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Identity Theft Labs

Identity Theft

Identity Theft News and Posts on Identity Theft Prevention

Chip Cards Not Safe From Fraud

Think that your chip is safer from unauthorized charges? Think again. For the past two weeks, three financial institutions have reported thousand of dollars of credit card fraud coming Brazil. The odd thing was that many of these charges came disguised as chip transactions. Read a full article about this story here:: ‘Replay’ Attacks Spoof Chip Card Charges
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Should You Take Stock in Your Brokerage Firm’s Identity Theft Policies?

In light of J.P. Morgan Chase’s recent security breach, many people wonder how protected their accounts truly are. Along with that, if there is a breach and your account has had unauthorized purchases, who is held liable?

The short answer is that most brokers such as Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard will recoup losses made from unauthorized transactions. However, there is a catch. The fine print would have to be that the account user has made all the necessary steps to protect the account in the first place.

This is yet another time where you should cover yourself. Make complicated passwords, don’t save them on your computer, and do not share your account information with anyone. Don’t give brokerages an out or else they’ll hold you liable for any breach your account may experience.

For a full article on this, read here:: How to Tell If Your Broker Protects You Against Identity Theft
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How a Binder Flaw Could Cripple Android’s Security

“Subverting this component allows an attack to see and control almost all important data being transferred within the system.” That quote was taken from Checkpoint researchers Nitay Artenstein and Idan Revivo in their presentation regarding the Android’s vulnerability in their OS’s inter-process communication tool known as Binder. Find out the weakness within Binder and what it means for your Android phone’s security here.

Put the Dog Down: The POODLE SSLv3 Vulnerability

Late last week, the news had broken that POODLE SSLv3 had been attacked and the system compromised. A vulnerability within POODLE SSLv3 allows attackers to decrypt encrypted website connections, allowing them access to online accounts, social networks, and email. Google, Firefox, and other browsers are currently disabling it until a solution is reached. For more information and a full report, please click here.