F-Secure Supports Fight against Internet Money Laundering with Community Approach

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--F-Secure, the leading enabler for Internet Service Providers and
operators to provide security as a service, is supporting the work of
volunteer activists to expose money laundering web sites run by
criminal organizations. Criminals frequently use the Internet to
recruit so-called 'money mules', which enable them to launder stolen
funds and money gained from their use of banking-trojans, key-loggers,
and phishing.

"We want to support the excellent work carried out by volunteer
crime fighters like Bob at Bobbear.co.uk in exposing these activities,
and help to build a community of volunteers in the fight against
network crime," says Patrik Runald from the F-Secure Security Labs.

People looking for jobs on the Internet can be tricked into
becoming part of a money laundering operation in several ways. The
criminals recruit so-called money transfer agents with spam messages
and unsolicited emails, by placing job adverts on real recruitment
sites, and by creating professional web sites that look perfectly
legitimate to the untrained eye. Sometimes the web site is a spoof
where the whole template has been stolen from a reputable company.

In all cases the purpose of the criminals is to convince the job
hunter that the employment opportunity for a money transfer agent is
made by a genuine, legal company. Typically, money transfer agents or
financial operators are promised a 5-10% commission for 'processing
payments' or 'transferring funds' through their personal bank
accounts. After providing their bank details to the criminals - a
major security risk in itself - money mules receive transfers of
stolen money into their bank accounts, which they withdraw in cash and
send to the criminals by using a more anonymous money transfer
service, such as Webmoney, E-Gold or Western Union (which are legal
services as such). Hypothetically, the transfer agent is forwarding
the money to a software developer in a developing country. In reality
they forward the money to criminals.

The promise of easy money for a few hours of simple work has lured
many unsuspecting people to sign up as money mules. However, when the
police and the banks discover money-laundering schemes, it is the
money mule at the bottom of the crime chain that is often the first to
be caught. The consequences can be serious. People suspected of
receiving and forwarding stolen money may have their bank accounts
frozen while they are investigated. Becoming a money mule can also
ruin a person's credit history and lead to criminal charges.

Volunteer fraud investigator Bob at Bobbear.co.uk has uncovered a
number of e-mail based job scams on web sites that Internet users
should be aware of. As part of a Web 2.0-style community approach to
improve security on the Internet, F-Secure challenged interested
volunteer experts to carry out further research on other suspected
money laundering web sites that will help to get them shut down. The
best material sent to Bobbear.co.uk was rewarded with prizes by
F-Secure. The details of the challenge are available at:

http://www.Bobbear.co.uk

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001314.html

The criminals, who don't like the information Bob is providing to
Internet users, have recently targeted his web site in retaliation.
They attacked Bob's reputation by spoofing his domain name and making
it look like he was sending out spam, which resulted in an
investigation by his own Internet service provider in which they
temporarily took his site offline.

"Dedicated volunteers like Bob are really helping to improve
security on the Internet," says Patrik Runald from the F-Secure
Security Labs. "Collecting evidence that a web site is involved in a
money laundering operation is harder than showing it is spreading
malware or stealing data from people. But if we all contribute to the
research on how people are being deceived by these web sites, there
will be greater awareness of the dangers and less people will sign up
as money mules. It means a safer Internet experience for everyone in
the end."

About F-Secure Corporation

F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses against
computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and mobile
networks. F-Secure's award-winning solutions are available as a
service subscription through more than 150 Internet service providers
and mobile operator partners around the world, making F-Secure the
global leader in this market. The solutions are also available as
licensed products through thousands of resellers globally. F-Secure
has received the Frost & Sullivan 2007 award for Distribution Strategy
Leadership. The company aspires to be the most reliable security
provider, helping make computer and smartphone user's networked lives
safe and easy. This is substantiated by the company's independently
proven ability to respond faster to new threats than its main
competitors. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Finland, F-Secure
has been listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Helsinki since 1999. The
company has consistently been one of the fastest growing publicly
listed companies in the industry. The latest news on real-time virus
threat scenarios is available at the F-Secure Data Security Lab weblog
at http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/.

LEWIS PR for F-Secure
Bryan Pope, 415-992-4400
fsecureus@lewispr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2007