Tech: What will go wrong in 2008
Posted: Friday, December 28 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
There was no Melissa virus in 2007, no LoveBug, no computer worm that brought corporate America to its knees for an afternoon. In fact, many experts suspect the days of that kind of cyber-havoc are over.
Today, cyber atttacks are more stealthy -- and much more successful. If 2007 offers any hints of what’s to come, technology users will face a much wider spectrum of attacks next year. Their identities will be stolen, their computers will be hijacked, and probably, their handheld gadgets will be targeted like never before. Social networks will be a prime target for criminals, and cyber-spying may very well come of age.
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Video: Avoid bank gift cards
Posted: Friday, December 21 at 04:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Click on the image to watch the video.
By now, you probably know that gift cards sometimes come with hidden fees that make them lose value over time. But you might not know that bank cards -- which don't come from a specific store -- have the worst fees of all. Click to watch.
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Gotcha Room: Hidden shipping costs
Posted: Tuesday, December 18 at 04:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
With time running short for online gift shopping, you may end up paying more than you should in tack-on fees and charges. Many Web sites advertise low prices, but conceal the true price -- including shipping, handling, and "expedited service" charges. But if you don't compare "out the door" prices, you'll never get the best price. Click to watch.
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Pretexters allegedly duped IRS, Social Security
Posted: Friday, December 14 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Thanks to last year’s scandal at Hewlett-Packard, consumers learned how easily private investigators can trick companies into divulging personal information. Now, thanks to a new federal indictment full of data theft allegations, we know they also can trick the IRS and the Social Security Administration into handing over information.
Ten suspects were indicted last week in Seattle for allegedly impersonating consumers and obtaining their bank records, tax returns and Social Security earnings statements.
According to the indictment, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration were repeatedly tricked into coughing up very sensitive documents. In one case, the IRS gave a defendant nearly 10 years worth of tax records, the indictment alleges. In another, a suspect allegedly obtained tax records by claiming his accountant had recently been fired for embezzlement and the information was needed for verification purposes.
In all, 12,000 consumers were victimized by the defendants from 2004-2007, the indictment alleges.
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Data collection: Just say ‘I know my rights’
Posted: Tuesday, December 11 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
The questions are all too familiar, and all too intimate:
"Can I see your driver's license?"
"Can I have your phone number?"
"Do you have another form of ID?"
But how do you answer? It seems that to shop is to be interviewed. Everywhere you go, you are asked invasive questions. And every time you look at the news, you see another company is losing consumers' data.
So you would probably rather not answer those kinds of questions, but can you say “no”?
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'Father of ID theft' turns over a new leaf
Posted: Friday, December 7 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
James Jackson, with wife Sharon and daughter Taylor.
Five years ago, James Jackson stood before a federal judge and confessed to some of the most audacious crimes of identity theft ever committed. He stole nearly $1 million in diamonds and Rolex watches by pretending to be recently deceased corporate executives.
It was just the latest in a long string of identity crimes dating back 25 years, long before the term “identity theft” had even been invented. By then, Jackson was already an ID thief to the stars, having impersonated a long list of corporate executives and Hollywood personalities. He eventually was given the nickname “father of identity theft” by some media outlets.
Back in 2002, Jackson had been in and out of jail for 15 years, managing to get by with relatively short stints each time. But this time, U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts had little patience with Jackson's explanations. In the courtroom was a diagram of the complex schemes he had operated and the 29 felonies to which he was about to plead guilty. "The defendant's crimes are everyone's worst nightmare," Batts wrote at the time. Urged by the U.S. attorney’s office to give Jackson the maximum penalty, Batts sentenced him to eight years in prison – setting the beginning of the term in 2000, when he was first arrested.
This month, Jackson was released to a halfway house, his sentence reduced by a few months for good behavior. He's now an employee of First Choice Staffing Services in Memphis, Tenn. In March, he will be a free man.
"It's going to be different this time, I won't go back," Jackson said during a telephone interview from his new office.
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Virus experts warn of 'Google poisoning'
Posted: Monday, December 3 at 12:49 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
You might want to take an extra half-second the next time you click on search engine results to make sure you know where you're going. Computer criminals have refined a sinister technique for tricking Web surfers into clicking on infected Web pages, turning search engines like Google into unwitting partners.
It's known as “Google poisoning,” because Google is the biggest target, but it can impact any search engine. Criminals construct booby-trapped Web pages, then dupe search engines into giving them high rankings.
Last week, security research firm Sunbelt Software found that a simple search for something like "funny dog picture" on Google directed searchers to Web sites hosted on Chinese domains. Those who clicked on the links were pushed to install a malicious program named "Spy-shredder."
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