librarians without borders

Invisible Blog

Wow, this doesn't even show up on Google when you search for librarians without borders. This is not so good. In view of the fact that I found several other entities using the name or the phrase, I don't think it is clever any more.

So therefor, consequently, henceforth we are retiring this blog and will put all posts on the OldFox.Info blog. oldfox R Us

Twas trillig...

There is no traffic to this blog

66 hits are all me !

Anyway, I have signed up for Google's AdSense which posts advertisements on the site. Interesting to see the adds fed are all about blogs just now.
One ad is about "flying to lwb airport?" which is indicative of how the Google system selects the ads.

40 million credit cards exposed

Payment processor blamed in mishap
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 9:35 p.m. ET June 17, 2005Viewed by the numbers, it's the largest security breach made public in recent memory.

An "unauthorized individual" infiltrated the computer network of a third-party payment processor and may have stolen up to 40 million credit card numbers, MasterCard International revealed Friday. All brands of credit cards were exposed in the attack; about 14 million of the 40 million accounts exposed were MasterCard accounts, the firm said.

MasterCard spokeswoman Jessica Antle said other important personal information, such as Social Security Numbers and birthdays, was not stolen during the incident.

MasterCard pinned the blame on Tucson, Ariz.-based CardSystems Solutions Inc. In a statement issued late Friday, CardSystems confirmed it suffered a "security incident" on May 22.

"We understand and fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation," the statement, which was signed by marketing director Bill Reeves, said. "We are sparing no effort to get to the bottom of this matter. Our goal is to cooperate fully with the FBI to complete the investigation."

CardSystems did not answer other questions posed by e-mail and did not return telephone calls.

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On its Web site, CardSystems says it performs transactions for more than 100,000 small companies with more than $15 billion in Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover transactions processed annually.

Visa USA acknowledged in a statement that some of its credit card accounts were also compromised in the incident; it did not reveal how many. Judy Tenzer, a spokeswoman for American Express, confirmed a small number of its customers were also caught up in the breach. Discover did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

MasterCard officials say they discovered the fraud and traced it to a problem at CardSystems. CardSystems, in its statement, indicated it discovered the incident and voluntarily reported it to the FBI and the credit card associations.

CardSystems also would not confirm the number of accounts placed at risk by the intrusion, pegged at up to 40 million by MasterCard.

"MasterCard International is notifying its member financial institutions of a breach of payment card data, which potentially exposed more than 40 million cards of all brands to fraud," MasterCard's statement said.

CardSystems was fingered by MasterCard after it spotted fraud on credit card accounts and found a common thread, tracing it back to CardSystems, MasterCard said.

"Through the use of MasterCard fraud-fighting tools that proactively monitor for fraud, MasterCard was able to identify the processor that was breached," the company said in its statement.

MasterCard spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin said a computer virus was not to blame for the data theft. She said she couldn't provide details of how the systems were hacked, but did say that "an unauthorized entity put a specific code into CardSystems' network," enabling the person or group to gain access to the data. She wouldn't say how long attackers had access to CardSystems computers.

But upon discovering the incident, MasterCard immediately notified customer banks of specific card accounts that may have been subject to compromise so they can watch for fraud, she said.

While intruders who raided the processor's system had access to 40 million accounts, it's not clear how many account numbers were actually stolen, she said.

Vulnerabilities in CardSystems' computers have now been fixed, she said.

"They did not have adequate protection, but they are being entirely cooperative," Gamsin said.

RELATED STORY
Congress urged to boost ID theft safeguards




Banks may or may not close accounts
Typically, credit card-issuing banks decide whether to cancel and reissue credit cards connected to security breaches. It was not immediately clear what steps issuing banks were taking in response to the news.

But Avivah Litan, a security analyst with Gartner Inc., said most banks won't reissue cards until there's evidence of active fraud. Usually, that means the criminal with the stolen data can complete at least one or two purchases before the card is canceled, and that puts merchants at risk.

"The sad truth is that the card companies could easily contain the potential damage by shutting down the affected accounts and issuing new cards," she said. "But of course they won’t do that because that would cost them around $10 a card. Instead, they will let retailers take most of the hit."

The news comes on the heels of several other high-profile data leaks. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says about 10 million people's personal data has been lost or stolen since February.

The CardSystems incident is similar to a data theft in 2003 involving another payment processor, Omaha, Neb.-based Data Processors International. In that case, a computer criminal stole 8 million credit card account numbers from the processor.

"Data breaches are now at pandemic proportions," said Rob Douglas, a security expert who operates PrivacyToday.com. He has testified several times before Congress about data thefts. "The level of data breaches is not just a national embarrassment, it is a national emergency and Congress needs to act accordingly."

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., was critical of the timing of the announcement, coming late on a Friday afternoon, suggesting the news was intentionally released then to limit media attention.

"Today's announcement only underscores the need for new federal legislation to protect American consumers from the unending stream of revelations from corporate America about failure after failure to protect the public from data security breaches," Markey said.

Markey is himself the author of three bills to combat identity theft. One would limit the sale and use of Social Security numbers, another sets new controls on those who sell personal data and a third would limit exporting of personal data outside the United States.

Bob Sullivan is author of Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic

© 2005 MSNBC Interactive

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it
was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg
in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in
pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or
French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't
sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we
explore its paradoxes, we find that

quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a
guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of
tooth is teeth, why isn't the

pl ural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2
meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one
amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of
all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a
vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be
committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what
language do people:

Recite at a play and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a
wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in
which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you
fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes
off by going on.

Eng lish was invented by people, not computers, and it
reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course,
is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out,
they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are
invisible.

PS: Why doesn't "buick" rhyme with "quick"?