Author Archives: Radnor Reports

About Radnor Reports

Ken Feltman is past-president of the International Association of Political Consultants and the American League of Lobbyists. He is retired chairman of Radnor Inc., an international political consulting and government relations firm in Washington, D.C. Known as a coalition builder, he has participated in election campaigns and legislative efforts in the United States and several other countries.

When it comes to hacking, the aim isn’t always fraud

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The credit data agency Experian could be facing criminal investigations, fines and class action lawsuits, after a hack that compromised the records of 15 million people, all of them customers of the wireless carrier T-Mobile.

And while this may appear just like any other hacking story — there’s a breach, a promise of free credit monitoring, investigations — this time Social Security numbers were among the data compromised. When it’s not just a credit card number, stolen data can create all kinds of headaches.

People can have fake tax returns filed in their name, fraudulant car loans and even mortgages. And when it comes to identity theft, the onus is on the victims. When the fraudsters don’t pay up, banks and loan collectors can come after the victims, instead. And it could take victims of fraud years to clear their name and financial histories.

“Law enforcement can’t deal with the volume” of fraud, said Chester Wisniewski, a senior adviser at the security firm Sophos. “If you approach the FBI, they’re not really interested if the crime is less than $1 million.”

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How to Freeze a Credit Report to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft

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If your Social Security number gets hacked in any data breaches, including recently hacked T-Mobile, then there’s a way to prevent hackers from misusing your identity (i.e. identity theft).

The solution here is that you can institute a security freeze at each of the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, or Transunion. Once frozen, nobody will be allowed to access your credit report, which will prevent any identity thieves from opening new accounts in your name.

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Scared yet? This graphic shows all the ways your car can be hacked

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Here’s what cutting-edge technology has brought us: The increase in automobiles armed with internet-connected technology has opened the door for hacking looking to get into our cars – remotely.

One of the world’s largest manufacturers of chips and processors used in computers has some ideas about the best ways for automakers to safeguard cars against cyber attacks.

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What you should know about the new credit cards. Oh, by the way, they won’t stop data thieves

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Banks and credit companies have been sending consumers new cards, which look like their old cards but are fitted with a small metallic high-tech chip known as EMV. That stands for Europay, MasterCard, Visa — the three companies that created the standard. The chip’s goal: keeping thieves from easily accessing consumers’ personal information.

The new cards will NOT defeat data thieves.

Credit card fraud is a growing problem in the U.S. About 31.8 million U.S. consumers had their credit card information stolen last year, more than three times the number of consumers affected in 2013, according to a report published by Javelin, a company that studies customer transactions. According to a report from Barclays earlier this year, almost half of the world’s credit card fraud occurs in the U.S.

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Familiar Fraud: Five Ways to Help Protect Against It

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Recent news reports have highlighted how hackers in places like Russia and China accessed the personal information of people in the United States and other countries.
But identity thieves also live closer to home.
Just ask victims of familiar fraud. In this scenario, someone you know—and likely trust—steals your identity.
Familiar fraud is more difficult to prevent because we are typically taught to trust our closest relatives and believe they wouldn’t hurt us.

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Revised data show hackers stole fingerprints of 5.6 million federal workers

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The hackers who stole security dossiers from the Office of Personal Management also got the fingerprints of 5.6 million US federal employees.

US intelligence agencies have blamed China for the hacking against the office, which is the main custodian of the government’s most important personnel records, but it is unclear what group or organization engineered it. Before Wednesday, the agency had said it lost 1.1 million sets of fingerprints among the roughly 22 million individuals whose records were compromised.

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Hackers cash out directly from ATMs, don’t need to steal your card first

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Hackers looking to steal money from ATMs have targeted your credit cards for years, trying to obtain access to it by hacking online services and retail shops. However, since more and more markets including America are adopting more secure payment methods like chip-and-PIN cards and mobile payments, some talented hackers are adapting their game accordingly.

Rather than trying to steal credit cards, clone them and only then try to obtain cash out of ATMs, some people are simply targeting the machines with malware that makes them spit out cash on command.

This isn’t the first time such ATM malicious programs have been discovered, but the level of sophistication is even higher….

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Careful, that PayPal-paid sale could be a scammer

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PayPal and other online payment mechanisms are a target for identity thieves.

On the dark web at present, PayPal accounts are going for as little as 50 cents each, allowing criminals to assume compromised accounts to facilitate buying products from unsuspecting sellers.

Eighteen cases have been reported to iDcare over the past couple of months relating to sellers on eBay, Gumtree and other marketplaces that have fallen victim to a very simple and common scam.

Here’s how it works…

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