http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081221193935419
WA: Debit-card thieves still on the loose (follow-up)
Sunday, December 21 2008 @ 07:39 PM EST Contributed by:PrivacyNews
Police still haven’t caught up with the scam artists who made off with half a million dollars this summer from debit card information stolen at two Pierce County gas stations. Local agencies are coordinating with police in California and federal agents to stop what they believe is a crime spree that spans the West Coast.
The patient and wily thieves are believed to have left a wake of at least 675 victims and $800,000 in losses, according to police and news accounts.
Source - News Tribune
[From the article:
The crimes have several common features:
The thieves target Arco stations, which take debit cards but not credit cards. (Arco officials did not return a request for comment on this story.)
They use card-reading devices placed on the payment machine to “skim” account and PIN information.
They often wait for months after taking the card information before making withdrawals – which is long enough for surveillance video to be taped over.
They raid their victims’ accounts over holiday weekends, when there’s a better chance the thefts will go undetected for an extra day.
“How to create an Identity Illusion for fun and profit!” Automated surveillance makes it possible to become someone else. How often does the Surveillance State identify a person at more that one location at the same time? Might make such evidence somewhat questionable... (Comments are worth a quick scan...)
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F21%2F1751210&from=rss
Using Speed Cameras To Send Tickets To Your Enemies
Posted by kdawson on Sunday December 21, @02:29PM from the ticket-me-elmo dept.
High school students in Maryland are using speed cameras to get back at their perceived enemies, and even teachers. The students duplicate the victim's license plate on glossy paper using a laser printer, tape it over their own plate, then speed past a newly installed speed camera. The victim gets a $40 ticket in the mail days later, without any humans ever having been involved in the ticketing process. A blog dedicated to driving and politics adds that a similar, if darker, practice has taken hold in England, where bad guys cruise the streets looking for a car similar to their own. They then duplicate its plates in a more durable form, and thereafter drive around with little fear of trouble from the police.
...because...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2008122205522289
Data "Dysprotection:" breaches reported last week
Monday, December 22 2008 @ 05:52 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
A recap of incidents or privacy breaches reported last week for those who enjoy shaking their head and muttering to themselves with their morning coffee.
Source - Chronicles of Dissent
Why are we amazed when bad guys use technology? Wasn't it obvious that they would? (Some Forensics files too)
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F21%2F2327257&from=rss
The Slow Bruteforce Botnet(s) May Be Learning
Posted by kdawson on Sunday December 21, @10:30PM from the knock-who's-there-knock dept. Security IT
badger.foo writes
"We've seen stories about the slow bruteforcers — we've discussed it here — and based on the data, my colleague Egil Möller was the first to suggest that since we know the attempts are coordinated, it is not too far-fetched to assume that the controlling system measures the rates of success for each of the chosen targets and allocates resources accordingly. (The probes of my systems have slowed in the last month.) If Egil's assumption is right, we are seeing the bad guys adapting. And they're avoiding OpenBSD machines."
For fans of raw data, here are all the log entries (3MB) that badger.foo has collected since noticing the slow bruteforce attacks.
There's more than one way to skin a class...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10127786-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Fake Facebook college class groups uncovered
Posted by Larry Dignan December 21, 2008 3:25 PM PST
This was originally posted at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
We may be about to see the latest frontier of viral marketing--fake students starting groups for the incoming class of 2013 in the name of data collection.
Brad Ward, a recruitment specialist at Butler University, outlined the details on his blog. He became suspicious after talking to a colleague at Winthrop University. Here are the common links:
Class of 2013 groups are being started at a bunch of universities.
The people that start the groups aren't registered at those schools.
Those same names--Patrick Kelly, Justin Gaither, James Gaither among others--pop up repeatedly.
The game: Get admin rights to groups that collectively add up to about 1,000,000 freshmen. Ward concludes:
Think of it: Sitting back for 8-10 months, (even a few years), maybe friending everyone and posing as an incoming student. Think of the data collection. The opportunities down the road to push affiliate links. The opportunity to appear to be an 'Admin' of Your School Class of 2013. The chance to message alumni down the road. The list of possibilities goes on and on and on.
Gee, Bob. What makes you think people will want to watch TV and Movies online?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020125.html
December 21, 2008
YouTube Now Comprises 25 Percent Of All Google Searches
TechCrunch: "Video search on YouTube accounts for a quarter of all Google search queries in the U.S., according to the latest search engine numbers from comScore. Its monthly qSearch report, which was released on Thursday night, breaks out the number of searches conducted on YouTube. If it were a standalone site, YouTube would be the second largest search engine after Google. More searches are done through YouTube than through Yahoo, which has been the case for the past few months."
I like the thought. Anyone think RIAA will actually pay to protect their music?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10127841-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
One ISP says RIAA must pay for piracy protection
Posted by Greg Sandoval December 22, 2008 4:00 AM PST
Jerry Scroggin, owner-operator of Bayou Internet and Communications, wants the music and film industries to know that he's not a cop and he doesn't work for free.
Scroggin, who sells Internet access to between 10,000 and 12,000 customers in Louisiana, heard the news on Friday that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has opted out of suing individuals for pirating music. Instead, the group representing the four largest music labels is forging partnerships with Internet service providers and asking them to crack down on suspected file sharers.
According to Scroggin, if RIAA representatives ask the help of his ISP, they had better bring their checkbook--and leave the legal threats at home. (CNET News obtained a copy of the RIAA's new notice to ISPs here). Scroggin said that he receives several notices each month with requests that he remove suspected file sharers from his network. Each time, he gets such a notice from an entertainment company, he sends the same reply.
"I ask for their billing address," Scroggin said. "Usually, I never hear back."
I've been looking for a project idea for my Database class. Perhaps We'll build one for Colorado.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020119.html
December 21, 2008
Find your elected representatives in New York City
From the New York Times, the new Represent (Beta) database provides users with a quick, efficient and informative online tool to locate the respective political districts where they live, their representatives, and news about the reps' recent activity.
I send my students to online tutorials for a different perspective (and I use them to brush up on some obscure topics)
http://www.killerstartups.com/Search/tutsearch-net-tutorials-at-your-fingertips
TutSearch.net - Tutorials At Your Fingertips
Way back when the WWW became a tangible reality in the late 90s, a very interesting thing for many people was having access to tutorials and how-to guides of every denomination for the first time. Naturally, the amount of information has only escalated, and as such it is not really that surprising to see a search portal like this one.
In general terms, this site makes it possible for you to look up tutorials over a plethora of hand-picked resources. Such an approach is highly-enticing as other search channels might produce the very same results, but interspersed with pages that are of no relevance, and which would mean potential headaches and a longer time sifting through.
No comments:
Post a Comment