Date   : Sun, 17 Oct 2010 19:51:22 +0200
From   : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: Fw: DD & HD Floppies

On 17/10/2010 14:43, Mike Tomlinson wrote:

> I'm just waiting for them to wash their hands of it and refuse to
> take the hit for fraudulent transactions.

This is perhaps why my Credit Mutuel (Mastercard) does *NOT* work 
on-line. Point blank refusal. In fact, anything where I'm not present to 
enter my PIN is refused (bizarrely with a "security code invalid" response).

My bank gives me a "virtual card" where I tell it how much the 
transaction is for, and I get a one-time-only credit card generated for 
me. There's some info on this here:
   http://www.heyrick.co.uk/blog/index.php?diary 100907


> Organised crime is moving on from drugs and pimping to online scamming
> in a big way,

Obviously. So many people *still* fall for the "please log in to update 
your bank information" scam. And given the lack of security in so many 
computer systems [*] it makes sense to attack the computers, not just to 
do your dirty work (botnets), but also to snarf personal details...


* - Anybody about to post about how Linux is impenetrable and Apples
     don't have viruses, kindly don't show your stupidity. The latest
     W3C Schools report quotes Linux as a 4.6% share and Mac as 7.2%.
     Pretty much all of the rest is Windows. So ask yourself, are these
     systems REALLY invincible, or are they simply not worth bothering
     about given the majority of clueless sheep wouldn't touch Linux
     of their own free will, and of those sheep, the systems they use
     account for nearly a 90% share.
     Linux will, I predict, remain fairly secure because it is an OS
     aimed at smarter people who know the ins and outs of the system.
     Mac, on the other hand, is aimed at flash gits with more money
     than sense [http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple] so how long will
     it be before iPads and the likes are broken?


> and it's not necessarily hacking or planting malware to
> harvest card numbers and passwords, it's also being done
> via social engineering.

What can I say? http://www.xkcd.com/792/


> see the para headed "Hackers work alone".

Hackers only work alone in movies. Or people like me, but then I'm the 
_other_ sort, the sort that wishes people would use a different phrase 
to refer to criminals.


Best wishes,

Rick.

-- 
Rick Murray, eeePC901 & ADSL WiFI'd into it, all ETLAs!
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...