Point of Sale and ATMs: Your Data at Risk

One of the topics I'm going to be covering in my upcoming book "Death by Identity Theft" is how industry's lack of regard for security has significant impacts for consumers.

One of the most important lessons I try to teach any newcomer to Cyber Security is that compliance does not mean security. In fact, compliance often creates a false sense of security.

Major retailers recently hit by point of sale malware were PCI compliant. This means their systems met payment card industry standards for security. And yet, their point of sale systems were still compromised by malware, putting customers' personal information at risk. I previously covered this problems with PCI compliance over at my Cyber Security blog, Caffeine Security.

Unfortunately, even though most consumers have now been issued EMV chip credit cards, many businesses still aren't ready to accept them, and those that do are only requiring signatures, not PINs.

Oh, and did I mention that 95% of the world's ATMs are still running Windows XP?

These are just a few examples of problems consumers face when trying to protect themselves from identity theft or credit card fraud.

If you haven't signed up for identity theft protection, now would be a good time.

The Motivation Manifesto - What are you reading?

Today I started reading, well, listening to, a new book "The Motivation Manifesto" by Brendon Burchard. As described on Amazon "The Motivation Manifesto is a pulsing, articulate, ferocious call to claim our personal power. World-renowned high performance trainer Brendon Burchard reveals that the main motive of humankind is the pursuit of greater Personal Freedom."



I'm just a little bit in into the first chapter so far, and it's absolutely great!

The book has four and a half stars over at Amazon.

Best of all, using the Kindle reader on my Galaxy S6, I can read or listen to the device anywhere I go.

If you haven't downloaded the Kindle app yet on your smart phone, you should try it out!

Amazon.com - Read eBooks using the FREE Kindle Reading App on Most Devices

Death by Identity Theft - Book in Progress

Identity Theft is quite honestly out of control. As a cyber security professional working as a Federal contractor for almost ten years, I work diligently to help protect others from this terrifying crime. In fact, I thought I had taken every precaution to protect myself and my family.

However, something I did not count on was that others would not take the same precautions. After receiving two data breach notifications from major retailers and a data breach notification from the Federal Government, I realized my identity was not as protected as I thought it was.

So I started researching, and what I found was terrifying. I knew identity theft was a serious problem in the United States, but I didn't realize just how serious.

What I have learned in the past ten years, including my past year of intense research into identity theft protection, will now be available in book form. You won't have to spend hours each day researching the best methods of protecting yourself, as I've already done that work for you.

As I feverishly write this book, I present to you the first part of my book, free of charge.

I hope that you find this information informative, and that you will purchase my book once it is published.

The book sample is available at http://bitly.com/DeathByIDTheft