Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I read this as a good response. Am I missing something?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071219023511258

S&K Famous Brands web site security breach

Wednesday, December 19 2007 @ 07:04 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

S&K Famous Brands has informed the New Hampshire DOJ of a security breach on October 24, 2007 involving its web site, www.skmenswear.com. The breach put customers' names, addresses, and credit card numbers and expiration dates at risk. The total number of customers affected was not indicated.

In its disclosure to NH, S&K included a phony email to a customer that triggered its investigation. [They listened to a customer? How unusual! Bob] S&K reports that when they were unable to quickly determine whether the web site had been hacked or an email to a customer had been intercepted, they disabled the online store. [Safety first? How unusual! Bob] They then notified credit card issuers, purged or masked credit card data going back seven years, [Ah well, no one is perfect. Bob] and changed all usernames and passwords on the system. They also arranged for a forensics security audit and notified law enforcement.

In their notification to customers, S&K states they had discovered "unauthorized access" to their online store.

Source - Notification Letter to NH DOJ [pdf]



The beginning of the end? TJX seems to have been able to estimate the costs very accurately. I wonder how they did that?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071219051523345

(follow-up) N.E. banks, TJX reach agreement on breach

Wednesday, December 19 2007 @ 07:04 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

TJX Cos. and New England banks yesterday said they have agreed to settle a high-profile lawsuit over payment card security practices in the wake of the record-setting data breach at the Framingham retailer that compromised up to 100 million accounts.

...Specifics weren't disclosed, but the deal won't add to the $256 million TJX previously had budgeted to deal with the breach, a spokeswoman said yesterday.

In addition to settling with the banks, the figure is meant to cover previous settlements with payment card company Visa International Inc. for up to $40.9 million in costs, and with a class of consumers.

TJX still faces claims from an Alabama bank and probes by federal and state officials.

Source - Boston Globe



We knew this was coming (from Israel) – now: is it a good thing? I think so.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071219040115104

Behavior scrutinized at O'Hare

Wednesday, December 19 2007 @ 07:01 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Other Privacy News

Security screeners schooled in the psychology of observation are on the job at O'Hare International Airport, pulling aside passengers whose behavior may be a tipoff of hostile intentions, the nation's transportation security chief told the Tribune Monday. The federal behavior detection officers are on the lookout for passengers displaying extraordinary stress and fear, or signs of deception during questioning, all earmarks of terrorists who may be on scouting missions to find weak links in airport security, said Kip Hawley, administrator of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Source - Chicago Tribune



Some downsides are very far down... This one could ruin your entire day.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071219014047594

The Unimaginable...Identity Theft Victim Mistakenly Labeled a Vicious Cop Killer

Wednesday, December 19 2007 @ 07:01 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Last night Jim Defede and CBS4 News out of Miami, FL aired an exclusive interview with Kevin Wehner the victim of an identity theft whose picture was mistakenly released to the national news while police here were hunting for a cop killer. The Suspect had gone on a shooting rampage that left one officer dead and three others wounded. It was a horrifying day.

.... The police had been intentionally misled by the girlfriend of the "real" killer. She gave them the name and drivers license of Kevin Wehner...an innocent identity theft victim.

... Kevin suddenly realized how it was his name became tied to the on-going events unfolding in South Florida. He was a victim of identity theft and had been struggling to clear his credit identity for years. He had filed various police reports and requests for investigations with the police and the Department of Motor Vehicles. He knew his credit had been ruined -but now he was in shock that he was being called a killer. He feared for his life, rightfully so, and the lives of his family.

Source - American Chronicle



Ethics 101: How to beat the competition.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/18/215258&from=rss

Major Australian ISP Pulls OpenOffice

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 18, @04:55PM from the can't-stand-the-competition dept. Software IT

thefickler writes

"Australia's largest Internet service provider Telstra BigPond has removed OpenOffice from its unmetered file download area following the launch of its own, free, hosted, office application, BigPond Office. The removal of OpenOffice was brought to TECH.BLORGE's attention by a reader, who complained to Telstra BigPond's support department about no longer being able to download OpenOffice updates. The support people were quite open about why OpenOffice was no longer available, i.e. because it was perceived to be competitive with BigPond Office."



Interesting yes, useful?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/016851.html

December 18, 2007

Digital Economy Fact Book 2007

"The Ninth Edition of The Progress & Freedom Foundation's Digital Economy Fact Book (188 pages, PDF) was released [December 14, 2007]...The resource guide features an expanded section on international data, reflecting the global importance of the digital economy."



WARNING: Highly addictive! (Learn a few new words and end world hunger at the same time.)

http://freerice.com/

No comments: