Ivan Penn reports: Major financial institutions spend millions of dollars protecting private information from falling into the wrong hands. But even with all the high-tech gadgetry and sophisticated computer firewalls, sometimes they miss the simplest safeguards — like closing the blinds. Take the Bank of America branch office on the high pedestrian and vehicle traffic…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner shocked over digital devices (updated)
A rash of theft and loss of digital devices has Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner scratching his head. In the past month, there have been seven self reported breaches of personal information, each involving a stolen or lost laptop or digital device. Two of those are government computers and personal information is at risk. Frank…
Another report that card fraud was down in 2010
The other day I linked to reports indicating that card fraud was down 56% in Cape Town and 20% in the U.K. this year. Now an article I saw this week on Inside Retailing cites Visa reports that counterfeit credit card fraud is down 45% in Australia this year. Another article, this one on International…
Easy Numbers for ID Theft, Tossed Around by the Military
Matt Richtel reports: The government warns Americans to closely guard their Social Security numbers. But it has done a poor job of protecting those same numbers for millions of people: the nation’s soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. […] That is the conclusion of a scathing new report written by an Army intelligence officer turned West…
Wikileaks Cablegate: Time to Blame the Victim?
Paul Roberts writes: The Pentagon says the leak of diplomatic cables was an unforeseen consequence of its policy to encourage information sharing. That’s nonsense. When it comes to its failure to protect classified data, Uncle Sam’s been warned before. […] It was an act of almost total malfeasance, the responsibility for which lies squarely in…
Credit Cards At Risk from High-Tech Pickpockets?
Oh yeah, those RFID chips are really improving security. It’s supposed to make paying for things faster and easier – just wave your credit or debit card over a scanner and you’ve paid. But now some worry that radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is also making it easier for crooks to rip you off. Security…