bobsullivan.net

Consumer and cybercrime news

THE RED TAPE CHRONICLES

Technology has hidden side effects -- we reveal them here

  • About Bob
  • Cybercrime / Privacy
  • Gotchas / Consumer
  • Bob Sullivan’s podcast projects
  • Bob Sullivan music
Home2018October

Month: October 2018

Katy Trail

Katy Trail Day 3: Sedalia and Boonville

October 22, 2018 Bob Sullivan 2

(Previous post) I wanted to go see a part of the trail on the west side of Missouri, and I’d passed signs for the Missouri State Fairgrounds for years, so my next trip was to Sedalia, about 60 miles southwest of Columbia.  It was a mixed bag. The restored train [Keep reading]

Katy Trail

Katy Trail Day 4: McBain to Cooper’s Landing

October 22, 2018 Bob Sullivan 1

(Previous post) This is my last long ride, and I’m already getting nostalgic about a trip I haven’t finished yet.  Remember McBain? On day 2, I rode from Rocheport to McBain, just south of Columbia. On this day, I start at McBain and head south, aiming for a spot called [Keep reading]

Katy Trail

Katy Trail, the end: Rocheport, Dutzel and Augusta

October 22, 2018 Bob Sullivan 0

(Previous post) I head to Meriwether one last time for breakfast, but first, I take the trail in the other direction — west, towards Boonville — and get in a quick 5-mile ride.  This direction takes you through the famous train tunnel, and it’s amazing acoustics.  Also, the colors it [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

About that Facebook impostor hack/hoax: Don’t warn people unless you’re sure you’ve *actually* been hacked

October 8, 2018 Bob Sullivan 39

First off, yes, Facebook has been hacked, and no, we don’t yet know how bad that hack is. Second, your Facebook account probably has NOT been hacked, and you probably don’t have a clone out there, despite all the messages and posts saying otherwise. Finally, it is actually possible (though [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Stealing Experian credit freeze PINs was as easy as ‘none of the above’

October 4, 2018 Bob Sullivan 1

A security hurdle meant to block criminals from stealing PIN codes that secure credit freezes at Experian was easily overcome simply by answering “None of the above” to a series of security questions, according to a report by NerdWallet.com. “Our colleague Liz Weston and several others at NerdWallet this morning were [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

Here’s what a Russian GRU mobile Wi-Fi attack-in-a-trunk looks like

October 4, 2018 Bob Sullivan 0

If you think nobody ever *really* tries to hack Wi-Fi, there’s now a remarkable demonstration that you are wrong.  On Thursday, the Dutch government accused Russian GRU (military intelligence) agents of parking outside a government building with a rental car full of high-powered wireless hacking equipment — hidden in the [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

This is a test. A real test. Of your patience. When texts hit tomorrow, plan for a coffee break

October 2, 2018 Bob Sullivan 0

Might as well plan for a coffee break at around 2:15 tomorrow – at least folks in the Eastern Time zone. The rest of America, plan accordingly for a grand interruption. A nationwide test of something that will be now known as a “Presidential Alert” is planned to begin at [Keep reading]

Cognitive bias

Know Your Nuggets: Endowed Progress

October 2, 2018 Bob Sullivan 1

Want your employees or consumers to finish something? Give them a decent head start. It sounds too simple to be true, but it is. People are more likely to complete a task if they are given a jump start at the beginning. This behavioral phenomenon is called “endowed progress.” We all [Keep reading]

Posts navigation

« 1 2

Sign up at Substack

Bob Sullivan Music

Search

About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan