Yet Another Identity Precaution
It doesn’t seem that long ago when we learned of dumpster divers – people who sift through trash looking for identity information from discarded bills, credit card offers, and other scraps containing your identity information. Leave it to some Nigerians, the current leaders of the fraud industry, to bring the same technique to used hard drives. The BBC reports that bank details on thousands of Britons were sold in West Africa for less than £20 each. How did they get the information? It was left on used PC’s sent for recycling. Some of us know that merely deleting files is insufficient. You can find free programs on the Internet to undelete files. That’s because deleted files aren’t removed from the disk. Instead, deleting a...
Ouch!
I love my bike. This morning, I rode it down to Orlando Harley-Davidson for its 25,000 mile service. The brakes need adjusting, it needs a new rear tire, and I told them I wanted synthetic oil. Who knows what else they do for this service mark? Fortunately, it doesn’t cost me much. I already have a four-year prepaid service plan for this maintenance, including oil & tires. Sure, I pay a little bit to upgrade the oil to synthetic, and I still have to pay labor to mount the tire. Overall, it’s not so bad. On top of all that, they give me a free rental so I can ride home. That beats hanging around the dealership from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm. About 4:00 pm, I got a call from Kim in the service department. I figured my bike was ready to...
Security by Obscurity
A lot of people are afraid of identity theft or fraud. Others are afraid of having their true identity known when they engage in behavior that some may find objectionable, embarrassing, or shameful. For a plethora of reasons, people choose to hide their identity online; either by anonymity or using pseudonymous names. This is security by obscurity. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The entire concept of security by obscurity is that people can’t break through your security if they don’t know where to look, or it’s not worth their time to look for something. That’s a false sense of security because there is always someone with the time, desire, and means to locate something you value – including your identity. I found three...
Know someone with road rage?
I would love to take this thing out on the road. Sure, it’s slow. Let someone honk their horn. Go ahead, make my day. The Land Walker, made by Masaaki Nagumo, measures 11 feet tall, weighs one ton, and sprays bullets from air guns mounted outside the cockpit. Ok, the bullets are foam. It’s the thought that counts. I could imagine replacing them with paintballs. It’s really for sale in Japan. Only $315,000 (plus tax, tag, and title). If I put this on my wish list, will you buy me one?
Be a Barenaked Lady
I think this is incredibly cool, even though it’s a simple idea. Barenaked Ladies spent the last couple of months recording a new album. They have about 29 songs mixed up and ready to go for a release in September. That’s nice, but here’s the cool part. One of the tracks – Easy – is available in a multi-track downloadable format on their web site for $2.95. It gives fans a chance to take the component sound tracks and make their own remix, mash-ups, whatever. After that, you can upload your new mix and listen to other people’s remix versions of the song. If you have something like GarageBand, Acid, Fruity Loops, etc. It’s pretty simple and fun to do. Check it...
A computer, beer, and an explosion
Have you ever wondered how to get rid of an old computer? There are a number of recycling options, but none of them are as interesting, fun, and potentially dangerous as the method used in this video.
Auditors Lose Credit Card Data
I just read a news article warning that thousands of Hotels.com customers from 2004 may be subject to identity fraud because their information was on a laptop stolen from an auditor’s car. Ernst & Young is the outside auditor. The laptop contained names, addresses, and credit card numbers for 243,000 customers. The auditor didn’t take the simple security precaution of encrypting the data or his hard drive. Even if you only have one transaction with a vendor, they keep your name, address, and credit card number for years. Is that ethical? What use does a vendor have to keep my credit card information if I don’t authorize another transaction? The sad truth is that you do not own your identity. The attributes that identify you are there for...