Damn it! I’ve been preaching this for years but I don’t think many people are listening. Security practices in the Internet era have to change! We are way, way behind the technology available and it’s costing far more not to do anything about it than to fix the problems.

For example, the UK government estimates that ID theft costs the nation £1.7bn every year. Let’s see, that’s 1.7 billion divided by 60 million people or £28 per year, for every man, woman, child, infant, invalid and 90 year old in a nursing home. You could equip every person in the country with a fingerprint reader or secure ID token for a fraction of that cost and practically eliminate this huge - and growing - threat.
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Ok. This just pisses me off. Can someone explain to me why Citibank is going to spend the money to develop and implement fingerprint reading ATMs for the poorest people in India, but not for the richest people in the US?

I mean, I wouldn’t have to lug along another ATM card if they’d just put a fingerprint scanner on their ATMs. Instead I could just swipe a finger, enter my PIN and be gone. Just think - if someone stole my wallet I wouldn’t have to worry about not having any cash as long as I could get to an ATM.
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I hate to be the one to continually complain about security, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep doing it. I would estimate that 95% of people are FAR too lax when it comes to security measures, and that another 4% are just plain old lax.

This latest story focuses on a concept called social engineering as a weak link in the chain (among other issues). Social engineering is the process of causing a security breach through submersive human interaction - in this case fooling bank personnel into believing you are someone you are not.
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Did you know that even if you’re an 80 year old god-fearing woman, if the police kick your door in at 2am and kill you, you have no recourse so long as some criminal drug using informant previously swore that there were drugs in your home?

And that’s not just a hypothetical situation. It actually happened. And so did a whole bunch of other shocking examples just like it.
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I guess you have to be pretty dumb to break into any store just to steal some smokes and beer, but this guy is on a whole other level of stupidity. Seriously, he must have been drunk or high or something. No one can be this big of a moron!
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If there weren’t enough things to be paranoid about already, manufacturers continue to release more and more “ethically challenged” pieces of surveillance equipment.

The latest is a Shower Mirror Radio wireless camera. It uses a two-way mirror and broadcasts wirelessly in full color to the pervert next door.
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A company called Aqua Sciences was recently put on the Time Best Inventions list for it’s portable water extraction systems. These systems can be deployed to areas affected by disaster to ensure adequate clean water supplies.

The 20-foot machine can churn out 600 gallons of water a day without using or producing toxic materials and byproducts. They also have larger units that can pump out 1200 gallons a day.
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The Internet is not a safe place. I’m not talking about your kids, I’m talking about YOU!

Recently my financial institutions have begun implementing “security enhancements” in order to fain compliance with guidelines set by the FFIEC. In a nutshell, the recommendation is as follows:

Using nothing more than a login ID and password to access banking and financial transaction services via the Web is insecure. Instead, financial institutions should turn to multi-factor authentication schemes to ensure client safety.

In order to understand what this means, here is a quick security lesson.
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The latest in home and office security protection is one of the most unique and effective methods I’ve seen yet.

Instead of setting off an alarm which people seem to just ignore, the idea is to completely blanket the protected area in a thick cloud of smoke!
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I’ve been married all of my adult life, and boy am I glad. Being a nice guy, hopefully I’d never have the misfortune to show up on Don’t Date Him Girl, but I kinda feel a little pity for guys that do.

This site is basically designed for women to let other women know who to look out for. From one standpoint it’s a really great concept because if someone is really bad (like this guy seems to be) the site provides a place to warn others.
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A site called Zabasearch.com has stirred up a controversy by offering for free what you used to have to pay for.

Using their site, you can search for a person’s name, address, date of birth and known addresses - and currently it’s all free. You can also pay for a full background check on your subject, including 20-year address histories, bankruptcy and lien judgments, and family addresses.
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Ever wished you could get something off your computer while you were out of the office or away from home? Well stop dreaming because here are four free ways to make it happen!
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