security

by

WinPatrol Changing of the guard

WinPatrol – Scotty

WinPatrol has been very important over the years. I have several (six I think at least) lifetime memberships of WinPatrol software and I install it on all my Windows installs personally and for my friends, family and clients. It has been a staple in my security arsenal for many years now, and BillP has been a great friend to all of us.

BillP, thank you so much for continuing to look for someone who would fit the bill, as it were, and you certainly found a great choice!

I am very excited about the promise that Bret Lowry made to WinPatrol customers:

My commitment to WinPatrol customers is as follows:

One, your lifetime PLUS licenses are just that, lifetime licenses. That was the easiest topic in our negotiation and is written into the contract.

Two, WinPatrol will not have toolbars or other “add-ins” added to it or its installer. Installers that do that drive me crazy because I’m the guy people call to “fix” their computer after the installer completes its hijacking. I am not going to do that to my customers.

Three, I will be responsible for answering support questions, even more incentive to play nicely and stand-by item two above. And

Four, I use WinPatrol myself and therefore am committed to the continued improvement of WinPatrol. I am honored to have earned Bill’s trust and confidence in his allowing me to purchase WinPatrol. Bill has run WinPatrol with integrity since its inception, as a founder of Ruiware (along with my wife), I promise we will carry on that tradition.”

BillP, after reading your blog posting and Corrine’s Security Garden posting, I was totally thrilled to read about Bret Lowry, Ruiware, LLC being your choice.

Totally awesome! I knew you wouldn’t let us down! Thank you Bill for all the years you have given to us! We totally understand your need to step aside and wish your family all the best and your family is ever in my thoughts and prayers.

Corrine, thank you for letting us know of the change right away!

This must be a bittersweet day for BillP; to let go of his baby, to turn it over to someone else, but sweet knowing he turned it over to a great guy who will care for his customers the way he did.

Hi Bret Lowry! I am excited to meet you in Bits from Bill and from Security Garden Blog. Thank you for putting our minds at ease about the commitment you have given us. Hope you will still do the sales periodically like BillP always did and keep the price economical and the free edition which is so important.

On WinPatrol.com:

I’m very happy to announce WinPatrol’s future will be in the hands of Ruiware founder and former lead at Sunbelt Software, Bret Lowry. If you read today’s post and download our new version later today you’ll understand why I’m confident Scotty is in good hands.
Click here to find out why

And this wonderful note from Bret too:

WinPatrol.com - WinPatrol from Ruiware.

WinPatrol.com – WinPatrol from Ruiware. “When I discovered WinPatrol I knew it was a winner and a program I’d install for my entire family. WinPatrol customers matter. You still won’t find obnoxious toolbars when you download WinPatrol. Instead, we help you get rid of them. Thanks, Bret Lowry — Click on image to go to WinPatrol.com

In closing, I would like to echo Corrine’s thoughts from her Security Garden blog entry:

On a personal note, I have long respected Bill Pytlovany and, because of his honesty and high ethical standards, held him in high esteem.  I know I won’t be losing contact with him but still wish to take this opportunity to publicly thank Bill for providing an excellent product.

I could not have said it any better!

by

Microsoft has quietly stopped serving security updates to Internet Explorer 11 (IE11)

Microsoft has quietly stopped serving security updates to Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) on Windows 7  according to an article on Computerworld:

Microsoft strips some Windows 7 users of IE11 patch privileges – Computerworld

Microsoft has quietly stopped serving security updates to Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) on consumer and small business Windows 7 PCs unless the customer has successfully applied an April update for the browser.

The requirement and associated patch stoppage were similar to those Microsoft mandated for Windows 8.1 when it told customers they had to migrate to Windows 8.1 Update by June 10 or lose their patch privileges. The Windows 7 requirement, however, affected only IE11, Microsoft’s newest browser, not the operating system.

This type of thing is very hard to understand. Why would Microsoft do such foolish things. Why would they cut off their nose to spite their face by making things so difficult for their users? Windows Update should provide what is needed as it is needed. Period. If they can’t figure out how to do that, maybe they need to get someone in there to help them do the updates.

At this rate, they will be causing more people to move from Windows to other platforms like Mac and Linux. Do they not realize this? Not to mention that people need their security updates not just for the operating system but for the browser. If they want to maintain market share with their IE browser, they are showing a very strange way of doing that by cutting off the very much needed security updates because one hasn’t installed as yet. Why is it not installed? That is what should be addressed here.

“All future security and non-security updates for Internet Explorer 11 require you to have update 2919355 or update 2929437 installed in order to receive updates (emphasis added).”

With the way that malware is attacking Microsoft Windows, I can not see how they can feel it is OK to do this as well as stopping supporting Windows XP when it as still garnered nearly a third of all users world wide even after security update support was ended for Windows XP. As of today, June 15, 2014 it still garner’s over 25% or 1/4 of the total global market:

netmarketshare.com as of 6-15-2014 - choose operating system Desktop Share by Version

netmarketshare.com as of 6-15-2014 – choose operating system Desktop Share by Version

 

May 2010 Windows 2000 fell below 5% and end of life for Extended Life Support of Windows 2000 was July 10, 2010 so WINDOWS 2000 FELL below 5% TWO MONTHS BEFORE SUPPORT ENDED.

OS Statistics- w3schools_org – includes less then 5% Win2K market share at time of end of support (PDF)

Windows 2000 End-of-Life – Strategic Technology Resources – Site Home – TechNet Blogs-11-10-2009 (PDF)

Netmarketshare postings.

Then the Windows 8.1 Update 1 fiasco and now this IE11 fiasco.

There is something very anti-customer about all of this, don’t you think? Especially in light of the fact that Windows is the most high profile target for malware purveyors because it garners the greatest marketshare.

I personally feel Microsoft has a made a BIG mistake ending support for Windows XP when it still holds slightly over 25% or 1/4 (one quarter) of the total global marketshare as shown above. And they are continuing to make security missteps for Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 users now too.

I do not understand. Microsoft has never been this way before in it’s long history of being customer centric. It just does not make sense.

by

eBay – Change your passwords

Yep, this announcement was published by eBay and retracted and then put back out again. So yes, this is real.

EBay customers must reset passwords after major hack  CNN Money

Not just a rumor…as a precaution, in case the hackers are really good … time to change your ebay passwords. 

Hackers quietly broke into eBay two months ago and stole a database full of user information, the online auction site revealed Wednesday.

Criminals now have possession of eBay customer names, account passwords, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and birth dates.

The company said the passwords were encrypted and are virtually impossible to be deciphered. Still, as a precaution, eBay is asking everyone to reset their passwords late Wednesday.

The company isn’t saying how many of its 148 million active accounts were affected — or even how many customers had information stored in that database. But an eBay spokeswoman said the hack impacted “a large number of accounts.”

eBay Suffers Massive Security Breach, All Users Must Change Their Passwords – May 21, 2014 – Forbes:

eBay is taking the breach extremely seriously stating that users employing the same password across eBay and other sites should also change those passwords. It stresses your eBay password should be unique.


eBay Inc. To Ask eBay Users To Change Passwords – eBay Announcements page (Posted May 21st, 2014 at 8:50 AM):

eBay Inc. To Ask eBay Users To Change Passwords

Earlier today eBay Inc. announced it is aware of unauthorized access to eBay systems that may have exposed some customer information. There is no evidence that financial data was compromised and there is no evidence that PayPal or our customers have been affected by the unauthorized access to eBay systems. We are working with law enforcement and leading security experts to aggressively investigate the matter.

As a precaution, we will be asking all eBay users (both buyers and sellers) to change their passwords later today. As a global marketplace, nothing is more important to eBay than the security and trust of our customers. We regret any inconvenience or concern that this situation may cause you.  We know our customers and partners have high expectations of us, and we are committed to ensuring a safe and secure online experience for you on any connected device.

Click here for updates and additional information.

– See more at: http://announcements…h.V13eaJ1m.dpuf

That Click here link above: Frequently Asked Questions on eBay Password Change – ebayinc.com:

What happened?

Our company recently discovered a cyberattack that comprised a small number of employee log in credentials, allowing unauthorized access to eBay’s corporate network.  As a result, a database containing encrypted password and other non-financial data was compromised.  There is no evidence of the compromise affecting accounts for Paypal users, and no evidence of any unauthorized access to personal, financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats.  The company is asking all eBay users to change their passwords.

What customer information was accessed?

The attack resulted in unauthorized access to a database of eBay users that included:

Customer name
Encrypted password
Email address
Physical address
Phone number
Date of birth

Was my financial information accessed?

The file did not contain financial information, and after conducting extensive testing and analysis of our systems, we have no evidence that any customer financial or credit card information was involved. Likewise, the file did not contain social security, taxpayer identification or national identification information.

Has the issue been resolved?

We believe we have shut down unauthorized access to our site and have put additional measures in place to enhance our security. We have seen no spike in fraudulent activity on the site.

BOLD RED emphasis mine.

More in the article.

I think there is some truth to this too:

eBay’s handling of cyber attack ‘slipshod’ – The Telegraph:

A British security expert has branded eBay’s reaction to a huge cyber attack “slipshod” as emails warning customers that their personal details were stolen have still not been sent out, almost 24 hours after news of the security breach was inadvertently leaked

I certainly would have appreciated an email (not with a link it it necessarily) but message within my eBay would have been good. I don’t click links in email but I would have gone to eBay announcements link at the bottom of every eBay page.

However, as a user, I really appreciate that eBay was forthcoming in the ebayinc.com FAQ.

I changed my eBay password as soon as I heard about it the first time. If you haven’t, please, go take care of that and make sure it is a unique password.

by

Patch Tuesday Sounds the Death Knell for XP

Patch Tuesday Sounds the Death Knell for Win XP – Graham Cluley – Lumension Blog

So this is it.

The big one.

We’ve had false starts before, but this time Microsoft really *are* going to tell the world about security vulnerabilities in Windows and *not* patch them in XP.

As soon as Microsoft releases its regular bundle of security patches later today, the clock starts ticking.

Because malicious hackers and penetration testers will be exploring how they can reverse-engineer Microsoft’s fixes in more modern versions of Windows to see if they can be exploited on the no-longer-supported Windows XP.

And, trust me, although the numbers are falling – there are still plenty of home users and businesses running computers on Windows XP.

Much more in the article.

And Graham Cluley is right … Microsoft is NOT patching Windows XP this time for this critical IE/Internet Explorer vulnerability like they did May 1. However, they did patch many other things.

Oh, and don’t forget your Adobe updates for Flash, Reader, and more!

NOTE: Windows XP still garners 26.29% of total NetMarketShare – Choose Operating System by Version. Windows 7 is at 49.27% Between them Windows 7 and Windows XP hold 3/4 of all the global market share. Every other OS fits in the last 1/4 of the Operating System by Version pie.

by

Malware infections tripled in late 2013 thanks to sneaky browser plugin, Microsoft says

Malware infections tripled in late 2013 thanks to sneaky browser plugin, Microsoftsays – PCWorld

A three-fold increase in Microsoft Windows computers infected with malicious software in late 2013 came from an application that was for some time classified as harmless by security companies.

The finding comes as part of Microsoft’s latest biannual Security Intelligence Report (SIR), released on Wednesday, which studies security issues encountered by more than 800 million computers using its security tools.

Microsoft has added detection of this malicious piece of crap to it’s  Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), and let others know about it as well back in December 2013 according to the article.

by

IE Zero-Day Vulnerability

Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983 – Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution – TechNet

General Information

Executive Summary

Microsoft is aware of limited, targeted attacks that attempt to exploit a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 10, and Internet Explorer 11.

The vulnerability is a remote code execution vulnerability. The vulnerability exists in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object in memory that has been deleted or has not been properly allocated. The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer. An attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website.

On completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs.

We are actively working with partners in our Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) to provide information that they can use to provide broader protections to customers. For information about protections released by MAPP partners, see MAPP Partners with Updated Protections.

Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the guidance in the Microsoft Safety & Security Center of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates, and installing antimalware software.

Mitigating Factors:

  • By default, Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2 runs in a restricted mode that is known as Enhanced Security Configuration. This mode mitigates this vulnerability.

  • By default, all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, and Windows Mail open HTML email messages in the Restricted sites zone. The Restricted sites zone, which disables script and ActiveX controls, helps reduce the risk of an attacker being able to use this vulnerability to execute malicious code. If a user clicks a link in an email message, the user could still be vulnerable to exploitation of this vulnerability through the web-based attack scenario.

  • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

  • In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website that contains a webpage that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised websites and websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these websites. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit the website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker’s website.

More information in the full article. There is no patch. But Microsoft has given some recommendations which are easier to understand at Security Garden’s posting:

Recommendations

As illustrated in the “Security Research and Defense Blog” reference below, users of IE 10 and 11 should ensure they haven’t disabled Enhanced Protection Mode.

Another option is to install the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). The recommended setting for EMET 4.1, available from KB Article 2458544, is automatically configured to help protect Internet Explorer. No additional steps are required.

See the Tech Net Advisory for instructions on changing the following settings to help protect against exploitation of this vulnerability:

  • Change your settings for the Internet security zone to high to block ActiveX controls and Active Scripting

  • Change your settings to prompt before running Active Scripting or to disable Active Scripting in the Internet and Local intranet security zone.

 

Those still using Windows XP on the Internet, please be aware:

VERY IMPORTANT FOR ANY HOLD OUT WINDOWS XP USERS

This is the first of the security vulnerabilities that DOES NOT include workarounds  for Windows XP. The oldest Windows noted as being affected are: Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Vista SP2.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once a Microsoft product’s support has expired — as is true now about Windows XP SP3 since April 8, 2014 — Microsoft no longer lists it as affected by the vulnerabilities being patched. Microsoft only list Windows versions which are still under Mainstream Support or Extended Support. This has always been the case.

If anyone is still using Windows XP on the Internet (UNWISE!!), it would be strongly recommended to disallow IE (Internet Explorer) access to the Internet through your software firewall*, and use another browser like Firefox and Google Chrome which will still be getting updates for a time.

* Any Windows XP users still on the Internet should at least have:

  • a hardware router with Stateful Packet Firewall
  • should be using a ‘real’ software firewall as well as a good AV program. Just one good choice that will continue to support Windows XP is ESET’s Smart Security which is a very good antivirus and firewall. It is the one I use. It is not free. There are several free antivirus programs but not many free security suites.
  • block Internet Explorer through the ESET or other software firewall.
  • should be using a 3rd party browser like Mozilla Firefox with NoScript, Adblock Plus and WOT to help sort out safer search results on search engines, or Google Chrome with ScriptSafe, Adblock Plus and WOT Extension.
  • uninstall Java entirely, keep Adobe Flash religiously updated for Firefox as long as Adobe continues to provide them. Google Chrome updates Flash within itself. Might want to switch from Adobe Reader to Sumatra PDF reader which is a simple PDF viewer.
  • need to be even more careful than ever before about where you go. The bad guys will be looking with great anticipation for computers with expired Windows XP.
  • no risky behavior
  • no banking … note very soon banks will be disallowing expired Windows XP entirely anyway.

IMPORTANT: You can not block a program from getting out to the Internet with the Windows XP Firewall. It is only a one way firewall. It only monitors incoming Internet requests, instead of both ways as any real firewall including Windows 7 and Windows 8 built-in software firewalls do.

Here’s a quote from a ZDNet article:

To those planning to stick resolutely with the aged Windows XP operating system even after Microsoft ends support next year, the advice from experts is simple: Don’t do it.

Again: I would strongly suggest you get a new computer, upgrade your computer if it can be upgraded to a modern/still supported Windows such as Windows 7 or Windows 8, or get a Mac, or you could  convert/upgrade the computer to Linux or use a Linux LiveCD to visit the Internet and still use Windows XP as a standalone NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET computer.

If you need help with any of this, please contact your computer guru, join a forums like Scot’s Newsletter Forums – BATL (Bruno’s All Things Linux) to ask questions, or you can use the contact info on my website  to contact me for some help.

by

Apple Security Updates – Safari for Macs

Apple security updates

safari logo

Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3 – April 1, 2014

Affects

  • OS X Lion and OS X Lion Server v10.7.5
  • OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5
  • OS X Mavericks v10.9.2

About the security content of Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3 – HT6181:

This document describes the security content of Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3.

This update can be downloaded and installed using Software Update, or from the Apple Support website.

For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn more about Apple Product Security, see the Apple Product Security website.

For information about the Apple Product Security PGP Key, see “How to use the Apple Product Security PGP Key.”

Where possible, CVE IDs are used to reference the vulnerabilities for further information.
To learn about other Security Updates, see “Apple Security Updates“.

Safari 6.1.3 and Safari 7.0.3

  • WebKit
    Available for: OS X Lion v10.7.5, OS X Lion Server v10.7.5, OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.2
    Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
    Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in WebKit. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling

More in the KB HT6181 article about the specific CVE-IDs addressed.

 

According to ITWire article:

Specific changes called out by Apple are a fix for an issue that could cause the search and address field to load a webpage or send a search term before the return key is pressed, support for generic top-level domains (so that Safari loads the requested page instead of treating it as a search term), and strengthened Safari sandboxing.

Very important update.

by

MS Word users warned of ongoing attacks exploiting unpatched bug

Microsoft warns Word users of ongoing attacks exploiting unpatched bug – Computerworld

Biggest worry, says expert, is that exploits are triggered just by previewing malicious messages in Outlook 2007, 2010 and 2013

…

Microsoft today warned users of Word 2010 that in-the-wild attacks are exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in the software.

The company also published an automated tool to protect customers until it issues a patch.

“An attacker could cause remote code execution if someone was convinced to open a specially-crafted Rich Text Format (RTF) file or a specially-crafted mail in Microsoft Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email viewer,” said Dustin Childs, group manager and spokesman for Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group in a blog Monday.

BOLD in the quote is mine.

Microsoft put out a Security Advisory 2953095 as Corrine noted on her Security Garden Blog including Fix it buttons for enabling and disabling reading email messages in plain text format.

This is one of the things for which both Microsoft in Outlook and Apple in Mail have massively fallen down on the job. This would not be happening if you could easily toggle various view options such as HTML or Plain Text for reading emails, as well as allowing and disallowing images inline.

This is something that I am very thankful that Mozilla Thunderbird got right from the very beginning. Mozilla Thunderbird gives very granular control regarding the various ways to Display email messages such as in PLAIN TEXT, SIMPLE HTML (simple html with javascripting disabled), or ORIGINAL HTML.

You also have control over how images are displayed or not in several ways and differentiating between attached images and remote images.

You can also close to enable do not track in emails. There are Security Add-ons like Adblock Plus, Enigmail (OpenPGP), more. As well as lots of specialized Add=ons. One of these that I like is QuickText and a few others. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

There is also a pay to play $9.95 I think, but also has a free trial. It was originally for Macs and now there is a Windows version as well. It was created by the original developers of Thunderbird called Postbox. It has some but not all the Add-ons that Thunderbird has.

/rant on

I am not saying everyone should move to Mozilla Thunderbird. What I am saying is that Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail should give their users these types of granular control so people can choose how they wish emails to be viewed. Both do some things but they stop way short of what is really needed in this day and age with emails.

HTML is like a venetian blind. It hides what is behind it. You can’t see what is behind all that HTML. You can’t decide to see HTML only if you trust the email after viewing what is in that email. This makes it way too easy for phishing emails to look like your bank, PayPal, your credit card company, etc. It also allows companies to track you with web beacons, transparent gif images and other remotely loaded images so they know if and when you view their email.

Something needs to be done about all this. Mozilla Thunderbird makes it so easy for folks to be able to toggle images so they can’t track you, use SIMPLE HTML to keep the ‘form’ of an email message without the more dangerous javascripting. Or allows you to totally view the email in plain text so you can see that that link that appears to be going to your bank actually goes to some strange URL that has nothing to do with your bank or a store you may or may not do business with.

People need these tools. Some may or may not realize it, but they really do.

I have heard so many people say that the email look just like it was from their bank and they fell for it. Or a store they frequent and gave up their login credentials by clicking on the link rather than going to the website because it looked like it was the store’s promotion.

Sure, no one should click on links in email, but if it looks legit, many do. Sure, if you like something in a promotion for a store, it might be better to just go to the store’s website but some stores really don’t have a page on their website that is clickable to get you there, unless you click on the link in an email. Also, the links are often obfuscated by third party trackers and campaign tracking sites, etc. This all makes life very difficult for email users to know what’s good and what’s not.

OK, I will get off my soap box now.

/rant off

 

by

A few security lessons from the Target breach

A few security lessons from the Target Breach by Susan Bradley, WindowsSecrets.com

The Target breach points out some facts of life on the Web: We’re all targets (pun intended) of cyber thieves.

Fortunately, there are steps we can take to protect ourselves. Here’s how to protect yourself from the next big breach.

I am a target. I shop online, I shop in large department stores, and I regularly use credit and debit cards. Shopping at large stores that process thousands of sales daily makes me even more of a target, because my transaction information (name, account number, etc.) gets combined with that of all other shoppers. And I became a potential victim when I shopped at Target this past Christmas shopping season.

These days, every time I swipe my credit card on a point-of-sale system, I think to myself: “Is this vendor doing all they can to keep me safe?” Retail companies believe they are; claiming that by following the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, they’re doing all they can to keep customer credit-card information safe. But I’m not convinced — especially in the U.S. European credit cards are considered more difficult to hack because they use an onboard security chip rather than the magnetic stripe common on U.S. cards.

This is so true! The article covers some great topics regarding malware designed to attack retail point-of-sale systems, When fishing, go for the biggest catch, and Ways to help protect yourself from POS attacks. 

Must read article.

There is also another excellent article from Wired.com that is also a must read:

Target Got Hacked Hard in 2005. Here’s Why They Let It Happen Again by Kim Zetter – Wired Threat Level

A gang of shadowy hackers tears through the systems of big-box retailers, making off with millions of credit and debit card numbers in a matter of weeks and generating headlines around the country.

Target and Neiman Marcus last week? Nope. This oh-so-familiar attack occurred in 2005.

That’s when Albert Gonzalez and cohorts – including two Russian accomplices — launched a three-year digital rampage through the networks of Target, TJ Maxx, and about half a dozen other companies, absconding with data for more than 120 million credit and debit card accounts. Gonzalez and other members of his team eventually were caught; he’s serving two concurrent sentences for his role, amounting to 20 years and a day in prison, but the big-box breaches go on.

The latest string of hacks attacking Target, Neiman Marcus, and others raise an obvious question: How is it that nearly a decade after the Gonzalez gang pulled off its heists, little has changed in the protection of bank card data?

Oh, and just in case you have forgotten them all, here is a list of all the others:

Target got off easy in the first breach: A spokeswoman told Reuters an “extremely limited” number of payment card numbers were stolen from the company by Gonzalez and his gang. The other companies weren’t as lucky: TJX, Hannaford Brothers grocery chain, the Dave & Busters restaurant chain, Office Max, 7-Eleven, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Barnes & Noble, JC Penney, and, most severely, Heartland Payment Systems, were hit hard.

BOLD emphasis mine.

Again, much more in the must read article including sections; What the Target Thieves Got. Inherent Flaws In the System, and the most telling section, Retailers Oppose Tougher Standards.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, just yesterday on January 25th, Michael‘s too:

Sources: Card Breach at Michaels Stores by Brian Krebs – KrebsOnSecurity.com

Multiple sources in the banking industry say they are tracking a pattern of fraud on cards that were all recently used at Michaels Stores Inc., an Irving, Texas-based arts-and-crafts retailer that maintains more than 1,250 stores across the United States.

…

Update 1:34 p.m. ET: The U.S. Secret Service confirmed that it is investigating a potential data breach at Michaels. Also, Michaels has just issued a statement stating that it “recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the Company may have experienced a data security attack.”

I think Gartner’s analyst Avivah Litan’s quote in the January 17 2014 Wired Threat Level article was spot on:

“It’s a big failure of the whole industry,” says Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. “This is going to keep getting worse, and this was totally predictable a few years ago and no one did anything. Everyone got worked up, and no one did anything.”

Often these days, I will get cash from the bank and use that instead of the card if I plan on visiting any retailers that have been a part of a security breach, which sadly leaves few you can actually feel comfortable using your credit/debit cards online and off.

I wonder how many others will do the same rather than chance the annoyance, the fear of loss of your hard earned money, the frustration of being without a card while it’s replaced when they disable the current one that’s compromised in a security breach or is used in a fraudulent transaction after a breach (even if it’s limited to $50 or whatever, that’s really not much help for the anxiety it puts people through), and finally of course dealing with the aftermath of your information being at large and the potential of someone using that information to impersonate you…believe me, a 6 month or 12 month credit monitoring does not help that much, or help you sleep at night knowing all that information being out there could be used to do as more and more of your information is made available through these breaches.

If retailers and credit/debit card companies want our ‘faith’ in them, and have us get the warm fuzzies regarding them being responsible enough to be trusted with other people’s money, they need to do what’s needed to get that faith back. Period.

And skimping on it like they did in 2005 won’t cut it, nor will the PCI compliance standards and the blame game. Something really needs to be done about this. People need to feel comfortable using credit/debit cards or they will go the way of the dodo.

Fix the problem, not the blame.*

* Thanks to the movie, Rising Sun for the quote.

BTW: Might want to check out the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and their page on data breaches since 2005. There have been quite a few more than just those noted in this posting!

EDIT 1-26-2014 8:508PM: @SecurityGarden posted the following and linked to this article; Exclusive: FBI warns retailers to expect more credit card breaches – Reuters:

@SecurityGarden Status regarding expanding on this posting on the security breaches

@SecurityGarden Status regarding expanding on this posting on the security breaches