| Symantec chief executive advocates fair play — and Macs
"We think more people ought to buy them," Thompson said of Apple's Macintosh computers, in response to a question from the audience at the Future in Review conference in Coronado, California on Monday. The "target-rich" environment created by Windows vulnerabilities means that virus writers and hackers have set their sights on Windows PCs, he said. However, Thompson noted that if more and more people did go out and buy Macs, virus writers might change their tactics. And many attacks are increasingly of the phishing or identity theft variety, which targets computer users independently of their operating system, he said. "We shouldn't assume that any one technology at any layer is sufficient to protect our notion of a connected world," Thompson said. Computer users and network operators need to take many steps to ensure their data will be protected, regardless of which products they use, he said.
Brown backs biometrics
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has said the UK will use biometrics on a national scale for cross-border control, for anti-terrorist measures and to combat identity theft. Brown, who has in the past been silent over such issues, said supermarkets and banks will use biometrics in the future and the government would follow them. He said: "Today Californian supermarket shoppers are paying with a finger-scan at the checkout and Japanese cash machines are asking for a finger-scan rather than a PIN. The reason is simple: they are more secure against fraud and theft. "And with passports now requiring biometrics, a necessity people understand, 80 per cent of the adult population will have to register their biometrics to ensure our borders are secure and so they can travel freely across the world." But as part of his speech at the Royal United Services Institute yesterday, Brown cited inaccurate Home Office figures of �1.7bn as the cost of identity theft to the UK.
Yuma lawmaker victim of ID theft
State Sen. Amanda Aguirre, who has made identity theft prevention one of her legislative priorities, says she became a victim of the crime earlier this month when a credit card of hers was used fraudulently. "My immediate thought was this couldn't be happening," Aguirre said. "It's a reality check that anyone can be a victim of identity theft." Aguirre said she received a call earlier this month on her cell phone from her credit card company, which wanted to confirm whether she had bought some shoes. The following day, she got another call asking whether she had bought what appeared to be clothing. Both transactions, which were made online, were done using her credit number. In total, the purchases amounted to more than $3,000. The purchases were ordered from stores in North Carolina and California and supposed to be mailed to addresses in those states.
Bring Identifying Documents if Forced to Evacuate Due to Fire, Urges ...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire / -- The Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC) is urging Southern California residents forced by fire to evacuate their homes to bring along identifying documents, such as social security cards, birth certificates, and passports, if possible. "In a disaster, the first concern is personal safety, but if you have time to make an evacuation plan, protecting your important documents should be part of that plan," said Anne Wallace, executive director of ITAC. "It will be much easier to prove you are who you say you are in the event you need to open new financial accounts, apply for government benefits, or make insurance claims." Individuals who are forced to evacuate high-risk areas often leave behind critical documents used to establish identity, such as social security cards, birth certificates and passports.
Safe Communities by Design conference Nov. 28-30
After watching his best friend bleed to death in his arms, former California gang member Jeremy Estrada turned his life around. Now, in his third-year in medical school at Georgetown University, Estrada will share his compelling story during the Safe Communities by Design conference, sponsored by the N.C. Governor�s Crime Commission, Nov.28-30 at the Sea Trail Conference Center, Sunset Beach. Nearly 450 professionals and officials from the criminal justice community, juvenile and victims� services, the private sector, and federal, state and local agencies will attend the conference. Other speakers include first lady Mary Easley, Director Domingo Herriaz of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance and Texas Rep. Ted Poe, head of the Congressional Victim�s Caucus. The Governor�s Crime Commission�s three-day conference will host workshops on current trends, strategies, and effective practices concerning topics such as gangs, drugs, identity theft, elder crime, and campus and community security.
Use free reports to monitor, clean up your credit
CREDIT REPORTS show the good, the bad and the ugly in your financial life. They also provide the basis for calculating your credit score, which among other things is used to determine what interest rate you pay on a loan or whether you even get a loan in the first place. That's why it's so important for consumers to obtain a free credit report once a year from each of the country's three major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Passage of a federal law in 2003 made this possible. Going over your credit report helps you find out not only if there are mistakes that could lower your credit score, but also whether you are an identity-theft victim. Sandra Chapin, program director at the San Mateo-based Consumer Federation of California, ordered her credit reports a few weeks ago.
Privacy Advocates Pressure FTC to Create 'Do Not Track' List
Privacy groups are banding together to urge the Federal Trade Commission to install a "Do Not Track" list that would limit companies tracking users' online activities. The proposal is similar to the "Do Not Call" lists that limit telemarketers. Companies argue that behavioral targeting results in ads being shown to consumers that are more relevant to their interests and needs, but privacy advocates disagree. Leading entrepreneurs like Hugo Burge of hereorthere.com recognize that: "The right domain name is the difference between success and failure. On the Internet your domain name is your real estate." Thousands of business owners like Burge rely on BuyDomains.com to secure high-performance domains. .
Escaped convict found in Oregon after 12 years
SALEM, Ore. -- For more than a decade, Lyndal Dale Ritterbush led a comfortable life in Salem as a rental property manager. He'd done so, in part, by stealing the identity of his brother-in-law, police said. But that theft eventually caused his story to unravel. Now, he's due to be returned to Utah, where he escaped from prison in 1985 after his second sentence for sexually abusing children. Ritterbush was known in Salem as Robert "Bob" Collins Rhoden, according to a story published in the Salem Statesman Journal. The paper said it and the Salt Lake Tribune had shared information about Ritterbush's time in Oregon and his capture. The real Robert Rhoden and his wife live in Nebraska, said Sheriff Jeff Franklin of rural Clay County.
|
