IdentityStuff: February 2009

Facebook or Facebalk?

I have not had the time to comment on the absurdity of the Facebook 'We own your ass even if it's not yours and will do what we want with it when we see fit' privacy policy. I was also a bit disappointed that by the time I was able to comment the overwhelming voice of the users won out and relieved Facebook came to their senses.

Having been a member of the IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) and seeing the balancing act that companies go through to write a solid one, I can't help but wonder if Facebook will get a free membership out of this so that they can figure it out.

It was also interesting that no one freaked out when AOL and Yahoo changed their privacy policies - although their changes had a lot less potential harm embedded - and I have to wonder why Facebook and not AOL or Yahoo?

Better designed offering?
More Users?
Different demographics?
The ability to instantly share your views with friends of friend's friends
The absurdity of it?

I hope my old friends at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School keep on teaching law students about this kind of stuff so that students of theirs never write drivel like that policy again.

Well Coordinated ATM hack nets $9M

My Source

Hackers orchestrated a highly coordinated, global attack on ATM cards involving the theft of a staggering $9 million from bank customers — and they could strike again, according to an investigation by FOX 5 TV in New York.

Customers' personal information might also have been compromised in what federal agents are calling one of the most well-coordinated such schemes they've seen, MyFOXNY.com reported.

The FBI uncovered the plot and is investigating. The hackers are still at large and could orchestrate another attack.

In a matter of hours, thieves struck ATMs from 49 different cities — including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Moscow and Montreal — just after 8 p.m. EST on Nov. 8.

Part of the heist was caught on security camera images obtained by the TV station. The photos show people known as "cashers" — low-level participants in the plot who used bogus ATM cards with stolen information — at the machines.

The scheme works as follows: Plotters hacked into a computer system for a company called RBS WorldPay, which allows employers to transfer workers' pay directly to a payroll card. The scam artists were then able to infiltrate the system and steal personal data needed to make duplicate ATM cards.

"We've seen similar attempts to defraud a bank through ATM machines but not, not anywhere near the scale we have here," FBI Agent Ross Rice told FOX 5. "We've never seen one this well coordinated."

The FBI has no suspects and has made no arrests thus far.