Chase expired my credit card without warning

chase
As MT.Net readers are aware, Target recently suffered a massive security breach when hackers stole millions of credit card records. Banks dutifully responded by issuing new credit cards to their customers.

I was surprised to get new credit cards in the mail recently as we’ve not seen any fraud with our account. Kelly mentioned a friend’s replacement cards coming with a warning that her friend’s old card would expire in 30 days. We both groaned at the thought of updating all of the automatic payments that are linked to our old card. It would take great effort to track them down and update them.

“Well, we don’t seem to have any expiration on our old card,” I said after thoroughly reading the letter that came with our replacement cards. It seemed we had some time to shift our accounts over after all.

We used our old cards every day since then until today when the card stopped working. I called up Chase, the issuer of our card, to figure out what was up. After wading through a voicemail menu that is maddeningly frustrating, a rep named David Norris came on the line.

“The old account number you had is no longer a valid card, sir,” he answered.
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Why Apple’s Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary

I can’t say for sure whether the National Security Agency had anything to do with this Apple security flaw but it is certainly something the NSA could readily exploit. All the Agency needed to do is control a router between its target and the target’s destination and it would have clear view of the supposedly encrypted traffic.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: America no longer has a monopoly on world-class cryptographers (if it ever did). By encouraging these types of flaws, our government leaves us vulnerable to attacks from foreign nations. Instead, our cryptographers should be working to make American software as secure as it can be.

I hope Apple will track down the developer responsible for this colossal blunder and fire him or her on the spot.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s what helps ensure that communication between your browser and your favorite websites’ servers remains private and secure. TLS, or Transport Layer Security, is a more recent protocol that does essentially the same. In brief, SSL/TLS is a cryptographic key that lets a browser and a server know they are who they say they are, a secret digital handshake that keeps your financial information safe when you make an Amazon payment or log into wellsfargo.com.

This all happens in the background; your only direct interaction with SSL/TLS is when you notice the lock icon in your search bar has clamped shut. That means you’ve got a direct, private, secure line.

The Apple bug in question—which, again, has been patched in iOS but not yet in OS X, though Apple tells Reuters that fix is coming "very soon"—means that Safari or one of these other affected applications can’t actually know for sure if the servers it’s talking to are who they say they are. Which leaves you and everything you transmit over the web vulnerable to a Man in the Middle attack.

via Why Apple's Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary.

N&O spreads flawed password advice

Courtesy Davide Restivo

Courtesy Davide Restivo


In today’s Connect section of the News and Observer, reporter John Bordsen asked a panel of technology experts about how to protect oneself from online hackers. I have a few beefs with this article which I’ll describe here.

The first is from Dr. Magdy Attia, dean of the College of STEM at Charlotte’s Johnson C. Smith University:

Change your passwords and make them long. “Your password should be changed every month or every two months – and make it hard to guess,” Attia said. “Some people use kids’ names, birthdates or whatever. But there are software packages that can scan a large number of passwords to find out what can work. A hacker can use these tools to scan for possibilities.”

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Don’t drink the water: Translated travel tips for coming to America | Compass – Yahoo Travel

This is a very funny and insightful look at how foreigners view America.

Travelers love coming to America, a land many of them have seen via exports from Hollywood. They rave about the landscapes, the recreational opportunities, the vibrant cities and the culture.

But like international travelers anywhere, foreigners visiting the United States from other countries can be flummoxed by some of what they encounter. Fortunately, their fellow travelers have plenty of advice. The picture they paint portrays Americans as relentlessly cheerful yet sensitive folks who just might raid your fridge.

What outsiders say about the U.S. will strike an American as very true, very strange, or both. Here with some help from Google Translate are some travel advice gems from around the world.

via Don’t drink the water: Translated travel tips for coming to America | Compass – Yahoo Travel.

Time Warner Cable raising Internet rates 40%

Time-Warner-Cable
As a customer of Earthlink’s cable modem service, I’ve been happy being relatively immune to the frequent and outrageous price hikes imposed by Time Warner Cable on its customers. I’ve heard grumblings recently from my friends unfortunate enough to still be Time Warner Cable customers that their Internet rates were going up. Thinking I was once again free from this nonsense, I chirped at how my rates weren’t rising.

Then a friend pointed out the insert in this month’s bill, clearly stating that, yes, my rates would be going up. How much, you say? By thirty-eight percent!

That’s right: Internet service that has been $41.95 per month would now be $57.99, an almost 40% jump in one month.
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More money mule opportunities!

Found another GREAT money mule opportunity, courtesy of my posted resume on CareerBuilder. This one’s great because I can use an alias of %1% %2%. What’s more, I’m GREAT at following “witten instructions!”

I just have one question: when are American banks going to get serious about credit card fraud?

Dear %1% %2%,

Are you tired of interviewing and ready to start working?
An excellent vacancy is open now!

Our company has found your Curriculum Vitae in a jobseeker’s database. It seems that you are a strong applicant for a vacancy of a “Check Assist Manager”.

General requirements include following:

– High School diploma or GED equivalent;
– US residency.
– Ability to work on your own and promptness in operations.
– Age: at least 21;
– Computer with internet access and e-mail address;
– 1-2 hours of free time per day for performing your duties business hours;
Hunger for Success is a MUST! Ideal candidate is attentive to details and self-motivated, has customer service mindset, a positive attitude, excellent verbal and written skills, ability to use PC and Internet and the ability to work independently.
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Gallup: “Immediate Supervisor is Number One Reason Why Employees Leave”

Hmm.

Often times, people who do well at their jobs are promoted to a management position in which they lack the skills and experience to manage. And these new managers may not even realize they are doing a poor job. These bad bosses lead to financial losses for the company and employees with low morale.

via Gallup: “Immediate Supervisor is Number One Reason Why Employees Leave” | NorthStar360 Business Solutions LLC.

Receiving stolen goods for fun and profit

Got this in my inbox yesterday. If I don’t find a legitimate job soon at least I can always become a money mule.

Reply-To: Baratova.Eleonora@gmail.com
From: Rashad Prince adna133@hotmail.com
To: (me)
Subject: Great job opportunity for Mark Turner

Hello Mark Turner,
a successful organization is seeking people who are wishing to join our company and grow professionally daily.

We are pleased to make you the following job offer. The vacancy I am offering is that of Check Assist Manager. I have decided to contact you after reviewing your resume online. It appears that you have met our job requirements for successful job, and would be a right applicant to extend you an offer for our vacancy.
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Where the sidewalk begins

These people want a sidewalk on Frank Street.

These people want a sidewalk on Frank Street.


Ever since our kids first started school at Conn Elementary, I’ve wished there was a sidewalk along muddy Frank Street where every day dozens of kids and their parents trudge to and from school. After researching the process a little over a year ago, I took it upon myself to petition the property owner.

Well, this soft touch ultimately didn’t work. I backed off to let the owner decide with no pressure and the result was that the petition expired with no action. This meant I had to wait a while before I could try again.
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5 reasons why you shouldn’t work too hard

Nice look at what we Americans are losing in our insistence in becoming slaves to work.

The first time the commercial aired during the Opening Ceremonies in Sochi, the slight pause after those two questions made me hopeful. I sat up to listen closely.

Was he about to say – we should be more like that? Because Americans work among the most hours of any advanced country in the world, save South Korea and Japan, where they’ve had to invent a word for dying at your desk. Karoshi. Death from Overwork. We also work among the most extreme hours, at 50 or more per week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American works about one month more a year than in 1976.

Was he going to say that we Americans are caught up in what economist Juliet Schor calls a vicious cycle of “work-and-spend” – caught on a time-sucking treadmill of more spending, more stuff, more debt, stagnant wages, higher costs and more work to pay for it all?

via 5 reasons why you shouldn’t work too hard.