Technology

Hackers Targeting Bitcoins

July 27, 2018 By Twila Van Leer

Hackers seem to find a way to commit fraud with every new technology that comes along. Now it’s bitcoin, a virtual currency that is increasing in popularity.

Malicious hardware has been showing up on people’s handsets, TVs and smart fridges to facilitate their “crypto-jacking.” The effects for both individuals and companies has been severe. Depending on the severity of the attack, it may seem the losses are too small to be noticed, but over a period of weeks or months, the loss can be great.

Some companies see a huge increase in their power bills as the hackers do their thing, according to Threat Intelligence Group Manager for Checkpoint, a watchdog organization.

Hackers make use of the victims’ processing power, because that is what they need to “mine” virtual currencies. Computers make the complex calculations that verify a running ledger of all transactions in virtual currencies around the world. Besides installing malicious software, the fraudsters also can work through a web browser, latching onto the victim’s computer processing power to mine

digital currencies while the user is on the site. When the victim switches, the mining ends.

Industry experts first identified crypto-jacking as a threat in 2017, when virtual currency prices were rushing to record highs.

At that time, the price of bitcoin, the most widely used of the virtual currencies, increased six-fold from September to December. It has continued to increase.

The hackers were ready. The first big instance of this type of theft was in September, centered on Coinhive, a legitimate business that allowed website owners to make money by allowing customers to mine their v-currency instead of relying on advertising income. The frauds were almost first in line to use the service.

Monero is their favorite target, according to industry researchers. They estimate that more than 5 percent of Monero is mined through crypto-jacking, with losses of more than $150 million dollars and that doesn’t take into account mining that occurs through browsers. The thieves try to infect as many devices as possible, a method dubbed “Spray and Pray.”

The level of sophistication among the hackers increases with each new wrinkle in virtual currency and victims are reacting by adding protections to their equipment.

Be Mindful Of Your Tweets

June 1, 2018 By Twila Van Leer

Popular comedienne Roseanne Barr found out the hard way. When she tweeted a message with a definite racial slur recently she ended up out of a job. Her tweet casting aspersions on Valerie Jarrett, a black woman who is a former adviser in the Obama Whitehouse, didn’t set well with Barr’s bosses at ABC Television. Several of them, along with some of her fellow cast members, reacted strongly.

Eleven hours after Barr’s May 29 tweet, Channing Dungey, president of ABC entertainment and a black woman, blasted the tweet as “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values and we have decided to cancel her show.”

So what promised to be a highly successful reboot of the long-running “Roseanne” series crashed to a halt. The actress’ talent agency, ICM Partners, also dropped her.

The moral to the story is clear: You tweet, you become a public figure. Your life could blow up in the same way if you are not discreet with the messages you post for public consumption. An egregious comment about another individual, true or not, could put you on the hot seat.

Some media gurus welcomed the quick and decisive response to Barr’s firing. Aram Sinnreich, professor of communications at the American University in Washington, D.C., said the firing is a testament to diversity in the C-suit and the speed with which news travels on social media.

Roseanne has been chided before for racist tweets. What caused the quick and certain reaction this time? The political climate has put people on high alert regarding their employees’ words and behaviors, Sinnreich says. If an individual, especially a well-known individual, becomes in essence the face of a corporation, the corporation should be accountable for the actions of that individual.

Sinnreich noted that some people have become frustrated with the fact that President Trump gets away with racially-tainted and outrageous tweets (he has targeted Mexicans, Haitians and Nigerians in widely reported tweets) without any consequences. Sinnreich is of the opinion that until Trump is held accountable for what amounts to hate speech, others will think they can also go unscathed if they use tweeting as a way of dissing others. The ability to broadcast your ideas to a huge audience is irresistible, he said.

Many of today’s employers are complaining that as much as five hours a day of a worker’s time is spent sharing tweets and other social media.

The number of cases of employees making negative racial statements that raised the ire of their employers has risen. The results, always widely reported in the general media, sometimes rise to the level of the offender being fired. That should be fair warning for careless tweeters.

Tweeters who go beyond the bounds of decency are showing up more frequently in the news. Anthony Weiner, former New York congressman, is now serving a prison sentence for sexting with a minor. He first blamed a hacker for the mess, but later admitted that “These destructive impulses brought great devastation to family and friends and destroyed my life’s dream of public service.”

People are getting fired for posting inappropriate photos or retweeting someone else’s tweets. Immediacy and informality of the social media sites sometimes makes people vulnerable to impulses they might otherwise control. Remember, there’s no going back once you hit “send.”

On the other end of the scale, some employers now encourage their workers to maintain social media activity. Job applications now may ask how many “followers” the prospective employee has on Twitter. But that becomes a double-edged sword when it appears the opinions of the employee, disbursed among many friends, counter the company’s viewpoint.

Concerns about free speech pop up when social media fans defend their right to freely make sexist, homophobic or racist remarks, but Sinnreich is of the opinion that controls on media content are not censorship. “It’s about affiliation and the media role as amplifiers for political ideology.”

Americans Are Shopping Differently

March 19, 2018 By Twila Van Leer

Americans aren’t shopping like they used to do, and that is having a great effect on retailers as they try to cope with the added competition posed by online buying and other technology-related changes in the market.

Nobody feels the changes as much as the shelf-stockers, sales personnel, cashiers and others who used to handle things with no competition. They are hustling to address changes in customer behavior and preferences.

Mundane tasks like tracking inventory and checking out customers have been automated and the retailers are trying to capitalize on the thing they do have – direct contact with the buyer.

Sometimes the retailer is interacting in a whole new way. A Best Buy clerk, for instance, may find himself in the customer’s home helping to compare and analyze the choices in electronics. At Walmart, a worker skims the aisles hand-picking products to fill online orders. They will be delivered to the consumer who waits in a car outside the store.

Some advocates for the retail workers believe this may over time mean fewer, but better-paid, employees. As of now, the better pay part of the equation has not been apparent.

With many customers using their electronics to compare prices before making any buying decisions, the nature of in-store selling are changing, Sometimes, a clerk spends time explaining the merchandise, only to have the customer comment, “I’ll buy it online.” Sales people have to work harder to hold their ground.

In 2017, some 66,500 retail jobs disappeared. Some of that loss was made up by hires in accounting jobs in distribution/call centers. The hardest-hit areas of retailing are in clothing and consumer electronics. Department stores have been hardest hit, but many small businesses also are feeling the pinch.

Retailers who survive are scrambling to meet the challenges. The jobs they offer are likely to involve new duties. How these jobs will change depends on three factors: the pace at which online shopping expands; the changes that occur with robotics and shifts in hourly pay. Entry level jobs in retailing will disappear. There will be more pressure to perform. So far, surveys of these personnel show, the pay has not kept pace with the new demands.

Walmart, hustling to meet the Amazon challenge, now has 18,000 personal shoppers with very specific guidelines to do the picking for customers. They have 30 seconds to find an item or, if it is not available, to find a suitable substitute. They report that they come to know the tastes of certain repeat customers and routinely satisfy their shopping desires.

Target stores, too, are training more specialized sales persons in such areas as clothing, consumer electronics and beauty products. They pay them more for the expertise they bring to the job, which results in greater sales.

Add a Selfie To Your Credit Card Application

November 4, 2017 By Twila Van Leer

Add Selfie to Identification — Banks and other financial companies are likely to see the advantages of biometric identification and offer it as another safeguard for customers

The ubiquitous selfie may find yet another niche in the area of personal finances. Your bank may request one when approving a purchase or considering a credit card application.

Visa Inc., a payment processing giant, is launching a platform that will allow banks to use various forms of biometrics such as fingerprints, face recognition, voice, etc., that will provide positive identification.

In its simplest form, a bank may ask for a selfie and a picture of a current driver’s license or passport as backup. The technology will compare the photos for facial similarities and the validity of the supporting license or passport, all within seconds.

Selfies also could come into the picture with online shopping. Chipped credit and debit cards have made some inroads into fraud in retail shopping, but protecting online shoppers still is a concern. One in six potential transactions is declined because of suspicious activity.

Banks routinely autodial a customer when there is a question. The new technology would allow the customer to use Apple’s Touch ID or other fingerprint recognition technology or provide a selfie to verify the transaction.

Visa Inc. officials believe that soon customers can choose among a variety of authentication methods, whichever technology suits them.

The recent breach of data at Equifax, a huge credit bureau, with millions of bits of personal data stolen, has been impetus for more serious thinking about how such information can be protected.

It is harder to mimic a person’s face, fingerprint or voice, the innovators say. Passwords that have been common methods of protecting information have flaws that make them vulnerable because few people change them frequently enough or make them complex enough to avoid fraud. If they use the same password for more than one purpose, a breach at one site will put other locations at risk.

It is likely that the technology will be initially used in larger financial institutions. It took two years for chip technology to integrate itself into financial transactions. But ultimately, banks and other financial companies are likely to see the advantages of biometric identification and offer it as another safeguard for customers.