The threat of identity theft is disturbing enough, but federal officials think terrorists are getting in on the action, hoping to fund some of their operations.

Like other scam artists, terrorists are reportedly using Web sites and bogus e-mails to steal credit card numbers online.

But the government has hired one local institution to help protect you.

Whether it's credit card numbers, bank account information or other personal data, the last place you want that information is in the hands of terrorists.

The announcement comes after British authorities recently sentenced three men who, according to the Washington Post, used thousands of credit card numbers stolen online to pay for supplies to be used in terror attacks and surveillance.

"Criminal activities have always been part of the modus operandi of terrorist organizations," said security analyst Frank Cilluffo. "This is just taking advantage of some of the new means of technology."

"I'm not surprised at all," said Carnegie Mellon University CyLab creator Dr. Pradeep Khosla. "It was only a manner of time before they figured it out."

Khosla's program is funded by government agencies like the Department of Defense and Homeland Security to protect the public from cyber crime, an industry apparently too lucrative for the terrorists to ignore.

"If I break into someone's account where credit card numbers are kept, I can get 10,000 of them simultaneously, so the scale and the speed of access goes up, and that's what makes it more dangerous," he said.

Like other so-called phishing schemes, terrorists, for example, send e-mails pretending to be from your bank or eBay, directing you to a phony Web site, hoping you'll enter a passwords or a credit card number.

CyLab has developed computer security programs and other tools to stop them, but the best defense is public awareness, Khosla said.

"I think we have to be a step ahead of the terrorists, but I don't think we can ever say the system is secure," he said.

For more information, visit www.MySecureCyberSpace.com or www.CyLab.CMU.edu.

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