Credit-card fraud funding terrorists

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- A former U.S. FBI section chief for financial crimes is calling for more credit-card fraud protections as a way to prevent terrorism.

Dennis Lormel says security officials could eliminate a major source of funding for terrorist organizations by protecting credit-card data. Additionally, Lormel, now senior vice president of the consulting firm Corporate Risk International, says terrorists have become adept at hacking into computer systems and stealing card data.

Lormel says with technology that removes credit-card data from computer systems, potential revenue streams could be eliminated.

Lormel referenced convicted Bali, Indonesia, bombing mastermind Imam Samudra, who from jail urged fellow terrorists to hack into computer systems and steal credit-card data, calling the potentially vulnerable data a cash cow to purchase weapons, bomb-making materials and the like.

"They are very adept at exploiting weaknesses in the financial system, such as vulnerable credit card data in computers," Lormel said, in a statement. "Getting the data out of the reach of terrorist hackers absolutely chokes off a major source of funds for these organizations."