Comments on: Your secret PIN may not be so secret

Crime spree dredges up information about potential weaknesses in debit-card transactions.

[kacb3]

How safe is your PIN

I live in Pennsylvania and I encountered fraud to my checking account in January of 2005. At the time I don't think the "fraud" department beleived me when I said I only had one card and that it was in my hand at that time. They indicated that this was unusual and maybe a "fluke". Someone had made a visa card with the numbers on my mac/visa card and overdrew my account within an hour. The banks fraud dept contacted me - thankfully. It took me up to two weeks to get my money back and I ended up closing my account and open another so I could recieve my paycheck and pay my bills. The women at the bank said that this was a bad year for fraud - it was only January. I told all my friends, but no one had heard of this happening, so they didn't worry. It seemed unbelievable that it would be so easy as getting your numbers. I believe this is a problem that began at least a year ago using just the mac/visa. I will never have a mac/visa again. I do, however, have a mac with a pin which I use everywhere. Now I think I will stop using that and go only cash or check. Thank you for the update. I do wonder if a rumor that I've been hearing is correct - banks are only liable for up to $500.00 if your account has had fraud. This might be something the public should be made more aware of if this is true considering some people's bills total more than that on a monthly basis.

[kacb3]

How safe is your PIN

I live in Pennsylvania and I encountered fraud to my checking account in January of 2005. At the time I don't think the "fraud" department beleived me when I said I only had one card and that it was in my hand at that time. They indicated that this was unusual and maybe a "fluke". Someone had made a visa card with the numbers on my mac/visa card and overdrew my account within an hour. The banks fraud dept contacted me - thankfully. It took me up to two weeks to get my money back and I ended up closing my account and open another so I could recieve my paycheck and pay my bills. The women at the bank said that this was a bad year for fraud - it was only January. I told all my friends, but no one had heard of this happening, so they didn't worry. It seemed unbelievable that it would be so easy as getting your numbers. I believe this is a problem that began at least a year ago using just the mac/visa. I will never have a mac/visa again. I do, however, have a mac with a pin which I use everywhere. Now I think I will stop using that and go only cash or check. Thank you for the update. I do wonder if a rumor that I've been hearing is correct - banks are only liable for up to $500.00 if your account has had fraud. This might be something the public should be made more aware of if this is true considering some people's bills total more than that on a monthly basis.

[kacb3]

How safe is your PIN

I live in Pennsylvania and I encountered fraud to my checking account in January of 2005. At the time I don't think the "fraud" department beleived me when I said I only had one card and that it was in my hand at that time. They indicated that this was unusual and maybe a "fluke". Someone had made a visa card with the numbers on my mac/visa card and overdrew my account within an hour. The banks fraud dept contacted me - thankfully. It took me up to two weeks to get my money back and I ended up closing my account and open another so I could recieve my paycheck and pay my bills. The women at the bank said that this was a bad year for fraud - it was only January. I told all my friends, but no one had heard of this happening, so they didn't worry. It seemed unbelievable that it would be so easy as getting your numbers. I believe this is a problem that began at least a year ago using just the mac/visa. I will never have a mac/visa again. I do, however, have a mac with a pin which I use everywhere. Now I think I will stop using that and go only cash or check. Thank you for the update. I do wonder if a rumor that I've been hearing is correct - banks are only liable for up to $500.00 if your account has had fraud. This might be something the public should be made more aware of if this is true considering some people's bills total more than that on a monthly basis.

[kacb3]

How safe is your PIN

I live in Pennsylvania and I encountered fraud to my checking account in January of 2005. At the time I don't think the "fraud" department beleived me when I said I only had one card and that it was in my hand at that time. They indicated that this was unusual and maybe a "fluke". Someone had made a visa card with the numbers on my mac/visa card and overdrew my account within an hour. The banks fraud dept contacted me - thankfully. It took me up to two weeks to get my money back and I ended up closing my account and open another so I could recieve my paycheck and pay my bills. The women at the bank said that this was a bad year for fraud - it was only January. I told all my friends, but no one had heard of this happening, so they didn't worry. It seemed unbelievable that it would be so easy as getting your numbers. I believe this is a problem that began at least a year ago using just the mac/visa. I will never have a mac/visa again. I do, however, have a mac with a pin which I use everywhere. Now I think I will stop using that and go only cash or check. Thank you for the update. I do wonder if a rumor that I've been hearing is correct - banks are only liable for up to $500.00 if your account has had fraud. This might be something the public should be made more aware of if this is true considering some people's bills total more than that on a monthly basis.

[jonliu992]

Can we trusts banks empolyees

I am from California. Two bank issues credit cards
were activated and used with out my knowledges.
American Express fraud unit was able to stop
the unauthorized transaction.But Bank Of America
fraud department did not detect and the charge went into collection department. I am asking BA to investigate and dispute. BA reported to Credit Buraeu
and now I have bad report on my outstanding credit report. That make us wonder, can we trust our
private informations with banks employees.

[jonliu992]

Can we trusts banks empolyees

I am from California. Two bank issues credit cards
were activated and used with out my knowledges.
American Express fraud unit was able to stop
the unauthorized transaction.But Bank Of America
fraud department did not detect and the charge went into collection department. I am asking BA to investigate and dispute. BA reported to Credit Buraeu
and now I have bad report on my outstanding credit report. That make us wonder, can we trust our
private informations with banks employees.

[NewsView]

The Digital Honeymoon is Over

The more I read, the more disillusioned I become with the notion of ?security?. The Government Office of Accountability in October released a report that indicated that most of our electronic voting machines were not delivering the goods either, yet we are compelled to rely upon them for our most revered civil right. We thought hanging chads were a technological challenge in the 2000 presidential election, and now we read that 600,000 PIN numbers are in criminal hands. Is it not obvious that the digital honeymoon is over? Let?s face up to the fact that as cool as technology is, it also creates addicts that cannot function without it. An OS system may be riddled with security holes that make the Grand Canyon look like a child?s sandbox, but because our economy is now computer driven, the free market has driven its technological backbone against the wall. Like it or not, this is the society in which we live ? with its increasingly intelligent and conniving criminals ? to prove just how little we control no matter how many ?controls? are promised by technology company execs, who promise to deliver their unsuspecting customers the ?next sure thing.?

Many ?net users are children of the "digital generation". We no longer remember what it was like to thrive in a world that was not dependant upon computers. And I?m not arguing that we can or should go back. But we should be willing to confront the stark-naked truth.

For one, who can remember a history or computer science teacher pointing out that for virtually every technologic advance there has been an equally costly, time consuming, or security-flawed digress? Pre-computer age, somebody invented a safe, but somebody else invented the blowtorch. The inventor of the blowtorch never thought to defeat the lock on the safe using a blowtorch, yet some inventive criminal somewhere put two-and-two together. This is the human variable that no technology can ?solve? for!

The brilliant folks at MIT may never admit it, but as long as we are creating the technology, we can defeat it too. Security is an illusion. It always has, it always will be. The law of unintended consequences ? that for every action is an equal and opposite reaction ? proves that we will only see our lives grow more complex as technology itself becomes complex. So much for the 1950s notion that technology would eventually save us so much time that we could work four hours a day and then head home early for lack of anything to do (thanks to automation).

The question now is how to train the average person to recognize the signs of a digital home invasion.

?Old-school? crime is pretty self-evident: If your home is ransacked or you are assaulted on the street, you don?t have to be Einstein to take notice. But as technology advances, average people in average occupations are going to have little, if any clue, what or how they may be violated until it is too late and their ATMs won?t work, their electronic funds transfers bounce, their prescriptions can?t be filled, their job applications are denied, their credit checks fail, and their background checks come up flawed. By the time the government, human resources department, bank or digital service provider decides to fess up to their embarrassing breach, the consumer may already face financial ruin, or even the loss of a job (say your employee or criminal records are altered to say that you are a convicted sex offender). The list here is endless!

Do yourself a favor and read 1984 or rent the DVD Gatika. It?s not sci-fi ? it?s the future banging on our door. Don?t believe it? Digital Angel has your RFID microchip ready and waiting.

Trust us. It?s for your own good.

Big Brother always knows best.

[NewsView]

The Digital Honeymoon is Over

The more I read, the more disillusioned I become with the notion of ?security?. The Government Office of Accountability in October released a report that indicated that most of our electronic voting machines were not delivering the goods either, yet we are compelled to rely upon them for our most revered civil right. We thought hanging chads were a technological challenge in the 2000 presidential election, and now we read that 600,000 PIN numbers are in criminal hands. Is it not obvious that the digital honeymoon is over? Let?s face up to the fact that as cool as technology is, it also creates addicts that cannot function without it. An OS system may be riddled with security holes that make the Grand Canyon look like a child?s sandbox, but because our economy is now computer driven, the free market has driven its technological backbone against the wall. Like it or not, this is the society in which we live ? with its increasingly intelligent and conniving criminals ? to prove just how little we control no matter how many ?controls? are promised by technology company execs, who promise to deliver their unsuspecting customers the ?next sure thing.?

Many ?net users are children of the "digital generation". We no longer remember what it was like to thrive in a world that was not dependant upon computers. And I?m not arguing that we can or should go back. But we should be willing to confront the stark-naked truth.

For one, who can remember a history or computer science teacher pointing out that for virtually every technologic advance there has been an equally costly, time consuming, or security-flawed digress? Pre-computer age, somebody invented a safe, but somebody else invented the blowtorch. The inventor of the blowtorch never thought to defeat the lock on the safe using a blowtorch, yet some inventive criminal somewhere put two-and-two together. This is the human variable that no technology can ?solve? for!

The brilliant folks at MIT may never admit it, but as long as we are creating the technology, we can defeat it too. Security is an illusion. It always has, it always will be. The law of unintended consequences ? that for every action is an equal and opposite reaction ? proves that we will only see our lives grow more complex as technology itself becomes complex. So much for the 1950s notion that technology would eventually save us so much time that we could work four hours a day and then head home early for lack of anything to do (thanks to automation).

The question now is how to train the average person to recognize the signs of a digital home invasion.

?Old-school? crime is pretty self-evident: If your home is ransacked or you are assaulted on the street, you don?t have to be Einstein to take notice. But as technology advances, average people in average occupations are going to have little, if any clue, what or how they may be violated until it is too late and their ATMs won?t work, their electronic funds transfers bounce, their prescriptions can?t be filled, their job applications are denied, their credit checks fail, and their background checks come up flawed. By the time the government, human resources department, bank or digital service provider decides to fess up to their embarrassing breach, the consumer may already face financial ruin, or even the loss of a job (say your employee or criminal records are altered to say that you are a convicted sex offender). The list here is endless!

Do yourself a favor and read 1984 or rent the DVD Gatika. It?s not sci-fi ? it?s the future banging on our door. Don?t believe it? Digital Angel has your RFID microchip ready and waiting.

Trust us. It?s for your own good.

Big Brother always knows best.