The Huffington Post

08/06/2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/the-most-dangerous-identi_b_7945120.html 

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WASHINGTON — A computer breach at the IRS in which thieves stole tax information from thousands of taxpayers is much bigger than the agency originally disclosed.

An additional 220,000 potential victims had information stolen from an IRS website as part of a sophisticated scheme to use stolen identities to claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Monday.

The revelation more than doubles the total number of potential victims, to 334,000.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/irs-says-thieves-stole-tax-info-from-additional-220000/ar-BBlOJ7e?ocid=ansmsnnews11 

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I'm just being a considerate poster.

I scrolled back through my posts. The frequency of attacks and the vulnerability of "secure" servers have to give pause.

And of course if I can help give someone a little peace of mind along the way, I'm glad to help.

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So they can use it to buy a membership on Ashley Madison.

I'm sure this 'explanation' will be used many times other Ashley Madison members, followed by, "That's my story and I sticking to it." 🤐

🍺

I've come across this quite alot.

Here's the plan.

1) Get someone's critical info

2) File taxes in his/her name (a. alter income and b. submit the tax form with address of thief)

3) Wait for the refund check.

I've heard this story countless times.

BTW, most (all?) copy machines have a hard drive in them. They do not copy the page, instead they scan it and then print from the scan.

When the company ditches or trades in the machine, every document that was "copied" is available to the new owner.

Did you copy your tax forms at work? Did your accountant? Did your preparer?

So guess where ALL of your identifying information is?

That's right: stored on some copy machine.

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http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/01/technology/apple-iphone-account-hack/index.html 

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by Reuters - September 20, 2015, 7:09 PM EDT

Apple said on Sunday it is cleaning up its iOS App Store to remove malicious iPhone and iPad programs identified in the first large-scale attack on the popular mobile software outlet.

The company disclosed the effort after several cyber security firms reported finding a malicious program dubbed XcodeGhost that was embedded in hundreds of legitimate apps.

It is the first reported case of large numbers of malicious software programs making their way past Apple’s stringent app review process.

http://fortune.com/2015/09/20/apples-app-store-attack/ 

Nah.

I've had several people ask me if I could help after the fact. I usually can't help at that point, but I send them phone numbers, resources and links.

The programs we sell to non-profits and corporations are modeled after insurance programs. Once someone is in trouble, it's tough to get on our plan. It's like trying to get collision after an accident.

We don't do credit monitoring or fraud alerts. Since the FTC said that ID theft can't be detected or prevented, we focus solely on restoration.

I didn't start this thread, but I am keeping it alive as a public service. Most people don't realize how common identity theft is. Nor do they factor in the financial, medical and criminal devastation it can cause. Most people think it's a fraudulent $400 charge that the bank will refund anyway. That's fraud; we're concerned with identity theft

For instance, a friend of mine was denied a job because his background check revealed that he was on death row in Arizona. The interviewer said "Of course you're not; you're sitting right in front of me. But legal won't let me get past this." Someone got booked and used his info. Now it's on his record. Can you imagine the legal battles (read costs) it'll take to straighten this out?

It's not that I can't sell to someone on this board; it's just not my focus. I'm signing the large national organizations. At the annual membership price, it's hard to pass up.

Out of curiosity I checked my posts. I've posted 13 articles since May 1st. These are just the national stories. What is that, about every two weeks?

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After the first time, the IRS said they would give us a PIN for the next year. They didn't. When our accountant went to file state tax, something happened and they submitted the Fed without having to use the PIN. Everything worked fine. Shortly after filing end date, we received a PIN to submit our taxes (which had already been accepted and paid). This year we submitted the taxes through a different accountant and later were informed that, yet again, some piece of chit filed under my soc number again. Now five months later and it is still in limbo. I could really use the return. (Kitchen countertops await).

Unfortunately this was a HUGE trend last year and continues this year. [See post 68 to see how easy it is to file for someone.] I don't expect this to resolve itself anytime soon. [Post 62 "IRS says thieves stole tax info from additional 220,000"].

Every once in a while I'll come across an article about how to protect your identity. In fact I heard a radio commercial on the way into work about how retailers can protect client data. Both of these are FALSE.

The best some one can do is to take measures to HELP prevent identity theft [firewalls, shredding, passwords, etc.]. But they can only help.

The Federal Trade Commission in a legal brief said that id theft cannot be detected and cannot be prevented. In fact a major id company that promises to lock your identity got fined by the FTC TWICE because of false claims that they could protect a persons identity. The Federal Trade Commission was emphatic: It can't be done.

Should you take measures to help protect your id? YES! And then get a service that will restore it when it gets stolen.

For instance, you wouldn't cancel your homeowners policy because you have smoke alarms. And you wouldn't cancel auto ins because you have a car alarm.

It's good to have both.

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09/23/2015

Chinese President Xi Jinping comes to the U.S. this week to speak to President Obama about cyberespionage, something China has repeatedly been accused of. While tension has been building, it will be especially high, considering the Office of Personnel Management said Wednesday that 5.6 million workers’ fingerprints have been compromised in an earlier attack, which the CIA says was perpetrated by Chinese hackers.

According to the agency, the hackers won’t be able to do much with the data, but as the New York Times writes, the rise of biometrics everywhere—including iPhones—could mean the severity is being downplayed.

This fingerprint data came in a data breach that contained other personal information from federal employees, contractors and applicants.

http://time.com/money/4046937/hackers-steal-fingerprints/ 

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Matthew Speiser

Sep. 25, 2015, 10:07PM

The Hilton hotel franchise appears to be the victim of cyberhacking that led to a pattern of credit card fraud dating back to November 2014.

According to online security analyst, Brian Krebs, hackers have "compromised" numerous point-of-sale registers in restaurants, coffee shops, and gift shops at Hilton hotel properties across the country in order to steal credit card information.

http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-steal-credit-card-data-from-hilton-hotels-2015-9 

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