A much older scam than the story suggests. Spoof the Accounts Payable Dept into changing the address for payments. One solution has been to send the a confirming letter to the old address. If they haven't moved you get a quick phone call, if they have the Post Office forwards the mail. NOTE this is not an IT problem as the article suggests.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/14/2047214&from=rss

Web Scam Bilks State of Utah Out of $2.5M

Posted by kdawson on Saturday February 14, @06:12PM from the lessons-from-the-nigerian dept.

KitB sends in a story in the Salt Lake Tribune that tells of a Web-based scam, resembling some used by Nigerian gangs, that snared the state of Utah. $2.5M was sent to a bank account in Texas before the bank raised a question and then froze $1.8M in the account.

"Thieves apparently used a Nigerian-based scam to steal $2.5 million from the Utah treasury, covering their tracks by using intermediaries and a church address. A Salt Lake Tribune review of the names listed in a search warrant as receiving or transferring money [found] names of African origin or connections to that continent. Michael Kessler, ... a forensic accounting [investigator] in New York City, said the thieves appear to have used a simple scam that originated in Nigeria about five years ago. The Utah theft is the first time he's seen a government victimized. 'Their IT people should have known better,' Kessler said after reviewing a copy of the search warrant Thursday. 'It sounds like any kid could have done this.'"

Social Engineering 101: Keep it simple!

http://www.identitytheftblog.info/social-engineering/dont-click-attack-strikes-twitter/1222

‘Don’t Click’ Attack Strikes Twitter

February 14th, 2009 Rob Douglas

Using the simplest of social engineering hacks — an enticing message with a link, labeled “don’t click” — a “clickjacking” exploit of the Twitter microblogging service flooded its network today, hijacking users’ status to spread itself before the link could be shut down.

The exploit’s link — http://tinyurl.com/amgzs6 — relied on a URL hidden through use of the TinyURL link-shortening service. The hack was shut down early this afternoon by TinyURL’s founder, Kevin Gilbertson, after Twitter users notified him of the attack.

“On my end, I just got some e-mails mentioning it. So once I found that out, I terminated the URL like I do with other abuse instances,” Gilbertson told InternetNews.com. He added that he replaced the forward of the URL with a notice that the URL had been terminated due to a breach of TinyURL’s terms of service.

See the full report at internetnews.com.

[From the article:

Before the link was blocked, however, it managed to place a major strain on Twitter's infrastructure. At several points, visitors to the service's Web site were greeted by a page saying that the site was over its message capacity.

The future of jury trials (at least those with an ax to grind) Add in a few egotistical lawyers and some trials will look like they were conducted in supermarket-tabloid-land.

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/14/2317250&from=rss

The Pirate Bay Is Making a "Spectrial" of It

Posted by kdawson on Sunday February 15, @02:44AM from the step-right-up dept. The Courts

IDOXLR8 writes

"The Harvard Law students defending accused file-swapper Joel Tenenbaum are doing their best to turn his upcoming trial into a media event. But when it comes to pure spectacle, they have nothing on The Pirate Bay. TPB is referring to the event as a 'spectrial,' a cross between a spectacle and a trial. They have set up a site where you can track their current location, complete with journal entries. The trial begins next Monday and features a live audio feed and Twitter translations."

We we discussing this the other day. To avoid the tool altogether, you just find several cars identical to yours, photograph their license plates, and follow the instructions supplied here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F21%2F1751210&from=rss AND you can drive as fast as you want!

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/14/1620242&from=rss

Automation May Make Toll Roads More Common

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 14, @11:58AM from the first-cameras,-then-evil-toll-robots dept. Transportation Privacy The Almighty Buck

bfwebster writes

"Here in Denver, we have E-470, a toll section of the 470 beltway, that uses the usual transponder attached to your windshield. Fair enough, and I make use of it, particularly in driving to the airport. But they've just implemented new technology on E-470 that allows anyone to drive through the automated toll gates. If you don't have a transponder, it takes a photo of your license plate and sends a monthly bill to your house. As a result, the company that runs E-470 plans to close all human-staffed toll booths by mid-summer. And as an article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News> notes, 'Such a system could be deployed on other roads, including some that motorists now use free. The result: a new source of money for highways and bridges badly in need of repair.' You can bet that legislators, mayors, and city councilpersons everywhere will see this as an even-better source of income than red-light cameras. You've been warned."

The Internet killed newspapers, Google (and the Kindle) killed books, now radio and tomorrow television. No ancient technology is safe! Join the “Save Fire” foundation and send us all your money before that becomes obsolete too!

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/15/0027251&from=rss

Internet Killed the Satellite Radio Star

Posted by kdawson on Sunday February 15, @08:15AM from the finding-an-economically-sensible-use-for-space dept. Space The Internet Entertainment

theodp writes

"As Sirius XM faces bankruptcy, Slate's Farhad Manjoo reports that the company has bigger problems than just the end of cheap credit. While it has what seems like a pretty great service — the world's best radio programming for just a small monthly fee — Sirius XM has been eclipsed by something far cheaper and more convenient: the Internet. Load up Pandora or the Public Radio Tuner on your iPhone, and you've got access to a wider stream of music than you'll ever get through satellite. So forget the satellites, the special radios, and the huge customer acquisition costs, advises Manjoo, and instead focus on getting Howard Stern, Oprah, the NFL, and MLB on every Internet-connected device on the market at very low prices."

Definitely targeted to me! This just might be useful. Most of the subjects I looked at were worthless, but one or two had real potential – especially as a reminder of the obscure.

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/popling-net-learning-for-lazy-people

Popling.net - Learning For Lazy People

http://www.popling.net/

Most people don’t like learning. That’s why so many people’s memories about high school don’t add up to much but parties. If you’re lazy about learning, then Popling.net might be what you’ve been looking for all your life.

This useful desktop app will allow you to learn while you do other things. For example, if you’re looking to learn Spanish, just download the software and every once in a while, a popup question will test your knowledge. Do this long enough, and you’ll learn while you’re doing something else. It’s great. This should be developed with a lot more subjects, as alternative educational methods are all the rage right now. If you get into the learning method, you can click on the pop up and see the full flash card, allowing you to answer while concentrating more on the question.

There already are over 150 topics, so if you’re just getting started, try out one you already know and see how effective it is. We’re already hooked, so try it out at Popling.net.