Debit card fraud outbreak raises questions about data breach

Computer World ^ | March 9, 2006 | Jaikumar Vijayan

[Petronski]

The geeky spyware toolkit:

Firefox web browser

Ad-Aware

Spybot Search and Destroy

Microsoft Defender

Get them all. Use them (it's all free). Only use MS Internet Explorer when absolutely unavoidable.

[free_at_jsl.com]

Debt transactions have no benefit to consumers. I prefer credit transactions for these reasons:
1) You don't need a PIN so it goes faster.
2) The cost of the transaction (to the consumer) is unchanged.
3) The credit card company floats the funds so you pay later rather than sooner.
4) If fraud occurs, the credit card company loses money vs. money being withdrawn from your account (and requiring you to correct the problem)

[APRPEH]

i agree. and the fraud process timetable is in your favor along with the VISA and Mastercard liability programs in which the possible $50 liability for the consumer is declined.

[whadido]

Thank you for your help.

Would any of these help REMOVE any malicious software that might have already been added to my computer, or am I being a little too paranoid?

[Petronski]

Firefox is a browser. You should be using it instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer.


The other three will search for and identify spyware, and give you the opportunity to remove it.

[ex-Texan]

Sound like you are worried about Key Loggers. There is very good spyware removal software out there to purchase. I am running SpySubtract, and Spybot Search and Destroy. You can look up the names of spyware protection software and read reviews about perfomance. The programs I am running found and eliminated key logger programs on one of my computers. Do a Google on 'key stoke logging' or 'key loggers' and add the term 'spy ware.' Try This Link First Good luck to you.

[ex-Texan]

It is real. The banks do not want to talk about it. If they openly discussed what is really going on in today's scary world, customers would cancel their credit cards by the hundreds of thousands.

[MadelineZapeezda]

My bank just called 2 weeks ago to tell mes that my business credit card security was breached. I had just used it 2 days prior at WalMart. I hadn't used it as a debit, or credit card for 3 months prior. I told the bank where I used it and she said they can't report/or deny that it was an inside WalMart job.

[Centurion2000]

In a brief statement, Citibank said that the fraud was the result of a “third-party business information breach” that took place last year. To protect its customers, the company said it “blocked PIN-based transactions in those locations for the customers affected by the breach." A spokesman for the company, however, refused to name the third-party retailer involved in the breach.

Something's not right here considering that the retailer MUST disclose things like this under PCI and VISA-CISP regulations.

[Centurion2000]

I'm interested in purchasing products through online places such as Amazon.com, but I'm worried that hackers will steal my personal info either through my computer or the bank account itself. The lady I talked to @ the bank told me that their end is VERY safe & secure, so if I ever have any prob's it must be coming from my end.

I heard that people can get my personal info by putting software into my computer that is able to read everything that I type...therefore, when I try to purchase anything online, they are able to get my credit card # & password information this way....so I'm scared to make any online purchases, check my bank account online, or use online bill pay because of this. Is there anything else I can do or are there other kinds of software protection out there I should get?

One, don't use Internet Explorer. Two, this program seems to be awesome at pulling out spyware/malware. www.webroot.com : Spysweeper. I recommend this one to all my friends for home computers. Finally, get a network firewall device for your home PC. Linksys router/firewall is perfect for a home network.

[AK2KX]

This may seem a little tinfoilish....

The powers that be permit and facilitate the new frenzied crime of identity theft, which will continue to grow at a terrifying pace...

Then calls will increase to eliminate checks and card-based transactions. Cash will be ostracized as the choice of drug dealers and terrorists...

Biometrics will be found unreliable...

RFID implants will be the touted as the "best way to solve the problem".

[Mind-numbed Robot]

BIO-METRICS ARE COMING

You know what that means, don't you? If that is adopted nationwide there will be a lot of people losing their thumbs. Muggers will no longer demand a wallet but instead will say put out your hands. I will be gruesome.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

It turned out that the woman was a former prostitute working at the bank under a false name. ..... Also found in her possession at the time was confidential data on thousands of wealthy bank customers.

Probably planned to moonlight in her old profession.

[Unmarked Package]

The anti-spyware, anti-virus, and web browser software tools that others are suggesting are excellent.

Another aspect of online security is to assess how vulnerable your PC is on the Internet. A free, online audit tool that I found most revealing is available from Gibson Research Corp. at ShieldsUP! This will give you a good snapshot of how well your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is currently masking your PC on the Internet and how vulnerable it is to malicious attacks.

[torquinus]

To Visa/MasterCard: Maybe it's time to implement EMV in the US? Card Authentication (DDA plese) by chip and Cardholder Verification Methods (CVM=offline PIN), where have I heard those....that would eliminate lost/duplicate/stolen to 0. been done already...

[APRPEH]

i would add that ZoneAlarm is a free firewall which works well and WinPatrol is a free program that tells you what is operating in your system and will alert you when an application tries to install.

an important note about keyloggers. many of these programs are advertising that they can be sent to a computer over email without the recipient knowing the application is there. while an attachment is involved, the installation is hidden.

[ex-Texan]

Er, uh, er, perhaps your first mistake was shopping at Wal-Mart. That outfit hires elderly people trying to make ends meet, felons on parole and others who are on the 'fringe.' WM has been criticized for hiring part-time people without medical benefits, and then asking their employees to sign up for Medicare. When you went into the store your were asking to become a victim. WM is a poor place to shop and to work for today. Sad, but true.