Barbara Carmen reports:
Franklin County property owners paying taxes online before Monday’s deadline might have innocently allowed thieves trolling cyberspace to snag checking-account or credit-card numbers.
Computer experts installed safeguards in 2001 when the county adopted a second Web address, one thought to be more memorable. But many people were familiar with the old address, which still pops up among the top choices on Yahoo and Google searches. So the county kept that one live, too.
Residents who use the newer address, www.franklincountyohio.gov/treasurer, to pay 2009 property taxes will see the same Web pages as those using the original URL, www.co.franklin.oh.us.
Only the newer one, however, has a secure connection for paying bills. The county saved money by buying a single, umbrella certification for the newer address.
Read more in the Columbus Dispatch.