyed say their companies are spending too much.

For more on the spending survey:
- read this article from InformationWeek

Business leaders favor increased IT spend

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Good news came this week for IT leaders--it seems that a good portion of top corporate executives don't believe enough is being spent on IT. While 44 percent of those polled by Managed Objects, a business service management firm, say tech spending is right on target, 46 percent of U.S. executives say more should be allocated. The remaining 10 percent feel too much is being spent and if they had their druthers they'd reduce IT down in manpower and downtime.

For more on the IT spend survey:
- read this TechWeb article