Sunday, March 19, 2006

Visa warns software may store customer data | Tech News on ZDNet A popular software that retailers use to control debit-card transactions may inadvertently store sensitive customer information, including PIN codes, says Visa. Two versions of cash-register software made by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions are under scrutiny, according to a warning Visa issued to the companies that process card transactions for some of the nation's largest retailers. A Visa representative confirmed that the warning was sent. Some of Fujitsu's retail customers include Best Buy, Staples and OfficeMax, but it is not known which companies use the software Visa claims is flawed. Visa's warning, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, has raised eyebrows in the financial and retail sectors. The software was flagged at a time when thousands of debit-card holders across the country have reported unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. Bank of America, Washington Mutual and Citibank are among the financial institutions that have replaced more than 200,000 debit cards in the past two months and have told customers that thieves obtained vital debit-card information as a result of a security breach at a large merchant. One commonality among the fraud victims, according to law enforcement and banking officials, is that most had shopped at one of Fujitsu's clients: OfficeMax. The office-supply retailer has said that it has found no indication that it suffered an illegal intrusion. Fujitsu, which did not return repeated phone calls from CNET News.com on Friday, denied that its software has had anything to do with any alleged security breach. A representative for the company told the Journal that customer data, such as PIN codes, could not be stored using just its software. Other software tools would have to be added. Major credit-card companies have banned the storing of customer data and can fine merchants who do store such data. The fear is that customer information may be a sitting duck for hackers should it be left in a company's computer system. What may be more worrisome for consumers is that it's not uncommon for merchants to accidentally stockpile their customers' data, says Branden Williams, a principal consultant at computer-infrastructure firm VeriSign. 2:53:12 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Card Processing Software May Store CC Info. Card Processing Software May Store CC Info. An anonymous reader writes "Visa has sent out a warning to customers stating that some card processing software software may keep customer data even after a transaction is complete. The setup, two versions of a software made by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions, is used by such companies as Best Buy, OfficeMax, and Staples. It's unknown if any of these large retailers use the poorly-made versions of the software." From the article: "Visa's warning, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, has raised eyebrows in the financial and retail sectors. The software was flagged at a time when thousands of debit-card holders across the country have reported unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. Bank of America, Washington Mutual and Citibank are among the financial institutions that have replaced more than 200,000 debit cards in the past two months ..." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 2:49:42 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

The Theater of the Street, the Subject of the Photograph - New York Times The practice of street photography has a long tradition in the United States, with documentary and artistic strains, in big cities and small towns. Photographers usually must obtain permission to photograph on private property -- including restaurants and hotel lobbies -- but the freedom to photograph in public has long been taken for granted. And it has had a profound impact on the history of the medium. Without it, Lee Friedlander would not have roamed the streets of New York photographing strangers, and Walker Evans would never have produced his series of subway portraits in the 1940's. Remarkably, this was the first case to directly challenge that right. Had it succeeded, "Subway Passenger, New York City," 1941, along with a vast number of other famous images taken on the sly, might no longer be able to be published or sold. In his lawsuit, Mr. Nussenzweig argued that use of the photograph interfered with his constitutional right to practice his religion, which prohibits the use of graven images. 2:45:38 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Europeans tougher on identity protection than U.S. LONDON -- To Europe, America looks a lot like one big Wild West still in need of some taming, at least when it comes to privacy laws. Privacy experts say that stricter controls on personal data and credit cards make it much harder for criminals in Europe to steal someone's identity or to use someone else's accounts to make financial transactions. "The United States today experiences much higher levels of identity theft, spam and government profiling than Europe because we have failed to establish necessary legal safeguards," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. "Simply stated, Europe has done a better job safeguarding privacy, while the failure of the United States to adopt comparable protections has imposed real economic costs for consumers and businesses," he said. 2:41:47 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Trusted Computing Misconceptions. Trusted Computing Misconceptions. Trusted computing: "Trusted computing is a family of open specifications whose stated goal is to make personal computers more secure through the use of dedicated hardware. Critics, including academics, security experts, and users of free and open source software, contend, however, that the overall effect (and perhaps intent) of trusted computing is to impose unreasonable restrictions on how people can use their computers." If you have not yet explored the issues connected to the coming of Trusted Computing it is time you spend a few minutes watching this introductory animated short. Intended for non-technical individuals this animated mini-documentary explains what trusted computing is and what problems it intends to solve.  [Privacy and Security :: Robin Good's Latest News] 2:12:13 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []