Those fraud-fighting, chip-enabled credit cards seem to be everywhere now and — credit card fraud activity is up dramatically. That might actually be a good thing, however. Retail fraud attempts rose 31 percent during the holiday shopping season, compared to last year, according to fraud-fighting firm ACI Worldwide. The firm [Keep reading]
“Keep your shoes on,” hawks the advertisements, with the image an elegant very-high-heeled sandal there to catch the eye. The ads urge weary travels on airport security lines to sign up for expedited screening, which is said to come with this major side benefit — no walking through security on [Keep reading]
I’ve long said that identity theft is a just marketing program for banks and retailers. Corporations make it easy for criminals to steal so they can sell convenience to consumers, and if a few customers get hurt along the way, well, that’s a shame. That can always be fixed later. [Keep reading]
Angry Starbucks customers keep writing me to say their bank accounts are being drained via the coffee giant’s popular mobile app, more than a year after I first reported the disturbing problem. Such a heist ruined Jenna Veeve Farag’s Christmas morning. “They were able to wipe out my checking account,” she [Keep reading]
Could Amazon’s Alexa be a tattletale? Yes, as could any Internet-connected device in your home, we were all reminded this week. News outlets lit up on Tuesday with news that Amazon had been served with a search warrant in a murder case, as detectives in Bentonville, Ark., want to know [Keep reading]
It’s very hard to make privacy and security sexy. The folks at Mozilla and the Tactical Technology Collective have done just that this month with a clever art installation/ pop-up shop in lower Manhattan called “The Glass Room.” The Glass Room aims to inform and challenge visitors by making them [Keep reading]
There’s fresh evidence out Wednesday to show the ransomware epidemic has staying power. Why? Victims are paying ransoms for their data, that’s why. Madison County, Indiana made headlines last week because it admitted a recent ransomware attack will cost taxpayers there $220,000 — some to the hackers, most for security [Keep reading]
Is Santa spying on your kids? A set of consumer groups think so, and are petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to step in on Tuesday. And in a broader report accompanying the complaint, consumer groups are warning that a coming “Internet of Toys” could have long-term implications for child safety. [Keep reading]
The world is full of stories we never hear about. The car crash that was narrowly averted. The oven fire that was doused in the nick of time. The credit card database that wasn’t stolen because intrusion detection systems alerted the firm about the presence of a hacker. The [Keep reading]
Fake news can have real consequences. A man with an assault rifle just walked into a busy pizza place a few blocks from me in Washington D.C., apparently inspired by an Internet conspiracy about a child pedophile ring connected to the Democratic Party. I’m writing this story not as politics [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan