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An IT security consulting company is warning that the possibility of WiFi hacking of British hotels is a possibility.  Global Secure Systems issued the warning after the very same thing happened at an upscale hotel chain in the United States. According to the article by Security ProPortal.com, part of the reason for the easy access is because hotel passwords are easy to crack. 

“IT security consultancy Global Secure Systems has warned that insecure WiFi systems installed at hotels across the UK could be hacked with embarrassing consequences, as has happened with the high-end Thompson hotel chain in the US.” 

Microsoft has been doing some maintenance. According to NewsFactor, the company recently put out several Patches aimed at fixing 20 vulnerabilities. It almost debuted a new toy. Check it out. 

“This month’s Path Tuesday also delivered a first — Microsoft’s rankings of how likely it is for a hacker to exploit each vulnerability.”

 

Clearing up identity theft can take time- just ask Suzanne Finch. Close to a year ago someone stole her identity and used to get a credit. According to Consumer Affairs, she’s still looking for answers.

“It was in June 2007 that Finch was notified that her Citibank MasterCard–originally a Sears store credit card that had been “flipped” into a true bank credit card without her permission–was used to make purchases at online jewelry store Stein Diamonds.”

Well, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a Bill in California that will make way for tougher fines for privacy breaches. In particular, the Bill addresses health records after more than 30 celebrities had their information stolen by hospital employees. Fines will range up to $250,000. The Governor signed the Bill on September 30th and it will take effect on January 1, 2009. The article can be found at IBLS.

“In the aftermath of a series of serious data breaches affecting many Californians in the last few years, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation to improve patient privacy laws and address leaks of confidential health information.”

Hmm….it seems hackers are trying to get online users to download a nasty program. Basically, they’re disguising it as a Microsoft Patch that people have been waiting for. So, be cautious before you double click “yes” for the program. PCpro has the full article.

“The exploit is attempting to lull users awaiting Microsoft’s infamous Patch Tuesday update, which is due tomorrow. Ironically, it uses a security scare as the pretense for delivering the patch via email.”

A university in the United States has taken student numbers off of their website directory. According to the Gainsville Sun the University of Florida began using student numbers instead of social security numbers fearing that the latter could be used to access student information. Even though the school says there’s been no breach, the possibility was raised by a first-year student.

Remember that law that just came out in the United States giving authorities the right to search travelers laptops and cell phones without a warrant? Well, apparantly there’s plans to introduce legislation to curb that a bit and privacy groups are supporting it. The full article can be found at the ComputerWorld website.

“The legislation, called the Travelers’ Privacy Protection Act of 2008, was introduced last week by Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.).

The bill is aimed at curbing the controversial practice by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials of conducting searches without apparent reason, of laptops, cell phones, storage devices and other electronic items belonging to travelers arriving at U.S. borders.”

A privacy group wants two popular internet sites investigated. According to MediaPost, the Centre for Digial Democracy wants MySpace and Facebook evaluated fearing the way these organizations use information like profile data for marketing purposes.

“The group’s objections to MySpace partly stem from the relatively new “hypertargeting” system. Unlike typical behavioral targeting programs, which serve ads to users based on the Web sites they visit, MySpace’s hypertargeting program sends ads to members based on information they have uploaded to their profile pages. For instance, someone who writes on his profile that he likes movies could be put into a “movies enthusiast” bucket, and then might receive film ads.”

An alumni laptop containing senstive information like credit card and Social Security numbers was recently stolen from the car of a software vendor working for the organization. However, officials are saying the information is safe because the information was encrypted. GrandForksHerald.com has the full story.

“The laptop has not been recovered, but the sensitive information, including individuals’ credit card and Social Security numbers, was protected by a data encryption system and other security controls, according to the Alumni Association.”

There’s an old saying KISS (no not the band with Gene Simmons) that stands for, “Keep it Simple Stupid.” A lot of writers use that motto when trying to explain complicated information. Well, appararantly the authors of privacy policies haven’t been sticking to that motto. According to an article by Darkreading.com privacy policies for things like websites are being written in a way that’s too complicated for the average user to follow and that’s causing people to make bad privacy choices.

“Poorly written and complicated privacy policies are driving users to make bad decisions online and could eventually threaten the practice of self-regulation of privacy on the Internet, according to a new research report.”