his former lawyer, Raphael Chiche, explained on French television in a documentary about FaĂŻd. âHe had to create his own methodology. What better way than movies to get inspired and learn the operational modes of criminality?â
The foresight with which FaĂŻd planned these robberies led his associates to give him a nicknameâDoc, after Doc McCoy, Steve McQueen’s character in 1972’s The Getaway, a bank robber on the run who, like FaĂŻd, has a preternatural ability to visualize how jobs will play out. McCoy also made a habit of carrying out âthoughtful hits,â FaĂŻd explains to me. âHe had to rob in a precise and neat way.â FaĂŻd likewise stresses the neatness of his own robberies. As he puts it, he executed his hits âas gentlemanly as possible.â He wants to be known as a master thief who took careful precautions to avoid acts of violence.
Gang members, sex and drug convicts, and more were accidentally released from California state prisons after computer software designed to reduce prison numbers encountered a glitch.
Around 450 dangerous inmates were let go unsupervised onto the streets of California, the state’s inspector general confirmed.
A glitch in software lead to prison officials accidentally releasing âhigh risk of violenceâ inmates from jails as opposed to low risk inmates set for release to elevate the crowded prison system.
In addition, over 1000 inmates deemed high risk for drug and property offenses were also mistakenly released.
The information comes after the US Supreme Court upheld a lower decision and ordered California to alleviate prison overcrowding by releasing prisoners or building more prisons. The decision gives State prison officials only two years to cut the 143,335 prisoner count by around 33,000 either by reductions, new programs outside of prisons or constructing new prisons within the state.
According to Renee Hansen, a spokesperson for the California inspector general, no attempts have been made to find or return the former inmates to prison or at least place them on supervised parole.
The computer error placed all of those who were released on ‘non-revocable parole’ which means they do not have to report to parole officers. It also means they are free to live their lives and can only be sent back to jail if they are caught committing a new crime.
The software was not designed to be discretionary based on the history of inmates and issues releases without consideration to their crimes or their risk of re-offending. It uses a database of arrests that does not correlate information regarding convictions and the facts surrounding a case.
Fraud-related losses rose 20 percent to $1.7 billion in the past year, Kroll study says
Incidence of theft of information and electronic data at global companies has overtaken physical theft for the first time, according to a study released yesterday.
According to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, the amount lost by businesses to fraud rose from $1.4 million to $1.7 million per $1 billion of sales in the past 12 months — an increase of more than 20 percent.
The findings are the result of a study commissioned by Kroll and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which surveyed more than 800 senior executives worldwide.
Identity theft that targets children is rising. Here are five steps to protect your family
By Alissa Figueroa
Identity theft has grown into a multibillion-dollar problem. And itâs not only adults who are targeted.
At least 7 percent of the reported cases of identity theft target children. The number could actually be much higher, since many families donât discover theft until a child applies for credit.
And the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better, the Associated Press reports, as identity thieves steal children’s dormant Social Security numbers and use them to create phony lines of credit and rack up debt, sometimes for years.
The scam, which has popped up only in the last year, is difficult to guard against, says Linda Foley, cofounder of the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), an organization that offers counseling and resources to identity theft victims. The ITRC has seen a notable jump in the number of children identity-theft cases in the last year, reaching about 9 percent of its caseload this month.
âThereâs no way to protect your child completely,â says Ms. Foley. Thatâs partly because these thieves are likely using sophisticated programs that mine for dormant numbers through school or doctorâs offices databases, which often require that childrenâs Social Security numbers be provided. And partly because tactics for selling the numbers are constantly evolving, making this kind of theft difficult to track.
Since credit issuers do not keep track of the age of Social Security number holders, they cannot alert families when a child’s number is being used. That’s something Foley’s organization has been trying to change since 2005, and a protection she considers vital for preventing child identity theft on a large scale.
There is some advice that parents can follow, though, to reduce the risk of identity theft:
1. Be cautious with your childâs Social Security number. Always ask why an organization needs the number and when possible, do not give it out. Be careful about which individuals, even friends and family, have access to your childâs number. Many identity thieves know their victims. Destroy extra documents that list your childâs number.
2. Talk to your kids about identity theft. Teach children not to divulge their personal information on the telephone and online.
3. Do not check your childâs credit report unless you have reason to believe thereâs a problem. A minor should not have a report unless someone has applied for credit using that childâs Social Security number. To order reports unnecessarily can establish a credit report, opening a door to thieves, according to the ITRC.
4. Watch for red flags. If you receive pre-approved credit card offers or calls from collection agencies, run a credit report on your child immediately to see if there has been fraud.
5. Contact an identity theft specialist if you suspect a problem. There are several resources for families concerned with issues of identity theft. Visit the ITRCâs website for facts and information, or call its hotline at (888) 400-5530. You can also find information on the Federal Trade Commissionâs identity-theft-prevention website.
The FBI warned consumers today about an ongoing threat involving pop-up security messages that appear while they are on the Internet. The messages may contain a virus that could harm your computer, cause costly repairs or, even worse, lead to identity theft. The messages contain scareware, fake or rogue anti-virus software that looks authentic.
The message may display what appears to be a real-time, anti-virus scan of your hard drive. The scareware will show a list of reputable software icons; however, you canât click a link to go to the real site to review or see recommendations. Cyber criminals use botnetsâcollections of compromised computersâto push the software, and advertisements on websites deliver it. This is known as malicious advertising or âmalvertising.â
Once the pop-up warning appears, it canât be easily closed by clicking the âcloseâ or âXâ buttons. If you click the pop-up to purchase the software, a form to collect payment information for the bogus product launches. In some instances, the scareware can install malicious code onto your computer, whether you click the warning or not. This is more likely to happen if your computer has an account that has rights to install software.
Downloading the software could result in viruses, malicious software called Trojans, and/or keyloggersâhardware that records passwords and sensitive dataâbeing installed on your computer. Malicious software can cause costly damages for individual users and financial institutions. The FBI estimates scareware has cost victims more than $150 million.
Cyber criminals use easy-to-remember names and associate them with known applications. Beware of pop-up warnings that are a variation of recognized security software. You should research the exact name of the software being offered. Take precautions to ensure operating systems are updated and security software is current. If you receive these anti-virus pop-ups, close the browser or shut down your computer system. You should run a full anti-virus scan whenever the computer is turned back on.
If you have experienced the anti-virus pop-ups or a similar scam, notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
Here we have another unnecessary credit card data breach in a small organization which resulted in a loss of customers data demonstrating poor baseline security of small organization in this case a restaurant. Small organizations are not ready for PCI Compliance. Checkout why PCI Compliance is essential and why small merchants have to comply. Review my threats page and evaluate your current business and system risks to make sure this does not happen to you. Contact DISC for any question
By Theodore Decker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Diners who frequent a popular Downtown restaurant should review their charge-card statements because hackers broke into its computer system to loot debit- and credit-card numbers, police said today.
Between 30 and 50 people have reported fraudulent charges on their accounts, and Columbus detectives said that anyone who used a charge card at Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails in July or August is at risk.
Detective Wyatt Wilson of the Columbus police fraud/forgery unit said police began linking reports of credit-card fraud in October. Cross-checking the victims’ accounts revealed Tip Top, which is on E. Gay Street, as a common denominator, he said.
The hackers have been traced to an overseas Internet address, and no Tip Top employees are involved, police said. Wilson said the business was as much a victim as its customers were.
The hackers found a weak point in the restaurant’s computer defenses, wormed their way in, and installed “malware” that stripped the numbers, he said.
The restaurant has fixed the problem, but customers who charged anything there in July or August should contact their credit-card companies or banks, cancel their cards and get new ones, even if they haven’t been victimized yet, police said.
New fraud reports have rolled in periodically until a few days ago, Wilson said, indicating that the card numbers are still in criminal circulation.
Elizabeth Lessner, the restaurant’s owner, said she has been told by investigators that the breach might have been the work of high-level hackers in Russia, and she wondered whether it was connected to a global case that surfaced this year.
Most of the small companies have trouble justifying their investments when it comes to security. At the same time PCI DSS for the âbrick & mortarâ merchants have been a blessing for security firms who sell hardware solutions to small merchants. The problem is these hardware point solution does not address the business issues of a small merchant on daily basis.
This is why small merchants need to build a security program and the in-house expertise with training and help of outside consultant to understand business issues related to information security clearly. You mature this process over time with an ongoing effort and full management support.
Do you think itâs time for small merchants to take information security seriously as a business limiting risk?
Another stolen laptop puts thousands of people’s personal data at risk but this time it’s the caregivers — not the patients — who are at risk.
November 6, 2009
By Larry Barrett:
More than 10,000 physicians’ and dentists’ personal data was exposed last week in New Hampshire after an employee at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield transferred the health care providers’ Social Security numbers and other data to a personal laptop that was later stolen.
Anthem spokesman Christopher Dugan said the security breach took place at the national level and the files did not include any patients’ personal data.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said the employees’ ill-fated decision to transfer the sensitive information to a personal laptop violated the insurer’s security policies.
Just last week, more than 33,000 patients receiving care from a Daytona Beach, Fla. medical center were notified that their data may have been compromised when a laptop was stolen from an employee’s car.
New Hampshire is one of 43 states that require companies and organizations to notify people when their personal or financial information is accidentally or deliberately compromised.
Anthem officials said it will provide free credit-monitoring services to all the affected physicians and dentists for a year.
It’s not been the best of months for the insurer.
On Oct. 5, Blue Cross warned another 39,000 doctors that a yet another laptop stolen from the company’s Chicago headquarters could have potentially exposed an assortment of personal information including Social Security numbers and tax identification numbers.
A Ponemon Institute by Traverse City, Mich.-based data security researcher Ponemon Institute estimates that more than 12,000 laptops are stolen or lost at airports alone each week.
It also found that the average large company has 640 laptops, 1,985 USB memory sticks, 1,075 smart phones and 1,324 other various data devices stolen or lost each year — ;a total of 800,000 data-sensitive memory devices a year.
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