Posts tagged "Technology"

U.S. is Dumb About Smart Cards

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The typical US consumer still swipes their card, credit or debit, with those same old black magnetic stripes. And, we hold our breath and hope they work, and don’t lead to erroneous (fraudulent) charges we have to defend. The rest of the world has switched to Smart cards, according to Peter Svensson, The Associated Press, in The Denver Post. “The problem with that black magnetic stripe on the back of your card is that it’s about as secure as writing your account information on a post-card”.

Svensson comments “Smart-cards (chip-based cards) can’t be copied, which greatly reduces the potential for fraud. Smart cards with built-in chips are the equivalent of a safe:  They can hide information so it can be unlocked only with the right key”.

Posted in Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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7 Steps to Secure Profitable Business Data (Part II)

In the first part of this article series, we discussed why it is so important to protect your business data, including the first two steps in the protection process. Once you have resolved the underlying human issues behind data theft, the remaining five steps will help you begin protecting the technological weaknesses common to many businesses.

  1. Start with the humans.
  2. Immunize against social engineering.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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7 Steps to Secure Profitable Business Data (Part I)

Everybody wants your data. Why? Because it’s profitable, it’s relatively easy to access and the resulting crime is almost impossible to trace. Take, for example, Sony PlayStation Network, Citigroup, Epsilon, RSA, Lockheed and several other businesses that have watched helplessly in the past months as more than 100 million customer records have been breached, ringing up billions in recovery costs and reputation damage. You have so much to lose.

To scammers, your employees’ Facebook profiles are like a user’s manual about how to manipulate their trust and steal your intellectual property. To competitors, your business is one poorly secured smartphone from handing over the recipe to your secret sauce. And to the data spies sitting near you at Starbucks, you are one unencrypted wireless connection away from wishing you had taken the steps in this two-part article.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Identity Theft for Businesses: Mobile Data Breach

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Mobile Data Theft

Technology is the focal point of data breach and workplace identity theft because corporations create, transmit, and store so many pieces of information digitally that it becomes a highly attractive target. This book is not intended to address the complex maze that larger organizations face in protecting their technological and digital assets. Rather, the purpose of this book is to begin to familiarize business employees, executives, and vendors with the various security issues facing them.
The task, then, is to develop a capable team (internal and external) to address these issues. In my experience, the following technology-related issues pose the greatest data-loss threats inside organizations:

  • Laptop Theft: According to the Ponemon Institute, 36 percent of reported breaches are due to a lost or stolen laptop.
  • Mobile Data Theft: Thumb drives, CDs, DVDs, tape backups, smart phones
  • Malware: Software that infects corporate systems, allowing criminals inside these networks

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Privacy, Social Media, Technology and the Law

Picture 6Can the Law keep up with technology?

CNN has a new article that addresses this growing issue. Cases are continuing to pop up based on an offense or crime committed in cyberspace. Five years ago suing someone for allegedly slamming you on Twitter would have been unimaginable.  But just recently an apartment tenant is being sued for $50,000 in damages after she took to her twitter to complain about her living situation to another user.
Many legal experts are watching these cases carefully because they will lay the groundwork for these unaddressed areas of the law. They said that in this growing age of technology it takes almost 5 years to play catch up with current American law. Lawmakers are unable to predict the next big wave in technology and the legal issues that will follow. With such a severe gray area when it comes to Social Media and your Privacy, society must be able to balance accountability with free speech.

Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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