When 2013 began, I never imagined I’d be setting up my own consumer news service. But the year was full of surprises, opportunities, a successful book launch, and some disappointments. It all cleared the way for this exciting change. As New Year’s approaches, I’m proud to say that 50,000 people [Keep reading]
We’re about to find out how effective a major implementation of encryption really is. Target’s quite tardy admission that it’s lost encrypted PIN codes along with millions of credit card numbers might be one of the largest public tests of encryption were ever seen. Remember, a person with a debit [Keep reading]
Each year at Christmas, I make a set of photo calendars for my family. I began doing this 15 years ago when I moved from New Jersey to Seattle, as a way of bragging about how beautiful my new adopted home was. I was also 3,000 miles away and also [Keep reading]
Brian Krebs connects the dots and spins an amazing tale about a hacker who he things is involved in selling the stolen Target credit cards. And, he says, someone offered him $10,000 not to print it. Using a combination of deep searches, cached versions of websites, and his own archives [Keep reading]
I’m hearing a lot of screaming from the hills about chip-enabled credit card right now: Why Europe has had them for 10 years, and how silly that Americans don’t have them yet. Well, there’s some good reasons why shoppers in the States don’t have chip-and-pin yet. Here’s the most important [Keep reading]
Not so fast, everyone: Boiling water doesn’t help a woman giving birth, and putting a credit freeze on your credit report won’t stop a hacker from buying things with a credit card stolen from Target. Here’s an update on what we know, what you should do, and some ideas about [Keep reading]
How much do you plan to spend on gifts this holiday season? If you’re like the average American, a little less than last year. That certainly doesn’t make you a Scrooge — you are probably spending a lot more than you did at the height of the recession — but it [Keep reading]
If you shopped at Target during the past three weeks, there’s something really important you should do: Don’t overreact. The massive Target credit card hack is going to create a mess for a lot of people, and there’s a good chance you might be one of them. But it’s important [Keep reading]
There’s been years of media reports ringing the alarm bell about binge drinking; where’s the horror at the new epidemic of binge working? When friends brag they are pulling all-nighters at work, please don’t laugh. Please tell them to get help. If you haven’t noticed this disturbing trend, I’ll lay [Keep reading]
When I published my book Stop Getting Ripped Off, I wanted to include some ideas that go way beyond the tired, old financial advice that can fit on an index card. My “two-card” credit card strategy for occasional overspenders is one of those ideas. have a “clean card” and a “line of [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan