Indian Call Centers Selling Private Data
A year ago, Britons learned that Indian call centers were selling their private identity information. It sems there’s nothing new. SC Magazine reports that Indian call centers are still selling private credit card data on the black market. According to the article: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – adopted by the major credit card brands – requires organisations to monitor outsourcing service providers and states they are liable for fines if that provider compromises their data. Good job, guys.
Another Laptop Stolen – More Personal Data At Risk
I checked the mail after getting home from work and found an envelope from th Harley Owner’s Group (HOG). That got my attention, since Biketoberfest is around the corner in Daytona. Could it be an interesting offer coming to town during that event? No, it was a Personal Information Advisery. It seems that a Harley-Davidson employee reported a missing laptop on Monday, August 14, 2006. The laptop contained HOG member data to facilitate registration at HOG events. The letter claims that Harley-Davidson conducted an extensive investigation, notified law enforcement, and still want to retrieve the laptop. I’m sure that’s true, though the word “extensive” means different things to different people. There are no circumstances provided...
Tomorrow be Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Be prepared to hear people say “yarr” a lot tomorrow, for September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We don’t mean that you should talk like Johhny Depp impersonating a drunken (is there any other kind?) Keith Richards. No, this is about the traditional campy pirate talk from old 50′s movies. That’s why Robert Newton, the man who portrayed Long John Silver in Treasure Island, is the patron saint of this day. Lest ye go into this day unprepared, make sure you know your true pirate...
Hello, World
My friends Niki and Zoli welcomed their second child into the world today at 10:07 am, a 6 lb, 1 oz boy named Cole. I guess this tops the new iPod Nano that I bought this weekend.
Spies in the Valley
Thanks to HP, another catch phrase enters the public consciousness. Pretexting. It’s a technique of social engineering, or gaining access to systems by manipulating people into divulging information that should remain confidential. Many people never heard of the phrase “pretexting” before private investigators, hired by HP’s top manageent, collected the private phone records of its directors and a CNet reporter. Why? Someone on the board of directors leaked information to the reporter and, damn it, HP was going to find out who did it. I won’t go into further details here because you can read about the story elsewhere. The part that interests me is how easily the investigators collected private information. Pretexting is a means...
How much does EA Games need to know about you?
It’s almost automatic. When you install software, there’s a point where you have to accept the user license agreement before you can continue. If you don’t click a button to agree, the installation ceases. Have you ever tried to return opened software or a game with the excuse “I don’t agree to the license?” Chances are that it won’t work. Once you break the shrinkwrap, you’re chances of a refund decreased almost 100%. Do we even look at the user license agreement anymore, even on video games? Fortunately, someone did. That’s why there’s a buzz now about EA Games license agreement for XBox Live games. If you sign up to play EA games through Microsoft’s Xbox Live Service, Microsoft will...
Does the U.S. government need to know your hotel reservation?
The latest attack on your personal data may come from Uncle Sam. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wants access to personal information about airline passengers such as names, addresses, credit card information and associated hotel or rental car reservations. It may not end with Uncle Sam, though. European governments want the same information. An article in the New York Times mentions two databases. The first, the Advance Passenger Information System contains basic passenger information commonly found in a passport, like name, nationality and date of birth. The second database, Passenger Name Record, comes from global travel reservation companies. Each time someone makes a reservation, a file is created, including the name of the person who...