identity theft

Wed
20
Feb
John Lister's picture

Report: Most Password Managers Not Secure

Security researchers say some major password manager tools could be flawed. But they also say it's still sensible to use them, just with a degree of caution. It's a fact that using the same password for multiple sites is a massive security risk. ... That's because if one site gets hacked, it could mean that hackers can use the same password on another website to gain access to potentially sensitive information, resulting in identity theft or financial loss. Password manager tools (such as Roboform and Dashlane ) aim to overcome two big dilemmas with online passwords - which is keeping passwords ... (view more)

Tue
03
May
John Lister's picture

Phone Fingerprint Lock Sparks New Legal Dispute

A federal court has ordered a woman to use her finger to unlock her iPhone. It's the latest legal tussle in the ongoing debate pitting security and law enforcement against constitutional rights. The case involved a Los Angeles woman who had been ... arrested for identity theft. The FBI wanted to access the contents of her phone, which was protected by a fingerprint lock. Officials have not publicly revealed exactly why they wanted to access the data, or whether it directly related to the identity theft charges. Court documents show she was the girlfriend of a known member of a major LA ... (view more)

Wed
02
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

US Senator Demands All Websites be Encrypted

A New York senator has called for major US Internet sites to offer all of their web pages in secure mode. Charles Schumer says the move would help protect against theft of data through public WiFi networks. The request involves the hypertext ... transfer protocol, which is the technical system used for transferring data between a website and a user, and vice versa. The protocol is available in two forms: standard (in which page addresses begin with http://) and secure (in which page addresses begin with https://). Secure Browser Sessions Encrypted, Denoted by Padlock In a secure connection, which ... (view more)

Tue
13
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

ID Theft: A Victim's Step-By-Step Recovery Guide

We recently reported on a story in which the identities of 3.3 million loan borrowers were hacked , including the names, addresses, social security numbers of these individuals. Now, figures from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse suggest that more ... than 347 million records have been breached since 2005. So, what happens if you aren't aware that your identity has been compromised? The short answer is that someone will likely try to use your identity to commit fraud. For example, you might receive a bill for a credit card expense that you knew nothing about. It could ruin your credit score, or ... (view more)

Mon
08
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Credit Card Fraud: Most Common Form of ID Theft

According to a new study from the Identity Theft Resource Center, the most common use of identity theft involves opening a new credit account in the victim's name. This type of fraud affects almost two-thirds of identity theft victims. 39 per cent ... of the 2008 victims faced fraudulent charges, up more than twice the 15 per cent of those victimized in 2007. According to the 2009 Breach List report (PDF) from the Identity Theft Resource Center, as of 5/26/09, 230 breaches exposing 11,615,507 records had been reported. (Source: pcworld.com ) Reversing ID Theft Requires Time and Money It can take ... (view more)

Tue
25
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

UK Identities Auctioned Online

According to an online safety group, complete financial identities, including names, addresses, passport numbers and confidential data such as credit card numbers, are being sold online for 80 GB pounds for a bundled package, and as little as 5 GB ... pounds for a single piece of data. The Get Safe Online group, backed by police, government and banks, says ID theft is a serious problem because of an international trade in stolen identities and data. The bundles of data are harvested in concerted attacks against poorly defended computers in wealthier nations and are often sited in countries with ... (view more)

Mon
18
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Best Buy Slapped With $54 Million Lawsuit for Lost Laptop

A woman from Washington DC is suing Best Buy for $54 million after it lost a laptop she'd put in for repair. The company already gave Raelyn Campbell the full replacement cost of her $1,100 laptop plus a $500 gift card as compensation. However, ... she's suing for costs including the replacement of software, music, pictures and other data, plus the actions she's had to take to protect against identity theft. Her laptop included material such as her will and tax returns which could have been used for such purposes. (Source: computerworld.com ) She's detailed her case at the tongue-twister-named ... (view more)

Fri
14
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

P2P Software Leads to ID Theft

In what's being described as the first case of its kind, a Seattle man has reportedly been arrested on 4 counts for using peer-to-peer (P2P) software to steal digital data and commit identity theft, alleging that he victimized at least 83 people. ... Gregory Thomas Kopiloff used Limewire, Soulseek and other P2P software to rummage other people's computers for financial, medical and tax information, which he would use to open credit cards and for online shopping sprees. He bought more than $73,000 worth of merchandise online, then turned around and resold them at steep discounts. "If you are ... (view more)

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