Class Action Suit Against Lifelock

(Image used under: Fair Use doctrine)

This was faster than I thought.

The Arizona Department of Insurance has reviewed LifeLock's service and does not believe it is an insurance product, department spokeswoman Erin Klug told the Arizona Republic.

There are people filing class action suits against Lifelock stating that because of fine print and loopholes, most people won't be able to get any money even if they were victims of ID theft.

Tags: , ,

Wikileaks Retaliates Against Scientology Threats

(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])
Wikinews has learned that The Church of Scientology has warned the documents leaking site Wikileaks.org that they are in violation of United States copyright laws after they published several documents related to the Church. Wikileaks has no intentions of complying, and states that in response, they intend to publish thousands of Scientology documents next week.

Good for them! It's heartening to see that now that one well publicized organization has stood up to their bully tactics, others are following.

Tags:

Your Internet Service Provider Tracks and Sells You

(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])

Some marketing research firms are working with ISPs to track all data transmitted over your Internet connection to build profiles of you by which to advertise more junk. On the question of how they'll protect your privacy, the companies said:

First, every user in the NebuAd system is identified by a number that the company assigns rather than an Internet address, which in theory could be traced to a person. The number NebuAd assigns cannot be tracked to a specific address. That way, if the company's data is stolen or leaked, no one could identify customers or the Web sites they've visited, Dykes said.

Oh right. Because that worked so well before.

Tags: ,

US to Outsource RFID Passports

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

In what was a colossally stupid decision, the US put RFID chips in passports. Oh wait, this article is about the outsourcing! Right.

In what was another colossally stupid decision, the US is now outsourcing the production of RFID passports.

Tags: ,

Maine Given Ultimatum on REAL ID by DHS

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

Many states have defied REAL ID for privacy (but mostly money) reasons. Now it looks like things are coming to a head with the DHS warning Maine that if they don't implement REAL ID, their identification may no longer be accepted at airports.

Tags: , ,

NXP RFID Encryption Hacked

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

A university has hacked the encryption of an RFID chip maker who's contactless smartcard applications include fare collection, loyalty cards, and access control cards.

Tags:

Bogus Lifelock Sites Litter the Web

(Image used under: Fair Use doctrine)

Lifelock is that company run by the dude who boasts, "Here's my Social Security Number! I can't be hurt by ID Theft Man, I'm In-VINCIBLE!!!!" or some such nonsense.

First of all, he was robbed by some guy in texas which proves the point I've been trying to make all along: Lifelock doesn't PREVENT ID theft. But more important than that is how this company advertises. Besides having ads just damned everywhere on the web, I've found a wealth of fake sites that pretend to be 3rd party recommendations, but have little to no content other than Lifelock ads disguised as reviews. Whether this is the direct result of Lifelock marketing or the fault of over-zealous users of a Lifelock affiliate program, but either way, having sites like this really damage what little reputation Lifelock has.

http://sixfoldsecurity.com/financial/identity_theft.php

Created: Nov 2007 by Larry from Bothell WA

Though the site has a ton of links and categories, the only actual page I can load is the one under identity theft which contains lines like "I was skeptical at first" and "Lifelock does a lot more than I thought".

[+] Sixfold's only article

Here's their whole ''article'' (a.k.a. Lifelock ad)

http://www.lifelock4me.com

Created: Sept 2007 by Marketing Partners INC. St Joseph, MI

This site has no content other than a few pages explaining things about Lifelock.

http://www.igotmyidentitystolen.com

Created: Feb 2008 by Domains by Proxy, Scottsdale AZ

I found this site originally because the very first comment on my "Lifelock Sucks" article was from a guy who left this url with his comment. The comment appeared to be reasonable, if wrong, criticism of my position. But when I went to the site, I found out that it was a thinly disguised front site. Though there are a few articles on it not related to Lifelock, the page navigation consists only of "About Lifelock", "Features", "How Lifelock Protects You", and "Order".

I love their "About Us" page:

About Us

Here at IGotMyIdentityStolen.com we try to focus on protecting you from identity theft. Giving you tips and updating the site with the ever changing identity theft crisis changes. Criminals think of new ways every day to scam innocent people.

Identity Theft has been such a problem in the United States along with the world. So prevent yourself from identity theft.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Please feel free to drop us an e-mail at support@igotmyidentitystolen.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

– Trying to make your life easier,

Mr. Identity Theft Protector

Could you get more generic than that? Note that neither the domain registration information nor the comment left on my site has a name attached.

http://lifelockreviews.com

Created: April 2007 by Whoisguard (a company that shields the registrant)

You couldn't make a better search engine bait site than this. Lifelock is mentioned 55 times in 4 postings (the only four posts on the site) with titles like "A Review of Lifelock", "Lifelock Consumer Review", "Lifelock Million Dollar Guarantee", and "Lifelock – Identity Theft Security or Scam".

And of course, the first line in each "unbiased fair 3rd party review" is "LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount."

http://lifelockreviews.net

Created: April 2007 by Kurt from Tallahassee

Single page ad for Lifelock. No other content.

http://lifelockreviews.org

Created: March 2008 by Patty from Louisville

Four posts on a blog, all about Lifelock.

http://lifelockreviews.info

Created: Nov 2007 by Ken from Singapore

Single page ad for Lifelock.

http://lifelock-reviews.com

Started in April 2007, lifelock-reviews.com has put out a wealth of (sarcasm) useful unbiased information (/sarcasm)… into their only two categories "ID Theft" and "Lifelock". Of note, this site includes real news and videos unlike every other site I've seen so far, but the last line in EVERY post is something similar to this: "To purchase LifeLock or get more information please click here."

http://idtheftquiz.org

Created: Sept 2006 by Kurt from Tallahassee

There is nothing, nothing, on this site but a single page ad for Lifelock. I count is as a front site because of this:

We are proud to be working with Lifelock to offer the most comprehensive ID-Security programs available... blah blah blah

Correction: There is something besides the ad. If you look carefully through the ad, there are some links that go to other articles and such promoting Lifelock. There. Are you happy now George?

http://www.identitytheftlabs.com

Created: April 2007 by Domains by Proxy, Scottsdale AZ (another registrant shielding service)

This one is a bit curious. They have information about some other monitoring services as well and aren't as clearly a front site, but they've got the tell-tale signs. They were also started in April of '07 and their postings are heavily weighted towards Lifelock more so than the others they talk about (which, by the way, is only 2 other services).

http://lifelockworks.com

Created: Feb 2008 by Domains By Proxy, Scottsdale AZ

A single page ad for Lifelock. Most notable is that the normal links at the bottom of the page (Contact, TOS, Copyright, etc) all link straight back to lifelockworks.com. They're only there for looks.

This is getting dull so here are some more listed in no particular order

lifelock-promo.com lifelocktv.net safeidentityreview.com getlifelock.net identitytheftsecrets.com reviewsonlifelock.com www.f1racing.ws/ http://www.hillarybillary.com/

And the following are sites that have other posts, but at least one on lifelock that pretends to be a review, but isn't:

http://www.brokencode.us/finance/lifelock-scam/ (3 articles) http://brinformatica.alojagratis.org/2008/04/06/lifelock/ (3 articles) http://mbaonlinedegree.biz/2008/04/10/lifelock-review-for-the-id-prevention/ (1 article) http://dmnewexpress.com/?p=128 (4 articles) http://infinitum-media.com/ (4 articles) http://www.drcopa.com/index.php?s=lifelock&x=&y= (1 article) http://www.ginolopez.com/?p=43 (1 article) http://abshome.blogspot.com/2008/04/value-of-life-lock_13.html (18+ articles) http://msteenybopper.multiply.com/journal/item/146/Lifelock_Promo_Codes (1 article)

And a million more. Just do a search for Lifelock and you'll find them everywhere.

Tags: , , , ,

TJX Settles with FTC Over Biggest Data Breach In History

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC][Mod])

TJX has settled under charges that they had insufficient computer security protecting their systems, but the only thing TJX must do under the settlement is upgrade their security. Woo.

And this:

"By now, the message should be clear: companies that collect sensitive consumer information have a responsibility to keep it secure," said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. "Information security is a priority for the FTC, as it should be for every business in America."

Tags: , , ,

Confessions of a Debt Settlement Company Worker

Don't fall for the debt trap
(Image copyright Jeremy Duffy)

If you weren't already suspicious of such services, you should be. Companies like this that prety on the weak and defenseless while simultaneously pretending to offer a helping hand are the worst kind of scum.

Tags: , ,

Using Gmail to Track Companies That Leak Your Data

They dropped their "don't be evil" motto for a reason
(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

Even though I've shown that bigger companies don't leak data (or didn't used to anyway), that doesn't stop smaller sites/companies. An easier way to see if someone is sharing your e-mail address when you don't want to is to use variations of your own e-mail address for each site. Google's e-mail service allows you to add data to your e-mail address and have it still successfully reach your inbox as described at this Makeuseof.com article. As of today, this tip does NOT work with Hotmail.

The short of it is that if you use your gmail name add a "+" sign and then write anything you want to remember a web service's name (usually just their name), the e-mail address will still work, but you'll have a code that lets you know if the company is selling your data.

For example, if I sign up with Yahoo, I might use gmailname+yahoo@gmail.com where gmailname is my gmail account name. Now if Yahoo sells their database without modification and another company uses it, I'll get an e-mail for Canadian meds or what-have-you with a "TO" address of gmailname+yahoo@gmail.com. When I get such an e-mail, it will be blatantly obvious who sold me out.

With help of a friend that uses Gmail, I was able to confirm that it works exactly as described in the article so I will definitely be using Gmail for all further account signups.

Tags: , , , ,

Loading...

If you want to learn more about my professional background, click here to learn more.

Check out one of my guides/tutorials:

passwords Tutorial
|INDEX|next: Password Tips and Tricks

Making Good Passwords

To understand what makes a good password, let's talk about what makes a bad one first.
Making good passwords can be complex, but here are some tips and tricks that will make it easier.

Password Protection

Once you've taken the trouble to make a good password, the next step is to keep it safe!
Now that you've done all this work, you have to learn the most important rule of all: DON'T GIVE THEM AWAY!

... or check out any of my other guides and tutorials by clicking here!

Bad Passwords

To understand what makes good passwords, first check out some of the worst passwords out there and what makes them so bad.

[Click for full description]

Password Tips and Tricks

It's impossible to expect someone to make good passwords by just giving them some rules. There are tricks that make your passwords secure and easy for you all at the same time.

[Click for full description]

Password Protection

It's really a skill to come up with secure passwords that you can remember. Once you've learned how, remember that it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't protect your password properly.

[Click for full description]

Password Mugging

A disturbing new practice among websites and services is where they ask you for your user name and password to other sites. I call this "Password Mugging"

[Click for full description]