Slurpware
Add a new one to the dictionary: slurpware.
Slurpware describes a multi-faceted, nefarious, and probably illegal, attack on an asset-rich Web property such as Amazon, eBay, PayPal, or the Web affiliate of a financial institution such as Wells Fargo.
The best slurpware targets have large communities of users (eBay, PayPal). Only large (and criminal) organizations have the assets to deploy slurpware. Slurpware elements almost always include spoofing (also called "phishing," spamming email with fake origins), software that can track keyboard entries in wireless online contexts to determine passwords, in some cases stolen hardware security devices, massive computing power, and sponsorship of extensive criminal organizations -- such as the Russian mafia.
There's a great deal of creativity involved in a successful slurpware campaign, although we might wish the creativity were deployed to a better purpose.
Posted by Harold Davis at January 30, 2005 10:14 AM
