Pilfered Password in Pennsylvania

Scott Bernard Nelson writes in the Boston Globe that a 19-year-old in Phoenixville, PA, put a Trojan horse on a Massachusetts investor’s computer. This program was used to learn the victim’s brokerage password and, from there, to remove $37,000 from the man’s account.

Dinh alegedly went through elaborate machinations to obscure his identity. But come on! Dinh transfered $37,000 to his own account. There are auditing procedures in place.

Overall, this just shows more of the problems of relying on passwords.

“If convicted, Dinh faces up to 30 years in prison and $1 million fine,” making it clear that the government believes that financial crimes are more serious than violent crimes.