Miscellaneous

• OJ Simpson Back in the Public Eye

  Staff Writer | November 16, 2006 10:32 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  OJ Simpson made history as an athlete. He made history as a criminal defendant who was acquitted of a heinous and violent crime. He again made history when he lost a wrongful death civil lawsuit filed by the families of the victims of the crime for which he was acquitted. This week, he has once again made history. Only this time, it appears that OJ Simpson has apparently confessed to...

• Starbucks Employees Possible Identity Theft Victims

  Staff Writer | November 05, 2006 10:52 AM | 2 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Just this past week, Starbucks lost track of four laptop computers containing sensitive information including social security numbers, addresses and names of over 60,000 company employees. Looks like this company may know how to serve up some Java but needs some lessons on how to protect sensitive employee information. These employees may become the next victims of identity theft as a result...

• British Banks Fail to Safeguard Customer Information

  Staff Writer | October 29, 2006 9:48 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  After all the news footage we've reviewed recently, I was not really shocked to see a BBC news story expressing concern about several British banks which have apparently failed to secure confidential customer information. The difference in this story which caught my eye was that this time, the problems had nothing to do with computer security.This time the story related to confidential written...

• Proposition 102 and the November General Election

  Staff Writer | October 25, 2006 6:09 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  With the election coming up in just a few weeks, I wanted to share my opinion about Proposition 102. This proposition has not generated a great deal of attention in light of all of the infighting between candidates. I see fingerpointing television attack advertising several times a day from Jon Kyl directed at Jim Pederson. I see attack advertising from JD Hayworth directed at Harry Mitchell....

• Online Brokerages TD Waterhouse and E-Trade Most Recent Sources of Identity Theft

  Staff Writer | October 24, 2006 5:22 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  I read today that over the past three months, oversees identity thieves broke into customer accounts at brokerages TD Waterhouse and E-Trade and participated in a stock-trading fraud scheme leading to $22 million in losses. Sophisticated oversees hackers were able to use keylogging programs to obtain private information and log onto customer accounts in order to participate in a "pump-and-dump"...

• Insurance Company Profits to Top Sixty Billion

  Staff Writer | October 20, 2006 10:47 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  The other day, I discussed the topic of increasing health insurance premiums across the country. I mentioned that perhaps we all should consider investing in health insurance companies because premiums and profits have been rising at a faster rate than claims payouts. Well it turns out that health insurance companies are not the only successful insurance producer. According to the New York...

• Marine Computer Containing Confidential Data Missing

  Staff Writer | October 10, 2006 10:03 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  This past week, I have been posting messages which show that the risks of identity theft can be minimized by simply prioritizing data security. Problems at the United States Department of Energy, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the United States Department of Homeland Security demonstrate that our government has not yet prioritized data protection. Simple encryption tools, password...

• Department of Homeland Security Lacking Computer Security

  Staff Writer | October 08, 2006 8:07 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Talk about ironic, the Deparment of Homeland Security has apparently joined the growing list of other government agencies which overlooked cybersecurity. The Inspector General's Office conducted a recent audit of ninety-four of the Department's laptop computers and found:"significant work remains to be done" by the inspector general's office in the areas of configuration, patch and inventory...

• Department of Energy Computer System Security Problems Exposed

  Staff Writer | October 06, 2006 3:14 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  Well I found yet another agency with computer security problems amid the ever-growing list of government agencies which have not yet prioritized computer security. This time, according to an article in Computerworld Security Magazione,The information systems used by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, are vulnerable to cyberattacks...

• Report Shows Identity Theft Risks at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

  Staff Writer | October 05, 2006 12:11 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ

  The lessons involving the recent theft of laptop computers at the Veterans Administration have apparently been ignored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), its review of computer systems:revealed 47 weaknesses in electronic access controls and other controls. A key reason for these weaknesses was that CMS did not always...