A library of snippets
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AT&T has emerged victorious in a lawsuit filed by prominent crypto investor, Michael Terpin, nearly six years ago over his loss of millions in digital assets following a SIM-swapping hack.
In mid-2017, hackers changed Terpin’s phone number to divert calls and messages after they bribed an AT&T employee to swap his SIM settings with their own.
From AT&T Off the Hook in $24M Crypto Sim Swap Case – Blockworks.
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The group stole some three million tokens, worth about $23.8 million. According to the criminal indictment, the tokens ended up in Truglia’s account and were converted to Bitcoin, with the proceeds shared among the participants.
From SIM-swapper gets 18 months, must pay back $20 million he stole from crypto investor.
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Caesars confirmed the breach in an 8-K filing with federal regulators published before the markets opened on Thursday, saying that hackers stole its loyalty program database, which includes customers’ driver license numbers and Social Security numbers for “a significant number of members in the database.” Caesars also said it has “taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor, although we cannot guarantee this result,” implying that the company paid the hackers’ ransom.
From Hackers claim MGM cyberattack as outage drags into fourth day | TechCrunch.
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Nearly $900,000 worth of crypto was reportedly drained from one of the hot wallets belonging to billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
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If customer responses suggest the payment is highly likely to be a scam, Westpac will not allow the payment to be processed.
From New scam prevention measures for Westpac customers | Westpac.
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According to American Bankers’ 2023 “Future of Payments” report, one in ten boomers have used a digital wallet in-store compared to one in three millennials and “Ten Zs”. Boomers are also twice a likely to use a credit card and three times as likely to use checks.
After price, acceptance of the preferred payment choice is the next most important factor influencing the purchase choices.
Credit cards dominate in-store and online purchases for boomers, which makes sense, since 98% of boomer-owned cards have rewards. Get Z prefers debits cards and only when transactions amounts rise do they move to credit cards and BNPL
Many years ago I wrote a short story about identity as part of a project looking at difference ways to help citizens to understand key issues around security and privacy. I won’t bore you with the details, except to say that the story hinged on the ability of a man escaping his past life (and his creditors) by adopting the identity of a man killed in a traffic accident. Sadly, that story is now antiquarted, defunct, retired, obsolete and consigned to the trash can of history. Once again, advances in biometrics spoil the fun.
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A new investigation was launched in 2020 after facial identification software indicated Gonzalez’s face was on two state identification cards.
The facial recognition technology is used by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles to ensure no one obtains multiple credentials or credentials under someone else’s name, said Emily Cook, spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office.
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The cryptocurrency fintech startup Prime Trust lost the encryption key to its hardware wallet—and the recovery key—and therefore $38.9 million. It is now in bankruptcy.
I can’t understand why anyone thinks these technologies are a good idea.
From: Cryptocurrency Startup Loses Encryption Key for Electronic Wallet – Schneier on Security.
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This gripping tale unfolded when a 36-year-old married woman, hailing from an affluent family, mysteriously vanished from city’s Humayunnagar on June 29, 2018. She evaded detection by meticulously erasing all traces of her digital and personal identity, including her religious affiliation. She even married another man and altered her physical appearance while embarking on a new life working with an NGO in Maharashtra.
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One intriguing attempt to do so is Project Liberty, a $100mn not-for-profit initiative backed by the philanthropist Frank McCourt, which has released an open-source protocol allowing developers to build privacy-preserving apps and services.
From: Clean data must be as much of a right as clean water | Financial Times.
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Snippings