Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 26th Apr 2011 22:06 UTC
After days and days of the Playstation Network being offline, Sony has announced it has taken the service down indefinitely. The cause is a lot more severe than previously thought: PSN has been systematically attacked, and personal information of all users has been stolen, possibly including credit card data. Sony is asking PSN users to keep close tabs on their credit card account statements. This has turned from a rather amusing slap on the wrist for Sony into a massive and truly epic security fail that could have tremendous consequences for millions and millions of people the world over.
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Member since:2005-06-30
Think about your own statement for a moment and you can discover the real answer:
Debit cards are Credit cards without the credit part; you just use whatever you need and pay instantly.
Credit cards are required to get a credit rating, gets discounts everywhere...
Seems like there is a huge amount of effort put into keeping the dead horse alive.
Think about it for a moment, and think whether keeping things safe is part of the bank's job.
Member since:2005-10-13
I still do not understand how a mean of payment as unsecure as a credit card can be so widespread. Maybe it's time the banks figure out a mean to pay that requires something more than just what is written on the damn card.
For example in my bank, to access e-banking, I have to have : a login, a password AND a card reader.
After I have entered my login and password, the e-banking website display a number. I have to put my bank card in the card reader, type in the number given by the website and then the PIN associated with my card. The card reader will then display another number that I have to enter.
So unless somebody manages to steal my login, my password, my card and my PIN, I'm safe.
Really, if my bank can do it for e-banking, Visa and Mastercard should be able to do it.
For example in my bank, to access e-banking, I have to have : a login, a password AND a card reader.
After I have entered my login and password, the e-banking website display a number. I have to put my bank card in the card reader, type in the number given by the website and then the PIN associated with my card. The card reader will then display another number that I have to enter.
So unless somebody manages to steal my login, my password, my card and my PIN, I'm safe.
Really, if my bank can do it for e-banking, Visa and Mastercard should be able to do it.
There's always going to be a tradeoff between security and convenience. For example, with your system you could no longer just hand a credit card to the waiter after eating in a restaurant - you'd have to get up, go to the cashier, wait in line, type in your password, etc. And just imagine how many people would forget their passwords and be unable to pay. New technology might allow them to come around to your table with a mobile card reader, but that would take a while to become widespread.
RE[2]: Credit card security
by Radio on Wed 27th Apr 2011 07:28
in reply to "RE: Credit card security"
Member since:2009-06-20
There's always going to be a tradeoff between security and convenience. For example, with your system you could no longer just hand a credit card to the waiter after eating in a restaurant - you'd have to get up, go to the cashier, wait in line, type in your password, etc. And just imagine how many people would forget their passwords and be unable to pay. New technology might allow them to come around to your table with a mobile card reader, but that would take a while to become widespread.
Hello there; this is exactly how credit/debit cards work in France, the country were the smart card was invented. We even have mobile terminals everywhere that the waiter brings to you to read your card and enter your code. And nobody forgets his code, as we type it all the time. That or we are just naturally smart.
I'm always unsettled overseas when my card has just its magnetic band swiped and I just have to sign, and nobody really check the signature -which is easy to counterfeit, as it is already drawn on the back of the card. This is &*$#! dumb.
RE[2]: Credit card security
by lucas_maximus on Wed 27th Apr 2011 10:44
in reply to "RE: Credit card security"
Member since:2009-08-18
RE[2]: Credit card security
by aaronb on Wed 27th Apr 2011 17:22
in reply to "RE: Credit card security"
Member since:2005-07-06
"Chip and pin" is the marketing name for this in the UK. Where the waiter would come over with a card reader and passes it to you to insert card, enter pin and process payment. The vast majority of people have become use to this.
Internet purchases are getting a little more secured. There is "Verified By Visa" and "MasterCard SecureCode" where you set up a password that is used when making payments online. However not all shops implement this (for example amazon).
Both systems have their faults but in this case its not the issue.
Sony failed to secure their system.
The primary account number (PAN) should be encrypted or hashed to prevent it from being leaked if it must be stored.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.More News »
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2010-06-24
I still do not understand how a mean of payment as unsecure as a credit card can be so widespread. Maybe it's time the banks figure out a mean to pay that requires something more than just what is written on the damn card.
For example in my bank, to access e-banking, I have to have : a login, a password AND a card reader.
After I have entered my login and password, the e-banking website display a number. I have to put my bank card in the card reader, type in the number given by the website and then the PIN associated with my card. The card reader will then display another number that I have to enter.
So unless somebody manages to steal my login, my password, my card and my PIN, I'm safe.
Really, if my bank can do it for e-banking, Visa and Mastercard should be able to do it.