Clear Unclear About What Happens to Customers Data After Abruptly Closing Doors

Out of business, Clear may sell customer data - It would go to a similar provider authorized by the TSA

By Robert McMillan

IDG News Service - Three days after ceasing operations, owners of the Clear airport security screening service acknowledged that their database of sensitive customer information may end up in someone else's hands, but only if it goes to a similar provider, authorized by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Until this week, the Clear service had given customers a way to skip long security lines in certain airports. For a $199 annual fee, air travelers could be pre-screened for flight and then use Clear's security checkpoints instead of the TSA's. Clear was run by New York's Verified Identity Pass, which also shut down on Monday.

Customers had to provide personal information, including credit card numbers, fingerprints and iris scans in order to participate in the program. After Clear abruptly shut its doors -- it has not yet declared bankruptcy -- some worried that this data could fall into the wrong hands.

"They had your social security information, credit information, where you lived, employment history, fingerprint information," said Clear customer David Maynor, who is chief technical officer with Errata Security in Atlanta. "They should be the only ones who have access to that information."

Maynor wants Clear to delete his information, but that isn't happening, the company said in a note posted to its Web site Thursday.

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Banking on What You Have and What You Know

Banks Have Serious Phishing "Issues" Need 2FA

Seeking Alpha - ‎1 hour ago‎

Banks have a "serious issue" with phishing attacks aimed at their online banking customers. It's time they take a long and serious look at a simple solution...2FA (two-factor authentication)

The nature of this beast known as "phishing" is to lure these onlinebanking folks, with a sophisticated and genuine looking trap whichincludes genuine looking emails which provide links to genuine lookingsites. (a new "type" of bait and switch)

Once there, users are simply instructed to do what they've been programmed to do since day one with online banking.  They are told to "type" in their username and password to log-in.  Problem is, once they "type" in their "username | password"  they provide full access to their accounts to the phisheries.

Continue Reading at Seeking Alpha

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Javelin Study Evaluates Alternative Payments

Javelin Strategy and Research just press released an announcement regarding a "new study" that purports to evaluate providers of alternative payments solutions for online retail transactions.  In fairness, it should be noted that Javelin Strategy and Research and Acculynk have a business relationship (i.e. cash has exchanged hands) which, in this bloggers "opinion" more than likely skews their objectivity at least a lil' bit.  In fairness, there's always the possibility that it doesn't.  In which case it could be simply a coincidence that Acculynk was found to "come closest to widespread success"  HomeATM is taking a wait and see approach.   We believe that as online fraud becomes even more prevalent than it already is, consumers will get the message and migrate away from typing their card numbers into a box on a website...which would preclude them from being able to use their mouse to enter their PIN.    Here's Javelin's press release:

Alternative Online Consumer Payments: Banks and Merchants Weigh a Host of New Options

Javelin Study Evaluates How Well Emerging Vendors Solve Online Transaction Needs

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Javelin Strategy & Research (www.javelinstrategy.com) today released a report that evaluates providers of alternative payment solutions for online retail transactions. The report, Predicting Alternative Payments Vendor Success: Balancing Needs Among Banks, Merchants, and Consumers (http://www.javelinstrategy.com/lp/AlternativePaymentsBrochure.html), reviews the rates and the value of services provided by nine vendors.

"Several emerging methods are strong at balancing the needs of banks, merchants and consumers, which historically predicts success in new payment methods. None of the solutions are perfect, yet we found many vital differences among those we analyzed," said Mary Monahan, Managing Partner and Research Director.

Included in the report are vendors with some level of emerging status (eliminating vendors such as PayPal and BillMeLater), as well as some level of financial-institution orientation (eliminating Revolution Money). Vendors evaluated include Acculynk, eBillme, HomeATM, Mazooma, Moneta, NACHA SVP, Noca, SeerGate, and Verient.

Key Findings from the Report Include:

• The three vendor solutions that come closest to widespread success are those offered by Acculynk, eBillme and Moneta – with Verient’s platform finishing close behind. 
• Many former alternatives for online retail transactions are quickly going mainstream.
• Emerging payment methods from traditional payment providers have the advantage of trusted brands and established networks for issuance, acceptance and processing.
• To retain and grow valuable customer relationships, financial institutions must offer dynamic, alternative payment solutions that meet consumer, merchant and bank needs.

"Financial institutions are faced with increasing competition from non-financial institution payment brands, such as PayPal, that seek to usurp transaction volume, particularly online," said Bruce Cundiff, Director of Payments Research and Consulting. "As consumers shift from credit cards to various forms of ‘pay-now’ methods, financial institutions must offer new payment methods to remain the primary and all-around trusted financial provider."

About Javelin Strategy & Research

Javelin is the leading independent provider of quantitative and qualitative research focused exclusively on financial services topics. Based on the most rigorous statistical methodologies, Javelin conducts in-depth primary research studies to pinpoint dynamic risks and opportunities. Javelin helps its clients achieve their initiatives through three service offerings, including syndicated research subscriptions, custom research projects and strategic consulting. Javelin’s client list includes some of the largest banks, credit unions, card issuers, and technology enterprises in the financial services industry. For more information about this or other Javelin reports, please visit www.javelinstrategy.com/research or contact Elizabeth Travers at (925) 225-9100 ext 31 or at etravers@javelinstrategy.com.

Contacts

Javelin Strategy & Research
Elizabeth Travers, 925-225-9100 ext. 31
etravers@javelinstrategy.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/google/20090623005407/en

5comments:

Anonymoussaid...

"In fairness, it should be noted that Javelin Strategy and Researchand Acculynk have a business relationship (i.e. cash has exchangedhands) which, in this bloggers "opinion" more than likely skews theirobjectivity at least a lil' bit."

-Not sure how this skewsobjectivity. It seems to me Javelin has always reported on implicationsof actual data. It seems to me you have to understand the data andresearch methodology to make your own assumptions. If we throw out allresearch companies who service the industry for a fee, I guess we'releft with...hmm. I not actually sure who we're left with. Maybe agovernment agency or a fed bank report. My only point is to look at thedata and how conclusions are derived. Statistically significantfindings are indeed findings, whether you like the results or not.

June 23, 2009 9:07 AM 

 

John B. Franksaid...

It's not that I don't like the results.  It's that I am using aneducated guess to decipher what the results were based on.  The truthis, most research companies, or analysts agree that if you "type" yournumber into a box on a website, it will get hacked. It is not it "might gethacked"...it WILL.  So, with that said, I don't know how well the vendorin question "solves" online transaction needs, when their solution"requires" first, for the consumer "type" their card number into a box(as per usual) before they inherently admit that doing so is not safe...and then lock the keyboard to ensure that consumers do NOT use it, to enter their PIN.  I don't think my imagination isrunning away with me when I project that intercepting mouse clicks, viascreen scrapers, or mouse-logging is going to be that difficult of atask for sophisticated hackers to figure out. My point isn't that Idon't LIKE the results. My point is that they don't make sense. Settingup consumers to have their PIN codes hacked is not, in my mind,"solving transaction needs."

You have to admit, that much is true.

Onthe flip side, if the report was entitled, Javelin Study Evaluates HowWell Emerging Vendors "CONVENIENTLY" Solve Online Transaction Needs,then I might agree with their findings. It is less convenient to get aPCI 2.0 Certified Device into the hands of the consumer than it is to simplyvisit a website that downloaded the vendors API. . But part of theproblem, (the part that hackers love) is that pushing "convenience"over "security" won't work in the long run.  

Thanks for taking the time to anonymously comment! - JBF

June 23, 2009 10:20 AM

Bruce Cundiffsaid...

I will not anonymously comment, as I wrote the Javelin report (andhave had minimal interaction with Acculynk as a Javelin client). Iwould like to address the accusations of bias and influence directly.

Thereport I wrote was based on independently gathered information andconsumer data on various solutions, with the primary criterion forefficacy of a solution being the balance of value that said solutionprovides for
the constituents in an online retail transaction: financial institutions, merchants, and consumers.

Secondly,you cannot separate convenience and security. Consumer usability wasABSOLUTELY part of my analysis, and I make no apologies for it.

Itis very easy to have zero fraud. Have zero transactions. Elegantsolutions take both the reality and the perception (consumer andotherwise) issues associated with security into account, effectivelybalancing the two. Leading (and ending) with a message that is basedsolely on "better security," and one that marginalizes and ignoresconsumer usability is a path fraught with peril.

Thanks forcommenting on the press release for our new report and linking to oursite. Please let me know if you have any additional questions aboutthis or our other research.

June 23, 2009 4:39 PM

John B. Franksaid...

Bruce Cundiff stated above that It is very easy to have zero fraud with zero transactions. I couldn't agree more.  That said,  We've done 80K + transactions with zero fraud. Over $7M in dollars. All verifiable with eFunds. 

June 23, 2009 9:01 PM

Kenneth G. Magessaid...

Bruce,

I love America and I especially love the Internet because it disintermediates us all so elegantly and swiftly.

I'velong followed your thoughts on ecommerce and highly respect yourconsidered thinking, writing, and speeches on same. However, as to yourlatest report Predicting Alternative Payments Vendor Success I mustmake some comments and please bear in mind that John Frank and MitchellCobrin speak for themselves just as I do here.

As you correctlystated, with zero transactions you will have zero fraud. However Itrust you are willing to look at hard data which we will happilyprovide and validate through eFunds that from January 2008 through May2009, HomeATM ran over 80K PIN transactions totaling over 7M inprocessing with ZERO fraud or breach and no biased users.

Oursole purpose in running said transactions was to prove that our systemwas impervious to malware, phishing, man-in-the-middle attacks, and anyother method of hacking. It may (or may not) interest you that in the1990's I was personally preaching, writing patents, and raising moneyand awareness that music and video would inevitably be compressed,captured and redistributed freely on the web.

While I wastechnically correct, I could never convince the entertainment industrythat THEY had a problem and my business and personal fortune dissolved.

Imorphed my thinking to financial transactions and I say this with alldue respect to your obvious understanding that while the music industryin it's very best year did 15B in sales, that much money is moved everyhour on the Internet.

Is HomeATM the easiest ecommerce solution?Absolutely not. Do we have challenges getting our PIN entry devicesdistributed ubiquitously, absolutely. But I will give you a freeprediction analogous to the one I gave executives at Warner, Sony, RCA,etc. There will be a Napster of personal information where I can go toget your SSN, mother's maiden name, and or any other plastic card andidentity information you posses... unless said data is encrypted WITHhardware AT the point of data entry. I promise.

kgm

Chairman/CEO
HomeATM ePayment Solutions

Global Payments to Announce Q4 and Y/E Earnings

Global Payments to Announce Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings on July 23, 2009

Press Release, Source: Global Payments Inc.
 
ATLANTA -- Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN - News), a leader in payment processing services, will release fourth quarter and year-end financial results for fiscal year 2009 after the market closes on July 23, 2009.

Global Payments' management will host a conference call for investors to discuss these results at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 23, 2009. Callers may access the conference call via the company's Web site at www.globalpaymentsinc.com by clicking the "Webcast" button; or callers in the U.S. and Canada may dial 1-8... and callers outside U.S. and Canada may dial 1-9.... The pass code is "GPN." A replay of the call may be accessed through the Global Payments' Web site through August 6, 2009.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN - News) is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing services for consumers, merchants, Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), financial institutions, government agencies and multi-national corporations located throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic check conversion and check guarantee, verification and recovery including electronic check services, as well as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transfer services from the U.S. and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco, and the Philippines. For more information about the company and its services, visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

Global Payments, GPN

Things Happen in 3's...Don't Read Too Much Intuit

Editors Note:  Things happen in 3's and Symantec is alerting those who read, that there will be dozens, if not hundreds, of attempts to "capitalize" on the recent passing's of the King, the Angel and to a lesser extent, the Sidekick.   

Speaking of 3's, before learning math, did anyone else originally think that 3 was half of 8?

Celebrity Deaths and What to Expect in Cyberspace 

Symantec Security Response writes...

This week has seen the tragic deaths of three iconic American super stars: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. As always, events such as these seem to be prime targets for spammers and malicious code authors alike.

Internet users should expect to see a flurry of threats seeking to play upon the emotions and curiosity of the public around these events. If you’re looking for news, videos, pictures, or any information regarding these individuals and their lives, Symantec recommends that you only visit sites you’re familiar with and trust. Don’t click on every link you see related to this story and always keep your security solutions up-to-date.

For example, Symantec has observed spam that appears to be a spoof on CNN that actually contains a link to a malicious Web page.

Users that click on the link will be redirected to a page that prompts users to download and run a file on a fake Flash Player, which actually installs malicious code.

Here are some of the additional spam and online tactics Symantec does expect to see as attackers seek to further take advantage of these tragedies:

• Spam with subject lines related to any of these deaths trying to peddle fake medicines
• Spam with subject lines related to any of these deaths leading to misleading applications, such as fake antivirus software
• Spam with subject lines related to any of these deaths leading to fake codecs
• Spam with subject lines related to any of these deaths with malware attached
• Search engine poisoning campaigns injecting malicious sites into the top search engine results related to any of these deaths
• Sites claiming to host videos of the last moments of these individuals lives, but actually peddling fake goods or malware
• Links to fake videos of these stars that actually attempt to infect users with malware
• Social networking site messages related to these deaths that could link to malware such as W32.Koobface
• Twitter tweets about these deaths with links to all sorts of malicious Web sites

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Could Your Bank Have Saved You From Becoming a Victim of Fraud? Duh!

HomeATM's SafeTPIN could eliminate phishing, cloned bank websites AND "Account Takeover Fraud" in one fell swoop...er, swipe.

Customers are complaining that lax monitoring of accounts has cost them thousands of pounds

Times Online - Lauren Thompson

Banks are not properly monitoring accounts for fraud, so putting their customers’ money at risk, a Times Money investigation has found.

Many people assume that their banks will pick up on unusual activity and stop transactions if they appear suspicious. However, fraud victims say that their banks have authorised transactions allowing several thousands of pounds to be spent in a few hours.

Sandra Quinn, of Apacs, the UK payments association, says: “There are no industry guidelines for how banks should monitor fraud. Each has a different policy. It is impossible for consumers to know which is best — or worst — because they do not publish their fraud figures or details of their monitoring policies.”

While there is nothing in the Banking Code that compels banks to monitor for fraud, they all say that they have “detection systems” to identify unusual spending patterns and potentially fraudulent transactions. But they deliberately do not tell consumers the type of transactions that may be flagged as suspicious in case it gives fraudsters too much information.

Alex Barnett, of Halifax, says: “We are unable to disclose what values or transaction patterns trip a fraud alert, mainly because this is assessed on an individual basis. A set of normal transactions for one person may not be normal for another.”

Concerns about monitoring have mounted as banks appear more reluctant to compensate victims of chip-and-PIN fraud. Times Money has been inundated with letters from readers who have had thousands of pounds withdrawn from accounts, only to find that their banks refuse to compensate them. Many have been “shoulder-surfed” — watched as they enter their PIN — then had their cards stolen and accounts drained at cash machines and in shops.

Under the Banking Code, consumers are not liable for such fraudulent transactions, but banks are refusing to pay out, telling customers that they "must have been" negligent with their PIN.

Jane Smith, 58, was a victim of fraud after an HSBC cash machine on Baker Street, Central London, swallowed her Abbey debit card. She went back to the branch as soon as it opened the next day, only to find that fraudsters had spent £4,000 — her entire overdraft — in less than 24 hours. Abbey initially refused to pay a refund, saying that she must have given her PIN to someone. It took her three months to recover the money.

She says: “I have been a loyal Abbey customer for 30 years (Editor's Note: which is probably the "only" reason it took three month instead of never...read on) and have never been overdrawn until this happened.

Surely the bank should have noted the transactions and stopped them?”

Professor Ross Anderson, of the University of Cambridge computer laboratory, says that Mrs Smith’s story is common. “Banks have used chip-and-PIN to dump liability,” he says. “If a transaction is disputed and a PIN was used, it is either the customer or the merchant’s fault. Why should banks go to the trouble of running a complex detection system to flag up suspicious transactions? It is simpler to authorize transactions, especially once fraud becomes someone else’s problem.”

Emma Woolf, 27, had a similar problem with her Abbey business account. She was horrified to discover a balance of £23 when she logged on to online banking — her account should have contained about £10,000. Fraudsters had been draining the funds for three months, mainly by making cash withdrawals of up to £500 at a time. They had also changed the address on the account.

Miss Woolf, who lives in northwest London, says: “I have not made a cash withdrawal on my account for several years, so endless cash withdrawals are very out of character. Yet it was not flagged up by the fraud team.”

Like Mrs Smith, Abbey told Miss Woolf that she must have been negligent with her PIN and is refusing to pay back her money.

“I have kept my card in a safe since October and have never told anyone the PIN,” she says. “I have now lost £10,000 and my business cannot operate. It has been a nightmare.”

Miss Woolf says that she is a victim of "account takeover fraud," which rose by 62 per cent last year, compared with 2007.

A fraudster contacts a bank, masquerading as the genuine cardholder, and then arranges for funds to be transferred out of the account, or changes the address and asks for a replacement card.

Editors Note:  Masquerading as the "genuine" cardholder fraud is UP 62%?  How so, or why so?  Two thoughts:  

1. The genuine cardholder should be "required" to prove they are genuine. 

What better way than swipe their card and enter their PIN? 
Two Factor Authentication with the same protocols as accessing an ATM...and

2. If they claim they "lost" the card, (and need a replacement) how's this for a thought to cut down on fraud that's rose 62% last year...Simply require them to physically come to the bank to get a new one and provide documentation.

The story continues...

Fraud costs the banking industry millions of pounds every year — and losses are increasing. Last year card fraud rose to £609.9 million, a 14 per cent increase on 2007. Cathy Neal, of Which?, the consumer organization, says that there needs to be greater clarity and consistency on how banks monitor fraud: “They will not pick up on highly unusual activity but will often stop transactions if a customer is abroad, for example.

“The vagueness of the Banking Code on fraud liability means that banks are inconsistent with compensation. Many victims are also not told how fraudsters stole account or card details, which can be very unsettling.”

Nina Gregory, 70, is taking Abbey to a small claims court next week after fraudsters took £2,800 from her Isa account two years ago while she was on holiday. The bank has refused to refund the money, a decision upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

She says: “I went to Russia for five weeks and took my VIsa card with me. When I received my monthly statement when I got back, I saw that £200 had been withdrawn from cash machines in West London, every day for two weeks, until the money ran out. I have never withdrawn so much cash from a machine, or so regularly.

“However, Abbey insists that because the correct PIN was used, and the transactions took place near to my house, it cannot be fraud. It implied that I left my card at home and was somehow negligent with my PIN.”

Mrs Gregory, like many victims of fraud, says that she was made to feel like a criminal, adding:

“Abbey’s fraud department asked me lots of aggressive questions to try to establish how I had been negligent. Where did I keep my purse? Had I written down the PIN? To be accused of lying or colluding with fraudsters at my age is an insult.”

Continue Reading at Times Online

account takeover fraud, phishing, SafeTPIN, cloned bank websites

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iAWFUL (Internet Advocates Watchlist for Ugly Laws)

Government IT: The Top 10 Worst Internet Proposed Laws in the U.S.

From discriminatory taxes against the Internet to singling out Web operations for unfair treatment to efforts to "fix" social networking sites, the states are seemingly working night and day to conjure up laws that would impact the Internet in more bad ways than good. To highlight some of the really bad boys of Internet regulation, the advocacy group NetChoice has created the iAWFUL (Internet Advocates Watchlist for Ugly Laws) list. eWEEK takes a look at the iAWFUL top 10 list.

Click here to see the slide show

iAWFUL, Internet Advocates Watchlist for Ugly Laws

United Airlines Tells Travel Agencies to Eat Credit Card Fees

United Tells Travel Agents to Cover Credit Card Fees

• Analysis by: GLG Expert Contributor
• Analysis of: United To Shift Card Costs To Agencies
• Published at: http://hudsoncrossing.blogspot.com

Implications: How widely adopted will this change be? What will the effect be on consumers? On OTAs? On the airline industry?

Analysis: It appears United has taken the next step in the airline industry's never-ending quest to lower distribution costs or at least get others to shoulder the burden for them... United today informed a currently unknown number of travel agents that they would no longer be able to use the industry reconciliation system, ARC, to process tickets which were paid for with a credit card.

United is asking these travel agents to process credit card transactions themselves and then report the sale as a cash transaction. Until now, when a travel agency (or OTA) has sold a published ticket on United (or any other carrier) the credit card is actually processed by the airline. As such, the airline is responsible for paying the 2-3% (in rough numbers) that Amex, Visa, Mastercard and Discover charge for using their cards. In the new world proposed by United, agents will process the credit cards themselves (presumably along with an additional consumer fee) and then remit the full amount of the ticket back to United. This would obviously save a considerable amount of money for United if widely adopted.

Still too early to tell what this means for consumers but if the airline industry adopts United's moves broadly, consumers may be forced to pay one more fee if they are not willing or cannot visit an airline's website...

Continue Reading at GLGroup

United Airlines, Travel Agencies, United Tells Travel Agencies to Cover Credit Card Fees

If You Can't Beat 'em (Hackers) Hire 'em

UK looks to young geeks to secure cyberspace

By DAVID STRINGER –

LONDON (AP) — Britain is hiring former computer hackers to join a new security unit aimed at protecting cyberspace from foreign spies, thieves and terrorists, the country's terrorism minister said.

Alan West said the technology-savvy staff will join efforts to trace the source of — and prevent — cyber attacks on Britain's government, businesses and individuals. The country also will develop its capability to wage cyber warfare against the country's foes, he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the creation of the unit Thursday as he published an updated national security strategy, detailing Britain's response to global terrorism and emerging threats.

"Just as in the 19th century we had to secure the seas for our national safety and prosperity, and in the 20th century we had to secure the air, in the 21st century we also have to secure our position in cyberspace," Brown said.

West said British government systems had probably come under cyber attack but that he did not know of any specific cases where sensitive data had been lost. British telecom BT Group PLC, one of the world's largest telecommunications providers, estimates it has about 1,000 attempted cyber attacks per day on its systems, West said.

Jonathan Evans, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency MI5, has previously warned that both China and Russia are using new technology to spy on Britain. Russia is accused of mounting large-scale attacks on Estonia's computer systems in 2008...

Continue Reading

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Trojan Steals Banking Details

Trojan Banbra’s New Variant Steals Banking Details

According to the researchers at Panda Security, the notorious 'Banbra Trojan' has been recently identified in another version. Essentially, this malware is designed to capture end-users' online banking details, the researchers stated.

Just like the other versions, the new Banbra.GIM, which affects Windows 2000, 2003, NT, XP, ME, 95 and 98, creeps into computers via an e-mail purporting to have come from a particular banking community in Brazil.

The Trojan succeeds in contaminating numerous PCs by pretending to be a genuine security software. That means the fraudulent e-mail supposedly from the bank presents software that seemingly guarantees the user security while he conducts online banking transactions. But the program actually steals crucial banking details, the researchers elucidated.

Should Global Cash Lose It's License?

Arizona regulators say Vegas ATM company, Global Cash, should lose license

Casino City Times: An Arizona agency says Global Cash Access Inc. of Las Vegas can't be trusted as a casino vendor because it committed theft and fraud years ago, and in recent years has lied to regulators about that scandal and other issues. The harsh words about the company are in a June 3 report from the Arizona Department of Gaming recommending Global Cash lose its license to do business in that state, where it now contracts with about 20 Indian casinos. Global Cash, which provides gaming-credit services and ATMs in casinos, revealed the Arizona action earlier this month and said it plans to contest the recommendation. The Arizona report says that from 1999 to 2002, Global Cash deliberately miscoded transactions involving Visa by disguising cash transactions as retail purchases, meaning it would pay a lower fee to banks issuing the Visa cards. Global Cash made $26 million with this scheme, the Arizona report says.

Continue Reading

Simple Steps to Keep Your Identity Safe Online

Simple steps to keep your identity safe online

June is Internet Safety Month, and simple identity theft protection steps such as shredding your mail and keeping careful tabs on your bank accounts and credit cards are essential first layers of protection against identity thieves. But there is an open door in many homes that is inviting criminals into personal information, and it is often left unprotected - the computer.

A recent study by online security provider Tiversa found more than 13 million online files have been breached over the last year, and P2P sharing services seem to be a popular way for criminals to get in.

There are steps consumers can take to reduce their risk for identity theft through the use of P2P file sharing services. LifeLock offers the following online safety tips:

• Install file-sharing software carefully, taking special note of default settings and permissions placed on shared folders
• Use security software and make sure you keep it up-to-date. You can set most anti-virus and anti-spyware protection programs to update automatically and regularly
• Be sure to close your connections when you are done with a file-sharing session. Closing the window doesn't automatically close the connection, which could leave your computer's information vulnerable
• Maintain backups of all important documents. This will ensure your information is maintained for your personal use should you need to delete it from your computer or any file
• Talk with your family about safe file-sharing practices, and create separate user accounts for others who may use your computer. By separating accounts you can prevent others from installing software on your computer that may expose your information
• Before providing personal information to your doctor, attorney, insurance company, employer or anyone else make sure to ask for details on how they will keep this data secure

Identity theft is costing Americans more than $1.8 billion annually, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and the latest FTC reports show the number of identity theft complaints has grown by 80 percent since 2000. Among the forms of identity theft and fraud reported to the FTC in 2008 are credit card fraud, medical benefit fraud and falsified government or employment documents.

VisaNet IPO: $4.3 Billion, Worlds Largest in Over a Year

Finextra: VisaNet IPO totals $4.3m

VisaNet IPO totals $4.3m
Visa's Brazilian affiliate VisaNet is raising around $4.3 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest in the world for over a year.

The Sao Paulo-based credit card company's shareholders - including Visa, Banco Bradesco, Banco do Brasil and Banco Santander - sold 559.81 million shares at a price of 15 reais each.

Book-building in the IPO closed out yesterday with shares set to begin trading on the Brazilian Stock Exchange on Monday.

According to a Reuters report, on Wednesday 19 brokerages were banned from participating in the IPO for allegedly releasing unapproved advertising material about the sale.

VisaNet was the first Brazilian IPO of the year and the country's biggest ever.

VisaNet, IPO