daily-news in-the-wallet
Black Friday: Friend or Foe?
Ahh, Black Friday. It might sound like a dismal day, but for retailers, it’s the best day of the year. As the biggest shopping day approaches, we can’t help but remind ourselves of how important it is to thwart identity theft and credit card fraud by keeping our purchases safe this holiday season. Of course, that sounds easier than it actually is. Take a recent study by AirDefense Inc., for example. Researchers found that half of more than 3,000 retail stores in the U.S. and Europe use a wireless data system that is vulnerable to hacking by going undercover at stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris to expose security holes in the networks. Some of the stores investigated were exchanging data with no encryption to mask information or were using an outdated encryption method that is easily cracked by thieves. ‘Tis may be the season to shop, but we think it’s also the season to watch—your statements, that is.
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