July 5, 2014 … Russian hackers stole 1.2 billion usernames and passwords.
What if one or more of your login credentials were part of that 1.2 billion?
What if your login usernames and passwords are part of the next theft?
Some of the press coverage said that the theft doesn't matter but that is quite wrong. This kind of identity theft could hurt you a lot if you use the same username and password for multiple accounts like Amazon, online banking, PayPal, etc. Not only can your identity be stolen … The financial devastation you suffer could be HUGE!
October 2014 … Bank Of America issued NEW Photo ID Debit Cards to clients: I only know about this security breach because I was issued a new debit card because of an undisclosed Security Breach. I’m one of the people whose identity and personal account was breached. My old debit card was automatically disabled and Bank of America sent me a new one in the mail with a new 16-digit number and security code. This was done without advance notice or warning! One day the new debit card showed up and I was advised to destroy the old one. Bank of America refused to disclose any details about the Security Breach when I spoke to a branch manager and made a phone call to inquire. I was informed that it was just a precautionary measure. Neither would B of A officials disclose how widespread the breach was!
These are just two recent examples of the ever-increasing Security Breaches that are happening globally.
SKIMMING: Skimming involves the capture and recording of card magnetic stripe data using an external device, which is sometimes installed on a merchant,’s Point of Sale System (POS). Skimming can also involve a dishonest employee utilizing an external device to collect the card magnetic stripe data. The data is then used to create counterfeit credit and debit cards.
How is Scimming done?
Restaurants and bars are common scenes for skimming because the perpetrator has physical possession of the victim’s credit card. In this situation, the perpetrator often uses a device so small it can fit in the palm of your hand to read and store data encoded in the magnetic stripe on the back of the victim’s credit card. The perpetrator may also use a small keypad device to record the three or four-digit security code printed in the signature box.
Skimming can also involve PIN-debit transactions. In some cases, the perpetrator places a device over the card slot on an ATM to read the magnetic stripe as cardholders pass their cards through it. These devices are often used in conjunction with pinhole cameras to record the cardholder’s unique personal identification number (PIN).
Skimming may involve tampering with vulnerable Point-of-Sale terminals and PIN-pad equipment. Typically, a perpetrator inserts a device into the terminal or PIN-pad at the merchant location, then uses it to collect credit card and PIN data.
The petroleum industry experiences a high instance of skimming. Perpetrators take advantage of widespread pay-at-the-pump devices, often targeting high-volume locations to access the pump’s card reader technology without detection. In a matter of minutes, a skimmer attaches a device that records data encoded on the card’s magnetic stripe. Pinhole cameras are sometimes used to record the cardholder’s PIN while the device is capturing card data.
PHYSICAL BREACH: A physical breach
involves the physical theft of documents or equipment containing cardholder
account data such as cardholder receipts, files, PCs, Point-of-Sale
terminals.
Follow these steps to help protect your business from a physical breach:
Track technology inventory
ELECTRONIC BREACH: An electronic breach is the un-authorized access or deliberate attack on a system or network environment (at a business or its third party processor) where cardholder data is processed, stored, or transmitted. This can be the result of acquiring access, via Web servers or Web sites, to a system’s vulnerabilities through application-level attacks.
Here’s some help to protect your important usernames and passwords:
First and foremost, never allow your plastic to leave your sight … For this reason alone, I always pay restaurants by cash.
RoboForm: An encrypted password reminder and form filler and is a plugin for most major browsers. It is also an app for most smartphones. RoboForm allows you to have 300+ DIFFERENT username and password combinations to all the different sites for which you have logins. If any are hacked, the hackers only get access to that one site … NOT the rest of your sites.
You can set it up so that it synchronizes between your computer, your spouse’s computer, and both of your smartphones. If a truck runs you down, your spouse can still get access to everything.
To learn more, and for a free trial:
LOK-IT Secure Flash Drive: This is straight out of a Mission Impossible mission. LOK-IT is a USB flash drive that has built in military level encryption, a digital keypad, and a self-destruct feature if the wrong password is entered too many times. Just plug it in, enter your pin number, LOK-IT unlocks and activates a green LED to show it is ready to go, and insert it into any USB port on any device. Devices could be a computer, laptop, tablet, SuperPhone, Smart TV, etc. With no software, LOK-IT is immune to keyboard loggers and eliminates a path that malware could use to infect your computer.
I have a LOK-IT with me most of the time that has important documents on it that I might need in a hurry from a location that is not home and I don’t have my laptop with me.
As an Author, my manuscripts, book covers, and research are quite important to me. I keep a secure backup handy on an LOK-IT. My ultimate backup is also a LOK-IT, locked away in safe deposit box, along with my last will and testament.
They are not as cheap as a regular flash drive, but they are quite useful.
You can find a LOK-IT Here:
StrongVPN: A virtual private network that allows you to do secure browsing in non-secure locations like coffee shops and free Wi-Fi hotspots.