by Julia Angwin, Senior Technology Editor, WSJ.com
I hate the term “identity theft.”
As far as I know, no one can steal my identity. Even if my bank account number, my credit card number and all my passwords are stolen, I am fairly confident that I will still be me and the thief will be a different person.
by Rachel Emma Silverman, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Earlier this week, my colleague Elizabeth Bernstein wrote a Bonds column about people getting in touch with old flames online, especially via the magic of Facebook. In the piece, she describes how some couples have devised new rules governing their online activities, like promising to inform their spouses when they contact an ex online or limiting their online “friends” to people of the same sex.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Phishing attacks that affected customers of Microsoft’s Hotmail Monday have compromised more than 30,000 email accounts, including those of Gmail, Yahoo Mail and other services.
Microsoft blamed phishing, in which cybercriminals try to trick consumers into revealing personal information through fraudulent emails, for a list of Hotmail account passwords that appeared online.
by Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Microsoft says a phishing scheme is behind the exposure of passwords to thousands of Hotmail accounts late last week and adds that it’s helping affected customers regain control of their accounts.
On Monday, the Neowin technology blog posted a story saying that an anonymous user on Oct. 1 had uploaded a list with password details of more than 10,000 Hotmail accounts to a Web site called pastebin.com, where developers typically share programming code with each other.
by Marisa Taylor, Tech Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
They might be helpful for solving your computer woes, but watch out for those shifty information-technology employees at your office–a recent survey says they may be stealing your passwords and copying your research and development plans.
by Christopher Lawton, Consumer Technology Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Ever wonder what happens to your Facebook account after you die? Someone does.
That someone is Legacy Locker, a new online service announced Tuesday that allows people to securely store usernames, passwords and other access information for all their digital assets–from Facebook and MySpace accounts to Gmail and PayPal–and pass that information along to beneficiaries in the event of their death.
Days after a wave of phishing attacks fooled thousands of Twitter users, it appears that another security hole has been found by…someone. Obama’s account, unused since election day, sent out an affiliate link to a survey with a gas card prize, Fox News said that “Bill O’Reily is gay” (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and Britney Spears made a lewd post about her anatomy.
For all the talk about privacy and security, it seems that a lot of people are downright sloppy when it comes to who they provide personal information.
A couple of prime examples this week where large numbers of unsuspecting or naive [people] happily handed over their usernames and passwords to a third party simply because the service looked cool.
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