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A song created as a tribute to Steve Jobs, the creator of which claims to have only used sounds from Apple products and Steve’s voice:

More Steve Jobs tribute in the form of post-its:

This guy demos some various Siri tricks:

Two Siris confuse each other:

iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II drop test:

Matt Cutts talks about Google’s approach to customer service:

Security firm Sophos looks at “how to steal an identity”:

Google Wallet in action:

Online conversations about identity theft indicate that 83 percent of the Baby Boomer generation (those between the ages of 45 and 63) say they have a high level of concern about identity theft, compared to 79 percent of those in Generation X (ages 31 to 44) and only 47 percent of those in generation Y (ages 19 to 30).

Concerned posters who take steps to protect their identity make up 72 percent of those discussing identity theft, while 24 percent say they are moderately concerned and 4 percent have low levels of concern.

"The differences in levels of concern regarding identity theft among the different generations can be partially attributed to their differing levels of technological awareness," said Carter Truong, senior manager in the J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division.

Carter Truong

"Younger consumers tend to be more tech-savvy than older consumers, which gives them several benefits in protecting against identity theft. For example, their personal computers tend to be better protected and they’re more likely to recognize-and avoid-phishing scams than are older generations. However, younger people also tend to have more of a presence online, leaving them open to more chances for identity theft."

The report found that women were more concerned about identity theft than men. Seventy-eight percent of women are highly concerned about identity theft, and 6 percent say they have low levels of concern, compared with 67 percent of men with high levels of concern and 3 percent with low levels of concern.

"Women tend to discuss identity theft in a more reactive state, meaning that many online conversations were triggered by having already fallen victim," said Truong. "However, more men than women fall into the moderately concerned category and discuss identity theft in their Web postings on a more proactive level.

"Men seem to be more aware of how to prevent identity theft, but this awareness often gives them a false sense of security. They know the risks of identity theft but don’t show much sign of changing their behaviors to prevent it."

The report also found people say they are aware of identity theft issues on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, a majority do not take security into consideration when creating their profiles.

"While social networking sites can be a hot spot for identity theft, people see these sites as a way to express themselves, and limiting or changing their profiles makes them feel like they’re censoring their identity," said Truong.
 

"While communicating online, people are unwilling to sacrifice this self-expression as a way to prevent identity theft."
 

Now it seems that the “power players” of Twitter are being targeted—yet it’s not directly at them. Rather, it’s using them instead.

This latest trick sees users that have a certain authority on Twitter—i.e., thousands of followers—be the lucky target of a fake account with their details. Their image and name is used to trick unsuspecting users into thinking it’s the real person. Normally it’s a play on the person’s name—underscores, dashes, numbers, etc.

While these fakes are easy to spot if you know of the person in question, it’s a different matter if you’re either a new Twitter user or someone who doesn’t know Lee Odden, Chris Brogan or Andy Beal. These are the types of users that the scammers are targeting.

It’s also a major pain for the user whose name is used in this way—their reputation can be tarnished, for one thing. So what’s the answer?

• As a Twitter user, it may be an idea to mention in your profile that this is your only Twitter account—all others are fake.
• As soon as you see a spam or obviously fake account, report it to Twitter by sending a message to their spam team.
• Block the fake account—don’t let their numbers grow any further.

While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, downright identity theft is illegal. You can report suspected spammers to Twitter, but perhaps Twitter should start identifying these fake accounts to the targeted people and bring charges against them? It wouldn’t hurt their own reputation…

Comments

An indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Boston accused Gonzalez and his co-defendants of obtaining credit and debit card numbers by “wardriving” and hacking into the wireless computer networks of major retailers, the Justice Department said in a statement.

DOJ named TJX, BJ

A failing company also failed to adequately keep its assets protected from theft. Colt Express Outsourcing Services lost some data to a Memorial Day burglary, and it’s now come to light that the dominant search engine formerly used that company’s services.

Unfortunately for Google, and for CNET employees also affected by the theft, a report at CNET noted employees from both firms were in the same boat. “No credit card numbers were in the stolen data; just names, addresses, SSNs–all the information needed for a thief to open a credit card account under another’s name,” the report said.

An ex-Google staffer, Danny Thorpe, blew the whistle on the Google data loss. Employees hired before the end of December 2005 at Google may now have their personally identifiable information skating around places like the forums favored by identity thieves and traders.

Colt doesn’t appear to be the best managed firm in the world, either. CNET said the company is in financial trouble, with the company’s founder washing his hands of any potential assistance Colt might give affected individuals.

We’re betting Colt will be on the receiving end of more attention from Google, specifically the legal department. “We take the security of our employees very seriously and require outside vendors to meet appropriate security standards,” a Google rep told CNET.

Twenty-five percent of all people using social networks in the UK have posted confidential or personal information such as their phone number, address or email, on their online profile making them susceptible to identity fraud. This includes 34 percent of 18-24 year olds and 30 percent of 25-34 year olds.

Twenty-seven percent of 18-24 year olds have posted information or photos of other people without their permission online. Seven percent have shared contact details from someone’s online profile with another person without their consent, this is 14 percent more likely to occur among 18-25 year olds.

The research found that 15 percent do not use any privacy settings on social networking sites and that 18-25 year olds are the most security conscious, with 89 percent using some type of privacy setting. Fifty-one percent of those over 65 do not use a privacy setting.

Tony Neate, managing director of GetSafeOnline.org, said, "The popularity of social networking and other sites means that we are much more open about ourselves and our lives online. Although some of these details may seem harmless, they actually provide rich pickings for criminals."

"Your date of birth and where you live is enough for someone to set up a credit card in your name. So whilst most people wouldn’t give this information to a stranger in real life, they will happily post it online where people they don’t know can see it."

Organized group activity took place in 42 percent of the cases, involving 2-45 offenders. In about half of those cases the Internet was used to commit the crime.  Just 20 percent of the cases involved non-technological methods for identity theft such as dumpster diving or change of address.

More than a third of the victims were financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and credit card companies. Individuals were victims 34 percent of the time and 59 percent of the victims did not know the offenders.  Only 5 percent of the victims were related to the offender.

Of the offenders 42 percent were between the ages of 25-34 and 18 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24. Just 6 percent were over the age of 50. Out of 933 identity thieves 53 percent were black. White offenders were the next largest group at 38 percent followed by Hispanics at 4 percent and Asians at 3 percent.

"Having access to these closed files for purposes of studying identity theft should prove invaluable to law enforcement officials and policy makers," said Gary Gordon, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection, as well as the Economic Crime Institute (ECI) at Utica College.

"These findings shed new light on how identity theft related crimes take place, what motivates the perpetrators, and who is being victimized, and dispels some common myths about identity theft.

The company revealed they “discovered and eliminated unauthorized code from its systems that allowed access to an internal database. The discovery was made as the result of an internal investigation of stock-related SPAM.”

They also said email addresses, names, addresses and phone numbers were retrieved from a compromised database. That database also had account numbers, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers stored in it.

Those pieces of information would be pure gold to thieves. TD Ameritrade said it has no evidence the more sensitive data had been stolen.

“TD Ameritrade was obviously targeted by cybercriminals, following the old adage: Why rob a bank, because that’s where the money is,” said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee Avert Labs.

“Based on TD Ameritrade’s statements the attackers most likely used old fashioned hacking, social engineering and a cocktail of malicious software including password stealing trojans and bots to pilfer the customer data.”

A recent General Accounting Office report estimates that as many as 750,000 Americans are victims of identity theft every year. So, what can you do to protect your employees? Here are some ideas.

Employee files

HR (Human Resources) professionals will generally have a set of standard operating procedures when dealing with employee information. Make sure employee files, both active and terminated, are under lock and key. More importantly, make sure that only the Human Resources office has access to this key. In normal cases, the Human Resources office will be the only department who has any reason to access the employee files.

Information Release

Unless an officer of the court provides you with a subpoena, your company should have a strict policy not to ever release employee information to any individual e
xcept the employee him/herself.

Clean Desk Rule

Does your company have a clean desk rule? If not, you’d better make sure one is instituted. This rule ensures that any employee who deals with any type of sensitive employee data clears their desk and files and that this information is under lock and key whenever they leave their workstation. Many financial and housing institutions already practice this rule.

Social Security Masking

In the past, entire social security numbers were used to identify an employee. With the increase in identity theft, (and the methods by which thieves acquire this information), employers are now using number masks. In other words, instead of identifying John Doe as 123-00-4567, he is now identified as Doe XXX-XX-4567. This is what is used when sending information via mail or email and has dramatically helped employers reduce identity theft.

Use It Then Lose It

After an employee processes data containing sensitive information, and if it is not required to be refilled, information should be destroyed. A common paper shredder can be purchased for about $50.00 at any office supply store and can be another weapon in your arsenal to protect your employees. Documents should be shredded either immediately after use or at the very least, the same day before the end of the work day. This avoids storing hundreds of documents that can cause your employees’ information to be stolen.

Identity theft causes months of grief and potentially thousands of dollars to fix. It’s up to employers to do their part in protecting them at the workplace. For more information, contact your Human Resources office or visit the social security administrations website at http://www.ssa.gov/

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By John Rico, Director of HR http://www.nationalpeo.com/ . National PEO is a Tucson HR consulting firm providing PEO services to hundreds of AZ companies. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.nationalpeo.com/ .