Customer Emails Breached at Big Companies, Banks

Not if you're tech savvy...

(NEWSER) - If you're sitting at a computer reading this story, chances are you've received an email—or two or three—from the likes of Citibank or Best Buy or Walgreens apologizing for the Epsilon email breach . But just how worried or angry should you actually be about the incident? Perhaps not very, at least if you're a savvy tech user. Since the attackers only have your name and email address, the "most worrisome" possibility is a targeted phishing attack, an expert tells Fast Company . More»

But company says there is no evidence card data was compromised

(NEWSER) - Sony executives apologized today for the PlayStation Network security breach , and acknowledged the hackers could have credit card information from as many as 10 million customers. Today’s press conference was the first time Sony, whose executives bowed deeply to express regret, has said how many credit cards could be vulnerable. Even so, the company says there is no evidence that encrypted credit card data was compromised, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Sony's security breach just got a lot worse

(NEWSER) - A hacker who got into the PlayStation Network may have gotten players' credit card information—including expiration dates and security codes, reports USA Today . "We cannot rule out the possibility," says a Sony executive on a company blog . The hacker, or hackers, did get personal information such as names, addresses, email addresses, passwords, and log-in names, notes the AP . Sony says it doesn't know for sure that credit card data got taken as well, but is warning people who gave information to PSN or the Qriocity music system "out of an abundance of caution." More»

Simple precautions can keep info out of scammers' hands

(NEWSER) - Phishing scams are becoming a lot more sophisticated. Unwary Internet users can easily end up with their bank account and credit card details in the hands of crooks. CNET lists the best ways to avoid becoming a victim:

• Change passwords regularly. Experts recommend that passwords be changed every three months or so, and warn against using the same password for multiple sites.
• Click with caution. Any apparently legitimate email asking you to click a link to another site—especially if it mentions updating security information—could be from a rogue site. It's safer just to type in the URL yourself.

New set of standards could make email more trustworthy

(NEWSER) - A new anti-phishing effort, backed by the big email service providers as well as banks, PayPal, social networks, and other companies, could dramatically reduce the number of scam emails you get in your inbox. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are backing the new plan; 15 companies in total have come together to create DMARC.org, which officially launches today and will promote standard technologies to authenticate email. The hoped-for end result? If you get an email that claims to be from paypal.com, you could trust that it is actually from paypal.com. If it works, companies would be able to communicate with customers in new ways, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»