http://www.databreaches.net/?p=1074
NC: SECU probes fraud cases after security breach
Posted January 28th, 2009 by admin
Renee Chou reports:
Officials with the State Employees Credit Union are investigating 40 cases of fraud in the wake of a security breach at a company that processes credit card payments nationwide.
[...]
SECU receives card transactions through Visa, which receives the transactions from Heartland. The credit union has issued new credit cards and personal identification numbers to its 62,000 cardholders as a precaution.
“We want to take what will be the most costly approach [I doubt that's what he said... Bob] but the most proactive approach and close those cards as quickly as we can,” said Leanne Phelps, SECU senior vice president.
[...]
Financial institutions aren’t required to notify customers about the Heartland breach, she said, but the SECU chose to do so to alert their customers about the potential for fraud.
Read more on WRAL
Is this happening in the US? It might get congressional attention (well, I did say might.)
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=1071
UK: Banks refuse to pay card fraud refunds as surge in victims leads to harder stance on claims
Posted January 28th, 2009 by admin
Sean Poulter reports:
Banks are increasingly refusing to compensate card fraud amid a surge in the number of victims.
One in four Britons - more than 12million people - has been a victim of some form of card fraud in the past year, research has revealed.
The average loss was more than £650, with one in 20 losing more than £2,000, the poll of 1,679 credit and debit card holders found.
The firm behind the study, Card insurer CPP, [Is this just a ploy to sell cardholders more insurance? Bob] says there is evidence that banks are reacting by refusing to refund those who cannot prove they have been victims of a fraud. [What constitutes proof? Bob]
[...]
The introduction of the chip and PIN security regime in 2006 was supposed to defeat the problem but critics claim its most significant effect has been to transfer the responsibility for criminal card losses from banks to customers and retailers.
Read more in the Daily Mail
[From the article:
'The banks have been lying about the security of their systems and the industry regulators have been completely gullible.'
Every now an then, the level of managerial stupidity astonishes me.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090129064518736
HMRC criticised over security concerns of online tax returns
Thursday, January 29 2009 @ 06:45 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
HM Revenue & Customs is facing fresh criticism after users complained that its tax self-assessment website reveals their password in the URL address bar.
Users claimed that while filling in their online tax forms, their personal details would be at risk because the username field has an auto-complete function. One user claimed that when he clicked on a link to open the ‘about you' page, his password was displayed in the browser address bar, and when a page was printed off the password was printed as part of the URL.
.... HMRC claimed that the URL does not contain the customer's password, but shows a unique taxpayer record (UTR) number. In a statement it said: “To log in to our secure services a user ID and password is required; the UTR is not based on either of these.”
Source - SC Magazine Thanks to Brian Honan for this link.
New terms!
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090128135120985
Cleland: Privacy battle looming
Wednesday, January 28 2009 @ 01:51 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
Industry trends such as cloud computing, the push to go paperless and Web 2.0 services that use information on individuals’ Internet usage all pose new threats to consumer privacy at a time when consumers are more concerned with protecting that privacy, a consultant to the broadband industry cautioned.
Scott Cleland, founder and president of Precursor, used the occasion of World Data Privacy Day to post on the firm’s blog — viewable at Precursorblog.com — cautioning of growing tension along what he terms “the privacy/publicacy fault-line.” Cleland coined the term “publicacy” in testimony to Congress last summer regarding concerns over service provider use of deep packet inspection, saying it means the opposite of privacy.
Source - Telephony Online
[From the article:
“There is a huge privacy arbitrage going on, on the Net where some players have very strict privacy laws and regulations — legacy players like ISPs, health care providers or banks — but if you are a Web 2.0 company, you think you have a pass on respecting privacy,” Cleland said. [My take is that each new technology must re-invent the same solutions to the same problems that earlier technologies faced. I call it the “Don't nobody never learn nothing?” syndrome. Bob]
[From the Blog:
Many in the Web 2.0 community believe in the "publicacy ethos" where if technology innovation can make information public, it should be public and that there should be no permission or payment required to access, use or remix this new 'public' information. [Not sure I agree with that. Bob]
I think they got one right. (I tossed this in because many of you will find it amusing that I could agree with the Ninth...) This could have been more clear-cut if review of transcripts was a regular management responsibility. But it is the department's system, they set the rules. Why would it be unexpected that they would monitor how it is used?
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090128103637656
Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Review in Text Message Privacy Case
Wednesday, January 28 2009 @ 10:36 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, over the dissent of seven of its judges, yesterday declined to review en banc a ruling that the Ontario Police Department violated an employee’s right to privacy when supervisors examined the contents of text messages sent on department pagers.
A panel of the court ruled in June that the department violated the Fourth Amendment rights of Sgt. Jeff Quon and three others to whom he sent text messages when the department obtained transcripts from the service provider and examined the messages’ contents to determine whether a monthly overage charge resulted from personal use.
Source - Metropolitan News-Enterprise
Unexpected. I wonder what the real reason is? “Impossible” has never been a factor – maybe he has a history of soap stealing?
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F28%2F1440222&from=rss
UK Government Abandons Piracy Legislation
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 28, @10:49AM from the abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here dept. The Internet
arcticstoat writes
"Following last year's reports of a scheme to 'ban' pirates from the Internet via ISPs in the UK, it looks as though the UK government has now decided to back down on the plan, saying that it hopes it won't have to apply 'the heavy hand of legislation'. The UK's Intellectual Property Minister, David Lammy, said that 'I'm not sure it's actually going to be possible,' as a result of the complexities of enforcing such legislation. Lammy also revealed that he had a different opinion on file sharers than many people in the music industry. He pointed out that there's a big difference between organized counterfeiting gangs and 'younger people not quite buying into the system'. He added that 'we can't have a system where we're talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms. People can rent a room in an hotel and leave with a bar of soap — there's a big difference between leaving with a bar of soap and leaving with the television.'"
Is your ISP slowing your Internet speed? Gather evidence, then sue?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020439.html
January 28, 2009
Google Announces open platform to deploy Internet measurement tools
Google Public Policy Blog: When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else? It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users, to address this sort of question today... Today Google, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers are taking the wraps off of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), an open platform that researchers can use to deploy Internet measurement tools." [See About Measurement Lab for more details including a FAQ]
Related In case you thought that monitoring ISPs wasn't necessary. ALSO: Look at what they can identify by peeking at packets!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-10151769-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Cox to try coaxing the Internet into submission
Posted by Dong Ngo January 28, 2009 1:00 PM PST
… Cox Communications, the third-largest cable Internet provider in the U.S., announced Tuesday that starting February, it will begin testing a new method of managing traffic on its high-speed Internet network in Kansas and Arkansas.
...and Blogs are for nearly-old people?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020433.html
January 28, 2009
Pew Survey: Generations Online in 2009
News release: "Over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to surveys taken from 2006-2008. Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the "Net Generation," internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people)."
Generations Online in 2009 and related PowerPoint Presentation
Related? Wikis are for old lawyers? I have found that a “class wiki” is still too much for my students. Perhaps a longer term/wider scope wiki would succeed.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020437.html
January 28, 2009
New on LLRX.com: Collaboration Through Wikis at Hicks Morley
Collaboration Through Wikis at Hicks Morley - Heather Colman explains how wikis were an ideal KM solution for her law firm. Quick and easy to set up, requiring little IT support, wikis support central data repositories and provide features including search capabilities, email, RSS, and also allow users to create a taxonomy of subject tags to classify information.
Consider. If you want to adopt popular (political) causes, you should check the facts you have already published. It won't change your mind, but perhaps you won't look as foolish.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10151959-238.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Study challenges AGs on predator danger
Posted by Larry Magid January 28, 2009 4:04 PM PST
There's a war of words brewing, with several Internet safety organizations, researchers, and social-networking companies on one side and some state attorneys general on the other.
Earlier this month, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, run out of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, issued a report stating that Internet predator danger to kids is not as high as some have claimed. The report was immediately criticized by a number of attorneys general including Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania. And on Monday, an Internet safety organization in Oregon published a study that claims that data from press releases on Corbett's own Web site fail to back up his claims about Internet dangers.
The new study (PDF), from the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use (CSRIU), challenges recent assertions by several state attorneys general that young people are at significant risk from online predators on social-networking sites. It specifically analyzes press releases from the Pennsylvania attorney general about cases in the Keystone State.
Sounds like a 'call for papers.' At least a good article would be helpful...
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F29%2F0819207&from=rss
Teachers Need an Open Source Education
Posted by timothy on Thursday January 29, @06:20AM from the yer-darn-tootin' dept. Education GNU is Not Unix Operating Systems Linux
palegray.net writes
"Teachers are sorely in need of an education in what open source software is, what it isn't, and how it can benefit their students. A recent news story at the Reg discussed the case of a Texas teacher who accused those distributing Linux to students of committing criminal acts. A HeliOS blog entry exposes a "higher education" culture of apathy, lies, and fear of open source software. Things have got to improve, and that improvement needs to start with misguided teachers getting their facts straight."
Replies to the call for a taxonomy!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19413_3-10152106-240.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
A better way to understand cloud computing
Posted by James Urquhart January 28, 2009 3:59 PM PST
Earlier Wednesday, I wrote about the consensus on the need for a cloud taxonomy that was reached by the participants of the Cloud Interoperability meeting prior to Cloud Connect last week. But a couple of cloud ontologies have come to light that provide a great starting point for taxonomy discussions
This can't be right...
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F28%2F188254&from=rss
Microsoft Releases Source Code For Web Sandbox
Posted by timothy on Wednesday January 28, @01:15PM from the could-easily-be-the-biggest-open-source-company dept. Microsoft Software Security News
nandemoari writes
"After flirting with open source development for some time, Microsoft has made another step towards real commitment with the release of source code for Web Sandbox, a program used to test and secure web site content. The Sandbox source code will be released under the Apache 2.0 license, an open source license agreement allowing the content creator to maintain copyright while permitting others to develop the product for their own use. Microsoft has gradually been increasing their involvement with the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) since 2008 when they agreed to fund development of certain ASF initiatives."
This is for my statistics class... Honest!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10151847-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Our guide to sports statistics sites
Posted by Don Reisinger January 28, 2009 5:10 PM PST
Hey kids! Now you can play the Wheaties Game! Learn to crush those evil Cheerios!
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F28%2F1629233&from=rss
Video Game Conditioning Spills Over Into Real Life
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 28, @12:18PM from the here-we-go-again dept. Games
doug141 writes
"Lessons learned in video games may transcend computers, PlayStations and Wiis. New research suggests that virtual worlds sway real-life choices. Twenty-two volunteers who played a cycling game learned to associate one team's jersey with a good flavored drink and another team's jersey with a bad flavored drink. Days later, 3/4 of the subjects avoided the same jersey in a real-world test. Marketers and lawyers will take note."
For my website students
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/quickestrss-com-rss-feeds-for-dummies
QuickestRSS.com - RSS Feeds For Dummies
Feel like adding a RSS feed to your site but have absolutely no idea how to do it? If that is indeed the case, you have come to the right site. In essence, Quickest RSS is a new service that will let you come up with a RSS feed of your own without having to incur into any technical procedure, and without having any skills when it comes to coding language.
All you have to do is specify an URL to be used as the staring point, set down a name for the feed page title, and then twiddle with some parameters like the colors of the feed page. Upon doing so, a RSS feed will be there and then created for you to put to good use.
Just in case, the site lists the RSS feeds that have been created recently on its main page. This way, you will be able to see what the resulting feed will look like, and whether or not it will suit your needs before you get down to actually creating one. In any case, the service is wholly free, so that if you decide to give it a try you will have nothing to lose.
This was much more interesting than I expected. I found two interesting ideas in two minutes! I wonder if this would work in other areas (eg Education)
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/iddictive-com-innovative-business-ideas
Iddictive.com - Innovative Business Ideas
This site offers internauts a daily fix of “fresh and feisty business ideas” along with cool twists and classic tips and formulas that prove to do well time and again. They say that thinking big always pays out, and that seems to be the spirit that motivates the site.
The ideas themselves are arranged into categories such as “Business idea collections”, “Retail business ideas” and “Marketing & Advertising”. The website also makes room for a “Social Causes and Non-profits”, and that is always a nice addition.
As it was to be expected, a “Submit an idea” link is provided in the event you wish to make a contribution of your own and share your vision with the world at large. If the guys and gals behind the project like it, they might promote it on the site and link back to your site or blog.
The Iddictive project has just emerged, and some features that the team hopes to implement soon include badges for added visibility, and an enhanced submission form. In the meantime, drop by the site if you have a creative vein that you would like to exploit, or if you are looking for fresh inspiration.
[What I found:
Start an Online Video Tutorial Business http://www.iddictive.com/2009/01/11/how-to-start-an-online-video-tutorial-business/
I know some people who should be doing this...
http://www.killerstartups.com/User-Gen-Content/coggno-com-a-marketplace-of-knowledge
Coggno.com - A Marketplace Of Knowledge
The Coggno Marketplace is a resource that has one specific aim, namely connecting organizations in pursuit of e-learning and assessment contents with the ones that can provide exactly that. Those who sign up become what are termed “Coggno Authors”, and from that point onwards they can sell the contents they create and their knowledge to the organizations that wish to acquire it.
As the author, you have the right to set down the price beforehand. The cost of licenses tends to oscillate between 10 and 450 US$. For its part, payments are handled via checks, and these are sent out twice per month.
Moreover, you specify the licensing rules that will apply to the content that you have authored. The site also includes a whole section that details syndication policies, so that every doubt is dispelled.
When all is said and done, this site offers those that have an expertise in any particular industry a chance to share these skills and generate an income for doing so. If you think you have special skills or knowledge that could translate into a corporate asset, then Coggno will suit you fine.
For a buck, you can make people believe you can solve Rubik's cube – if they don't watch you do it... (Might make a fun challenge for my programming class.)
http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/iphone-app-solv.html
iPhone App Solves Rubik's Cube in 20 Moves or Better
By Michael Calore January 28, 2009 4:08:46 PM
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