Wear the right T-shirt and you can be anyone you want to be...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080818052123221
Ie: 20,000 credit cards skimmed by opportunistic data thieves
Monday, August 18 2008 @ 05:21 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews
Opportunistic data thieves — masquerading as bank technicians — have fooled shop owners into giving them access to credit card terminals [It's not just ATMs any longer Bob] and managed to download the details of over 20,000 credit and debit cards, it emerged this morning.
The Irish Payment Services Organisation has warned that individuals pretending to be from Irish banks convinced shop owners they were carrying out maintenance on behalf of banks.
This enabled them to plug in wireless devices that pushed the data to the internet and allowed the card numbers to be used overseas.
Source - Silicon Republic
Related
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080817122103183
Feds seek to nab credit thieves in La., Miss.
Sunday, August 17 2008 @ 12:21 PM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews
A ring of cyber-thieves has stolen tens of thousands of credit card numbers from Louisiana and Mississippi restaurants this year, leading to over $1 million in losses for the banks that issued them.
The restaurants began reporting the thefts beginning in March in Baton Rouge, followed by similar cases in Flowood, Miss., Lafayette, Lake Charles and West Monroe. The hackers have swiped credit and debit card numbers off 16 restaurants' computer systems, then sought to sell them for anywhere between $1 and $100 each, according to Special Agent Sean Connor of the U.S. Secret Service, an arm of the Treasury Department that investigates financial crimes.
... The cases appear connected and probably involve a criminal network that stretches overseas, which would be consistent with other identity theft cases, U.S. Attorney David Dugas said.
Source - KATC.com
[From the article:
One bright spot: it's easier to steal the credit information than it is to sell it, meaning the losses could have been much greater. [Sounds like a business opportunity! Perhaps an online criminal auction house? (e-Fence?) Bob]
If you can get money from one person in twenty, and you can send 1,000,000 emails a day...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080817180814511
124,000 Aussies hit by identity theft in the last 12 months
Sunday, August 17 2008 @ 06:08 PM EDT Contributed by:PrivacyNews
Precise figures on identity theft are almost impossible to discover in the UK, owing to the not insignificant fact that the financial institutions seem reticent to reveal such stats.
Not so down under, as figures released late last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that more than 124,000 Aussies were victims of ID theft in the last 12 months.
Source - SecurityProPortal.com
[From the article:
Of those who had received a fraudulent invitation or request, researchers found that 5.7 per cent - 330,000 people - became victims after they responded to the scam by supplying personal information, money or both... [Consistent with other surveys Bob]
...because...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080818052002573
Data “Dysprotection:” breaches reported last week
Monday, August 18 2008 @ 05:20 AM EDT 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
Our strategic goal is to optimize revenue. Some collateral damage is acceptable.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2008081805253755
MSOs Admit To Tracking Consumers’ Online Activity
Monday, August 18 2008 @ 05:25 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews
Cable One, Bresnan and Others Have Tested 'Tailored Ads'
Cable One last fall conducted a six-month trial of a network-based technology that tracks consumers' Internet movements in an effort to amass refined data on Web-surfer habits that can be sold to advertisers at premium rates.
The Phoenix, Ariz.-based MSO revealed the trial in an Aug. 8 letter to the bipartisan leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a group of lawmakers who have expressed concern that Internet-access providers are experimenting with technologies that invade consumers' privacy. With about 700,000 cable subscribers, it's the biggest cabler thus far to say it tested the technology, with the aim of providing “more relevant advertising” to online customers.
Source - Multichannel News Related - Web firms defend ad, privacy policies
[From the article:
Cable One insisted it had complied with privacy laws and gave consumers appropriate notice through its acceptable use policy (AUP) at the time they signed up for service, and through its privacy notice sent annually to subscribers. [As my students point out, no one actually reads that stuff... Bob]
Cable One acknowledged that it did not allow customers to opt out of the trial “because doing so would stifle our ability to test new technologies that have the potential to offer significant benefits to our customers.”
Related? First Privacy Policy intervention I've seen. Will this start a trend? (Shouldn't a travel company track your location?)
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080817085231106
NZ: Privacy watchdog seeks revised Snapper policy
Sunday, August 17 2008 @ 08:52 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews
The Privacy Commissioner is concerned about the amount of personal data being gathered by Wellington’s Snapper electronic travel and purchase card and is asking the company to rewrite its privacy policy.
Source - Computerworld (NZ)
[From the article:
A Snapper spokeswoman says the policy is in line with the Privacy Act 1993.
But Shroff says in a statement to Computerworld her office has concerns about the potential for the Snapper card to track an individual’s movements and spending, and the indefinite retention of this information.
... She says card holders have the option of choosing not to register their card but by exercising that option, they also lose the chance to request a refund if the card is lost or stolen.
Important hacker resource – how to hack the vote in all 50 states!
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/019072.html
August 17, 2008
National Campaign For Fair Elections: 2008 Voter Registration Guides
2008 Voter Registration Guides: "The Lawyers’ Committee and its pro bono law firm partners have compiled comprehensive third-party voter registration guides for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These guides will help volunteers, organizers, and leaders navigate the complex rules that govern voter registration in each state. Please keep in mind, these guides are designed for informational purposes only."
Even more important? How to sue da bastids!
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/019071.html
August 17, 2008
Election Day Voter Protection Initiative Launched
News release: "The Campaign Legal Center today launched the Voters' Rights Protection Project, to provide generic drafts of potential court filings to individuals, organizations, and political parties who must resort to the courts to protect the fundamental rights of citizens to vote. In a letter today to both major parties and copies to the respective presidential campaigns (full text below), the Legal Center announced the project and said it would make the legal templates publicly available. Information announcing the project is also being sent to national, state, and local party committees, as well as third party organizations and numerous community and grassroots organizations from coast to coast."
Nothing ground-breaking... Internet, rah rah rah!
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/17/1531252&from=rss
Vint Cerf Optimistic About Internet's Future, Continued Innovation
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday August 17, @12:29PM from the international-interconnectedness dept.
Anti-Globalism takes us to The Observer for an article by Vint Cerf on how far the internet has come, and how much can still be accomplished through its development. Cerf says,
"We're nearing the tipping point for mobile computing to deliver timely, geographically and socially relevant information. Researchers in Japan recently proposed using data from vehicles' windscreen wipers and embedded GPS receivers to track the movement of weather systems through towns and cities with a precision never before possible. It may seem academic, but understanding the way severe weather, such as a typhoon, moves through a city could save lives. Further exploration can shed light on demographic, intellectual and epidemiological phenomena, to name just a few areas."
[From the article:
... . In areas where wireline or WiFi access barely exists, many new users will first experience the internet through a mobile phone.
Won't all libraries have infinite shelf space?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/019076.html
August 17, 2008
Report: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century
Council on Library and Information Resources, pub 142 - No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for the 21st Century, August, 2008 (74 pages, PDF)
"In February 2008, CLIR convened 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to consider this question. Participants discussed the challenges and opportunities that libraries are likely to face in the next five to ten years, and how changes in scholarly communication will affect the future library."
Again points out that a company using off the shelf Japanese technology could offer 30 times the Internet speeds available in the US.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/019074.html
August 17, 2008
2008 Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States
News release: "The second annual speedmatters.org survey of actual Internet speeds of users nationwide shows that the United States has not made significant improvements in deploying high-speed broadband networks in the past year. Our nation continues to lag behind other industrial nations and currently is ranked 15th in the percentage of residents who have broadband access."
2008 Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States (65 pages, PDF)
When companies operate with a thin profit margin, using technology to eliminate workers at any pay level becomes viable economically. (Speeding you through checkout has benefits too)
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/18/036204&from=rss
Smart Self-Service Scales
Posted by kdawson on Monday August 18, @05:56AM from the ready-for-my-closeup-mr.-demille dept. Software Robotics
Roland Piquepaille writes
"German researchers have developed intelligent self-service scales for supermarkets, able to recognize fruit or vegetables placed on them (photo). The scales automatically recognize the item being weighed and ask the customer to choose between only those icons that are relevant, such as various kinds of tomatoes. [Perhaps an instant-read DNA test? Bob] The scales are equipped with a camera and an image evaluation algorithm that compares the image of the item on the scale with images stored in its database. Store managers can add items to the database. The scales are now being tested in about 300 supermarkets across Europe."
A timely resource for my website students...
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/webformfactory-com-create-web-forms-quickly
WebFormFactory.com – Create Web Forms Quickly
Making a form that ties in with your company’s database is not as easy as it sounds. There is a lot of code needed to link in the entry forms to a database in which to store results in. Luckily for us tech-challenged people, there is Webformfactory.com. Through the site, you’ll be able to quickly upload any web form you’ve already created and turn it into the right format to link it with your database. The site turns the incredibly arduous process of creating a webform into something anyone can do. After you choose the right format for the resulting web form, it’ll only take the site’s system second to give you back the finished form. Over all, the simplicity of the site is more than likely to be appreciated by anyone who doesn’t have that much experience in the area, but it might draw off the more advanced crowd. Definitely, the site is a tool that will be appreciated by many.
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