May News and Views Published Below

CU SECURITY & TECHNOLOGY News - Providing a brief summary of news and information related to security and technology issues for credit unions - Plus some interesting and fun web sites . . .

Why a CU should or should not use MySpace, Facebook, or other social media outlets?

If you are a credit union, why should you use or not use MySpace, Facebook, or other social media outlets as methods to attract young adults and teens?

Readers comments as to Why a Credit Union should or should not use Myspace, Facebook, or other social media outlets?

“I believe that if used properly, social media is the most effective method of consumer influence in today’s market.

I can’t source the following numbers, but I know that I’ve seen them somewhere credible before:

- 30% of online consumers find a manufacturer website to be credible.

- 70% of online consumers find media and/or journalists credible.

- 68% of online consumers find other consumers (people whom they have never met) to be credible.

Pretty powerful stuff, no?”

Another reader comments:

“This sounds kind of like an essay question for school.

“Should” reasons/rationale:

* Social media is a way to reach a target market, much like advertising on specific tv shows or cable channels

* social media is influential

* social media is new marketing avenue

* other companies are doing it successfully

* stay competitive

* keep in touch with current trends

* young people have lots of questions about money management & credit unions can provide answers


“Should not” reasons/rationale:

* potential for credit union to lose credibility (if they’re not upfront about who they are & what they do — like when a company’s marketing person “disguises” him/herself as average citizen who says good things about products, services but who is really just pitching for the company)

* social media is unknown territory with lots of potential pitfalls

* young people may resent adults entering their “turf”

* adults aren’t as savvy when entering the cyberspace world of young people

Hope this helps.”

Good luck!

North American Biometrics Market Witnesses Growth Spurt, Finds Frost & Sullivan

The North American biometrics market is likely to experience a steady growth rate, with national ID projects, e-Passports, and other security projects spearheading market growth. Trends indicate that the industry has evolved a great deal over the past 5 years due to the increased accuracy rates and performance levels of the technology. Biometric standards, cost versus performance benchmarks, and interoperability issues have enabled high uptake in civil and commercial applications even as fraudulent activities and identity thefts continue to cost institutions significant revenue losses.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.autoid.frost.com), North American Biometrics Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $364.4 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $1,588.6 million in 2016.
http://www.autoid.frost.com/

NCUA Warns against Phony E-Mails

E-mails purporting to offer $40 to participate in a survey that say they come from the NCUA are false, the agency warned.

The e-mails, which solicit credit union member participation in an Online Survey or Member Survey are “fraudulent, and may be an attempt to obtain confidential member information. NCUA does not solicit such information from credit union members. This is a phishing activity with no NCUA activity or approval,” the agency said in a statement.

Fraud forced Cardtronics to shut down 1,000+ ATMs

ATM provider Cardtronics Inc. was forced to temporarily shut down more than 1,000 ATMs owned by companies and merchants earlier this year when owners of its armored-car service were charged with fraud.

Cardtronics, which owns and operates more than 28,000 ATMs in the U.S., shut down nearly 4% of its ATMs after the owners of Mount Vernon (N.Y.) Money Center Corp. were arrested Feb. 8, according to Cardtronics' filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (ATM & Debit News May 19).

Arrested were Money Center Corp. President Robert Egan, 64, and Chief Operating Officer Bernard McGarry, 50. Their company supplied cash to more than 5,300 ATMs, including those of Cardtronics.

The two men were indicted for allegedly defrauding banks, other financial institutions, retailers, hospitals and universities out of $50 million. Instead of segregating cash for each of their clients, they allegedly commingled funds by taking whatever cash that arrived in the vault, regardless of its source, to fill the next day's ATMs, according to the indictment.

The company had to convert the ATMs to another third-party armored-service provider, which resulted in downtime at the machines. Cardtronics estimates it lost $16.2 million from the vault. Money Center has been put into receivership.

Targeting and Measuring Social Media Objectives

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31628

(Click above for more information)

Ways to Extend the Life of Your Printer Ink Cartridges

Since ink cartridges can be quite expensive, making them last for as long as possible makes sense. Here are a few simple ways to get the most out of your ink cartridges.

1)  Print in draft mode. Most of the items we print out do not need to printed at the highest quality. Simply printing in draft mode can give you 3 to 5 times more prints from your cartridges.

2)  Store your cartridges properly. If you get a deal on cartridges online and want to purchase a large quantity to save money you should make sure you store them properly. If stored under the right conditions, cartridges can stay in good condition for up to two years. Make sure they are in a place that is not too hot or too cold, keep the cartridges in an upright position, and do not open the packages until you are ready to use them. The vacuum seal helps keep air from the cartridges extending the life of the ink cartridges.

3)  Use the printer frequently. Yes, I said use your printer. If you use your printer on a regular basis you can help keep your cartridges in good working order and prevent the nozzles from getting clogged by dried ink. It is recommended that you print at least a page or so every couple of weeks at a minimum.

CUNA Tech Council Offers Social Media Report

The CUNA Technology Council is offering a new report on the benefits and pitfalls of social media.

The 30-page paper discusses how credit unions should assess how social media tools fit into their overall marketing objectives and what values such specific tools as Facebook and Twitter provide the credit union and members. Protection from malware and other threats also is examined.

The paper was authored by Elizabeth Thompson, a Madison, Wis., writer who has produced more than a dozen white papers for the CUNA Councils and drew on input from credit unions and industry experts and providers.

“Social Media from a Technology Point of View” is free to CUNA Council members and $50 to non-members and is one of more than 200 white papers offered through http://www.cunacouncils.org/.

Poland Installs Europe's First Biometric Fingerprint-Scanning ATM Machine

 Given the financial situations in Greece, Spain, and Portugal in recent weeks, the Euro Zone has plenty of reason to be down on itself. But Poland is showing a bit of financial-sector flash this week, becoming the first nation in Europe to install biometric ATM machines that read fingerprints rather than magnetic cards.

Poland's BPS SA bank set a European -- and if we're not mistaken, a Western -- milestone by installing the biometric cash machine in Warsaw.

Senior Prank at High School Brings Smiles and Donations

Kudos to the Seckman Senior High School girls (St. Louis, MO area)

Sunday night they pulled their senior prank, and a very funny one, and it wasn't destructive. They hung over 1,000 bras from the trees and the fences in front of their high school and they placed signs around, such as "Thank you for the uplifting experience," "Thanks for all your support" and "We're busting out of here."

The students and staff and teachers had lots of laughs for a few days this week. Teachers were known to share the incident on Facebook and comment that this was the best senior prank ever. No harm was done, but fun and enjoyment to be remembered for a long time. By the way, most of these bras were donated to charity, because most of them were very gently used and some of them weren't even used.

Do You Know Where Your Tech Support is Coming From?

How Much Government?

Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was eager to weave a safety net under millions of impoverished Americans who were retired and had no savings.

On his left, supporters called for a massive new government program. On his right, Republicans argued that it wouldbankrupt the country and undermine people's habits of thrift and self-reliance.

Sound familiar?

Internet Flaws Could Bring Down Service in 30 Minutes

In 1998, a hacker told Congress that he could bring down the Internet in 30 minutes by exploiting a certain flaw that sometimes caused online outages by misdirecting data. In 2003, the administration of President George W. Bush concluded that fixing this flaw was in the nation's "vital interest."

Fast forward to 2010, and very little has happened to improve the situation. The flaw still causes outages every year. Although most of the outages are innocent and fixed quickly, the problem still could be exploited by a hacker to spy on data traffic or take down websites. Meanwhile, our reliance on the Internet has only increased. The next outage, accidental or malicious, could disrupt businesses, the government or anyone who needs the Internet to run normally.

The outages are caused by the somewhat haphazard way that traffic is passed between companies that carry Internet data. The outages are called "hijackings," even though most of them are not caused by criminals bent on destruction. Instead the outages are a problem borne out of the open nature of the Internet, a quality that also has stimulated the Net's dazzling growth.

"It's ugly when you look under the cover," says Earl Zmijewski, a general manager at Renesys Corp., which tracks the performance of data routes. "It amazes me every day when I get into work and find it's working."

When you send an e-mail, view a Web page or do anything else online, the information you read and transmit is handed from one carrier of Internet data to another, sometimes in a long chain. When you log into Facebook, your data might be handed from your Internet service provider to a company such as Level 3 Communications Inc., which operates a global network of fiber-optic lines that carry Internet data across long distances. It, in turn, might pass the data to a carrier that's connected to Facebook's servers.

The crux of the problem is that each carrier along the way figures out how to route the data based only on what the surrounding carriers in the chain say, rather than by looking at the whole path. It's as if a driver had to get from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh without a map, navigating solely by traffic signs he encountered along the way — but the signs weren't put up by a central authority. If a sign pointed in the wrong direction, that driver would get lost.

(Read more at: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/EEB5A07B82E2B45E8625771D0011FA3D?OpenDocument
or:  http://bit.ly/bYqCrR

Why Debit Cards Are a Nightmare

Not all plastics cards are created equal. The major differences in credit vs. debit is in the protections (or lack of protections) that come along with the fine print. A debit card is connected directly to a person’s bank account and when compromised can devastate your bank balance.

I know too many people who’ve fallen victim to some type of debit card fraud whether through skimming or unauthorized purchases and never recouped their losses. Sometimes the banks just won’t budge. They tend not to believe a person who’s PIN and card number was leaked.

Creditcards.com reports The Federal Reserve’s Regulation E (commonly dubbed Reg E), covers debit card transfers. It sets a consumer’s liability for fraudulent purchases at $50, provided they notify the bank within two days of discovering that their card or card number has been stolen. TWO DAYS. That’s it! After that, the maximum liability jumps to $500. Some banks will extend the grace period up to a year, but good luck getting your money back.

Federal laws limit cardholder liability to $50 in the case of credit card fraud, as long as the cardholder disputes the charge within 60 days. And if a victim doesn’t discover or report the fraud until after 60 days have passed, the liability could be the entire card balance, for a debit or credit card. Once your debit card is compromised, you might not find out until a check bounces or the card is declined. And once you do recover the funds, the thief can just start all over again, unless you cancel the account altogether.

Don’t use a debit card. Use credit cards and pay attention to your statements every month and refute unauthorized charges immediately. I check my charges online once every two weeks. If I’m traveling extensively, especially out of the country, I let the credit card company know ahead of time, so they won’t shut down my card while I’m on the road.

National Motor Vehicle Title Registration System

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is designed to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold. NMVTIS is also a tool that assists states and law enforcement in deterring and preventing title fraud and other crimes.

Use NMVTIS to access important vehicle history information. Data available to consumers include:

Title data
Brand history
Odometer reading
Total loss history
Salvage history

More at: http://www.nmvtis.gov/

Debit card scammers target credit union customers

West Virginia-based Star USA Credit Union is warning members about a scam in which customers have received an automated telephone message requesting debit card account information.

Credit union members received the call from scammers. The automated message alleges that customers' ATM/debit cards have been deactivated, and they must reveal account information and a three-digit security code (located on the back of the debit card) to reactivate it.

"They're asking for account information and personal information," said Steve Hewitt, Star USA vice president and spokesman. "They're identifying that the card has been compromised and needs to be reissued."

Star USA is urging members -- and anyone else with a debit or credit card -- not to release banking account and PIN numbers, or other personal information when receiving an unsolicited phone call.

Hewitt said more than a dozen credit union members, including a Star USA board member, have complained about the scam. No customers reported that they fell for the scam, he said.

Hewitt said the scam might be widespread and affect other area credit unions and banks. After speaking with the credit union's insurance carrier, Hewitt learned that a similar scam has been going on in Huntington and other parts of the country. It's often difficult for law enforcement to track down the scammers, many of whom call from outside the U.S., Hewitt said.

April News & Views Published Below

CU SECURITY & TECHNOLOGY News - Providing a brief summary of news and information related to security and technology issues for credit unions - Plus some interesting and fun web sites . . .