The American Arbitration Association (AAA) changed its Consumer Arbitration Rules effective Sept. 1, 2014 and now requires AAA pre-approval and annual renewal for Terms of Service that obligate consumers to arbitrate disputes. According to the AAA, “contracts that typically meet the criteria for application of these Rules, if the contract
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New Privacy Risks to your Wifi Passwords with Free Phishing App
By Peter Vogel on
Wifiphisher is a new tool created “to launch phishing attacks against users of wireless networks in order to steal their Wi-Fi access keys” according to a January 5, 2015 report in Computerworld. The inventor of Wifiphisher is IT security engineer George Chatzisofroniou who says:
Wifiphisher is a security tool that…
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Snapchat Admits it Violated Privacy Laws
By Peter Vogel on
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a Final Order which was “settling charges that Snapchat deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of messages sent through the service…” and “…deceived consumers over the amount of personal data it collected and the security measures taken to protect that data from…
China Uses “Great Firewall” to Block Gmail
By Peter Vogel on
“Data from Google shows traffic to Gmail dropping to zero from Chinese servers” which is part of China’s strategy “to block Google, wherever it is, in hopes of causing users enough frustration that they migrate to services like Baidu, a Chinese company that has a popular search engine here, that…
TripAdvisor Fined $610,000 for Failing to Prevent Astroturfing
By Peter Vogel on
The Italian Competition Authority fined TripAdvisor based on a complaint by an “association of Italian hoteliers and by local consumer protection groups, which claimed that TripAdvisor did not provide accurate reviews for consumers to make informed decisions.” The New York Times reported that TripAdvisor disagreed:
We think the ruling is…
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Don’t Count on your Thumbdrive -it May be infected with BadUSB!
By Peter Vogel on
“BadUSB, can be installed on a USB device to completely take over a PC, invisibly alter files installed from the memory stick, or even redirect the user’s internet traffic.” The Wired report went to say:
The problem isn’t limited to thumb drives. All manner of USB devices from keyboards…
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Attorney General Attacks Google for “having no corporate conscience”
By Peter Vogel on
The Attorney General of Mississippi complained in a letter to Google that “In my ten years as Attorney General, I have dealt with a lot of large corporate wrongdoers. I must say that yours is the first I have encountered to have no corporate conscience for the safety of its…
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Cyberintrusions Lead to 81+ Million Records Exposed in 2014
By Peter Vogel on
The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) defines data breaches when an incident put a risk of exposure of an individual’s “name plus a Social Security number, driver’s license number, medical record or financial record (credit/debit cards included).” The ITRC Data Breach Report is published every Tuesday and on December 9…
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Coming to your Computer Soon? Ransomware which Locks your Files and Demands Payment
By Peter Vogel on
Alarms are going off around the Internet with an apparent increase of ransomware which “immediately makes its presence known by encrypting files and demanding payment for the keys to unlock them.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an Alert on October 22, 2014 that included this description:
Ransomware is…
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Companies Slow to Get CyberInsurance Coverage Even as CyberAttacks Increase
By Peter Vogel on
A recent report showed a slight increase from 10% to 26% of companies with cyber insurance coverage between 2013 and 2014, and stated that most US companies are deficient in “keeping the data breach response plan up-to-date, conducting risk assessments of areas vulnerable to a breach, continuous monitoring of information…
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