Some breaches seem
worse than others... (Would anyone in the US resign in disgrace?)
That latest
data breach in South Korea is causing
waves there, with estimates that 15-20 million have been affected
by an insider breach at the Korea Credit Bureau:
Worried
Koreans on Tuesday packed into branches of one of the banks hit by
the theft to ensure their money was safe, while lawyers said 130
people joined a class action suit against their credit card providers
in what is expected to be the first of multiple litigations.
[...]
Financial
regulators said a contractor with the Korea Credit Bureau, a private
firm that manages the credit information of millions of Koreans for
financial services providers, simply loaded details of 105.8 million
accounts held by KB Kookmin
Card Co Ltd, Lotte Card Co Ltd
and NH Nonghyup Card
onto a portable hard drive.
The
technician was allegedly working on forgery-proofing credit cards
when he committed the theft in February, June and December last year,
according to regulator Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), citing
the prosecutor’s office leading the investigation. The man then
sold the information to at least two people including a loan marketer
and a broker, the FSS said. The contractor and at least one other
person have been arrested.
Read more on DNA
from Seoul Reuters.
The Financial Times
reports that so far, three
dozen financial executives have resigned in disgrace over the
breach and over 500,000 people have cancelled their credit cards
since the breach was announced last week.
The Financial
Supervisory Service, South Korea’s regulatory agency, has issued
advice for worried cardholders:
The
chance of copying credit cards is very slim, as passwords and card
validation codes (CVC) were not stolen. If you are concerned about
the financial damage from the information leakage, you can ask credit
card companies for the change of passwords, or reissuance of credit
cards. In addition, you can join identity protection service
provided by personal credit ratings firm Korea Credit Bureau (KCB)
for free for one year. The service prevents identity theft as KCB
checks whether financial companies inquire a consumer’s credit
data, by stopping credit inquiries.
Consumers
who concern about any financial losses at overseas merchants can
register with credit card companies for the departure confirmation
system. It can prevent fraudulent payments of credit cards by
checking whether a cardholder stays in Korea at the point of approval
of overseas card transaction.
In
addition, you can ask credit companies to stop newly issuing credit
cards in order to prevent fraudulent issuance of credit cards using
stolen identities. You can use the existing cards, while stopping
issuance of new ones.
You can read FSS’s
full guidance here.
What could possibly go
wrong?
IRS
Announces Program to Obtain Copies of Past Returns Online or by Mail
by Sabrina
I. Pacifici on January 21, 2014
Get
Transcript – “Get a record of your past tax returns, also
referred to as transcripts. IRS transcripts are often used to
validate income and tax filing status for mortgage applications,
student and small business loan applications, and during tax
preparation.
- View and print your transcript immediately.
- Choose among Tax Return, Tax Account, Record of Account, or Wage and Income transcripts or a Verification of Nonfiling Letter.
- Need help? More information about Get Transcript Online.”
The lead article in
this digest. An update claims it was DHS not the FBI. Does the MPAA
have enough clout to scramble a team on a moment's notice?
Apparently they do.
Google
Glass Movies, Android Malware, LogMeIn Logs Out [Tech News Digest]
Google Glass At The
Movies
If the experience of
one man in Ohio is anything to go by, Google Glass is likely to be
banned from movie theaters. The unnamed man was, according to his
account on The
Gadgeteer and later confirmed by Business
Insider, enjoying watching ‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit’ when
he was escorted outside and accused of illegally recording the movie.
His only crime was to
be wearing a Google Glass device in the theater. It wasn’t
switched on and recording, and he was only wearing it
because it had prescription lenses fitted. None of which
helped convince the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or the MPAA
(Motion Picture Association of America) that he had done nothing
wrong.
The
ordeal lasted more than an hour and only ended when the contents of
the man’s Google Glass device were examined. [Because
you must prove you are innocent! Bob] At which point he
was allowed to leave, with four free passes to the theater in his
hand. But no apology.
This may not seem like
an important story but it demonstrates several things. Firstly, that
Google Glass is likely to cause mayhem if and when it becomes
mainstream. Second, that the MPAA has far too much power.
Third, that the FBI is woefully unprepared to deal with this new
wave of wearable technology. Exciting, huh?!
I called my brother
last night to ask how he was dealing with Global Warming (they had 6
inches already) Damn you, Al Gore!
NOAA
Product Highlight: U.S. Climate Extremes Index
by Sabrina
I. Pacifici on January 21, 2014
“The U.S.
Climate Extremes Index or USCEI brings together several climate
indicators to illustrate the occurrence of specific extreme events in
the contiguous United States from 1910 to the present. These climate
indicators include extremes in average monthly maximum and minimum
temperatures, heavy one-day precipitation events, drought severity,
the number of days with and without precipitation, and the wind
intensity of tropical cyclones that make landfall in the country.
The USCEI helps paint the picture of how often and how much of the
country is dealing with extreme weather throughout time. It does
this by tracking the highest and lowest 10% of extremes in these
climate indicators. One way to visualize how this works is by
thinking of a football field. With temperatures for example, it
would be as if the scientists took all of the average monthly
maximum, or minimum, temperatures for a specific location and lined
them up on a football field from the coolest at one goal line to the
warmest at the other goal line. The USCEI incorporates those values
that are within the 10-yard line on each end of the field.
Scientists can then look at those values and see when most of the
high and low extremes occurred, giving them an idea of how they are
evolving over time.”
Answers that age old
question, “Where were you on the night Col. Mustard was murdered?”
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