Hackers swap tricks

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A report by the Honeynet Project - which monitors criminal activity on the internet - shows that online thieves are becoming increasingly sophisticated, vnunet.com reports.

According to the report thieves are using chat rooms to sell stolen credit card details and advise others how to hack websites containing credit information and the credit card details are not only used to purchase products but to clone the card owner's identity.

In addition the software programs hackers uses in the chat rooms can systematically search out vulnerable websites containing credit information, determine which bank issued a card, harvest the three-digit card verification number and even let thieves determine the available credit card limit.

Over the past year in the US at least seven million people have fallen victim to identity theft of some sort, according to a survey by analyst Gartner.