Over the weekend, I discovered that someone had stolen my credit card number and run up about $4000 in fraudulent charges. This is not the first time my card number has been misused, so I knew the drill; I called my credit card company and reported the fraud. The took the info and in about five minutes the charges were removed. I'm not sure who is out the $4000. The bulk of the charges were for Venmo for which the thief created a fraudulent account. Most of the rest were for supposed restaurant deliveries through Square/Caviar in California. I have to wonder how these services and the bank itself did not pick up the fraud. After all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I wasn't getting food delivered to Connecticut from a restaurant in San Francisco. Still, someone gets hit with that loss. For the bank, I guess it is just another cost of doing business.
The bigger point, however, is what this says about cyber security in general. Our whole country depends on cyber transactions. If a thief can steal 4000 dollars so easily, couldn't a foreign country shut down critical systems or otherwise create chaos just as easily? Have we put ourselves and our society at risk of disaster? It's a tough question, but it is one which we need to ponder ever more intensively. It's a hell of a lot more important than Stormy Daniels or the other craziness of the moment, but not for the media.
The bigger point, however, is what this says about cyber security in general. Our whole country depends on cyber transactions. If a thief can steal 4000 dollars so easily, couldn't a foreign country shut down critical systems or otherwise create chaos just as easily? Have we put ourselves and our society at risk of disaster? It's a tough question, but it is one which we need to ponder ever more intensively. It's a hell of a lot more important than Stormy Daniels or the other craziness of the moment, but not for the media.
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