Three California men each are facing two dozen charges for running a sophisticated identity theft ring which netted them nearly $2 million, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced Monday. Albert Jose Gonzalez, 39, of Lancaster, Josue Gustavo Albizuras, 42, of Los Angeles and Cesar Vasquez Echeverria, 28, of Santa Clarita installed skimmer devices on computerized pay pumps at gas stations to steal customers' credit and debit card information. The men, who have pleaded innocent, were arrested Feb. 25 after a three-year investigation by members of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the FBI. — AM

The number of unique phishing reports received by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) decreased 29 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009, dropping from the all-time high of 40,621 reports in August to 28,897 in December, according to a report released Saturday by the nonprofit. While the number of unique phishes dropped, there was a significant rise in incidents focused on high-value targets, such as individuals with corporate bank account authority. — AM

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles recently revealed that hackers may have broken into its point-of-sale systems.

One of the great unintended consequences of my job, having covered the IT security space for nearly four years, is my great inability to accurately gauge the awareness that mainstream America has for cyber-risks.