Hackers Take $1 Billion a Year from Company Accounts ... Banks Won’t Indemnify

[MadMarketScientist 11]

Here are some terrifying stories of small-business bank accounts being hacked for millions. The public just can't seem to get a grasp on the severity of cybercrime. Essentially, consumers are helpless. The government is doing nothing to protect its citizens. Furthermore, they're likely endangering us even more with antiquated identification systems such as the Social Security number.

 

MMS

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/hackers-take-1-billion-a-year-from-company-accounts-banks-won-t-indemnify.html

[Tradewinds 12]

I have a separate email address for all my financial accounts. And I only use that email address for financial accounts. Use the longest password you can for every login.

 

Just today I saw an interview on PBS news about people in China hacking accounts. The attacks went unnoticed for I don't know how long. And regular security software did not do anything at all to detect or stop the attacks. It wasn't detected until someone noticed unusual activity, and McAffee started looking into the issue.

 

It was a PBS interview with some guy from Vanity Fair.

 

Enter the Cyber-dragon | Culture | Vanity Fair

[MadMarketScientist 11]

  Tradewinds said:

I have a separate email address for all my financial accounts. And I only use that email address for financial accounts.

 

That is a great idea - thanks! And this stuff happens, my hotmail account was hacked once after I signed up at alibaba.com!

 

MMS

[SIUYA 11]

good advice tradewinds.

I too have a seperate set of emails for various things.

one I have for short term likely to be junk sites,

one only for financials,

one for friends, business and other normal day to day stuff.

Guess which gets the most junk

 

Plus one other thing I do on a regular basis is print out and store separately my bank statements.....you never know....and how else would you prove to your bank you actually had money in it if you only rely on there accounts as a record....so much for the paperless office.

Edited August 5, 2011 by SIUYA

[Tradewinds 12]

  MadMarketScientist said:

my hotmail account was hacked once after I signed up at alibaba.com!

MMS

 

I have one email address that nobody knows about. I don't share it with anyone. All my other email addresses get forwarded to that email address. The email addresses that I use, have no information in them, no contacts, no notes, no sent emails, no received emails. If somehow, one of those email addresses was hacked into, there is nothing there. If someone hacks into your email address with all your contact info, sent and received emails, that is a LOT of information, critical information.

 

The email address that no one knows about sends out emails under one of the other email addresses. You have to be careful with this, and not unintentionally use that secret email address as the sending email address. It takes some setting up, but it can be done.

[michaelK 10]

heheheheh hacker OMG they can do any thing.NO one can stop them really.

but cant we make any protocols to stop them

[Tradewinds 12]

Another thing I've started doing is giving nonsensical answers to "Security Questions".

 

What is your mothers Maiden Name?

 

Answer: GreenRoad12 (Not the real answer. Just an example.)

 

People could find out my mother's Maiden Name, probably fairly easily. Then all they'd need to do is call the business, tell them they forgot their password, and give them the security answers. Your password sometimes get reset to something like the last 4 of your SSN number, which is also fairly easy to get.

[MidKnight 12]

Simple solution really....don't give banks information other than a physical address and your phone number. Do all banking face to face as it should be. The more we try to use technology, the more holes will exist. Technology will always have holes and ways through it.

 

All my best,

MK