If you shopped at T.J. Maxx (or Marshalls) between Nov. 24, 2003, to June 28, 2004, you may be part of the biggest hack in history! Over 45.7 Million Credit and Debit customer transactions were stolen and they haven’t even stopped counting yet.

The filing also said another 455,000 customers who returned merchandise without receipts had their data stolen, including driver’s license numbers.

With at least 46 million consumer records accessed, the TJX case outranks the previous largest case tracked by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: a June 2005 disclosure by credit card processor CardSystems that hackers accessed accounts of 40 million card holders.

Source: MSNBC

Microsoft has announced a security bulletin outlining a vulnerability in the way Windows handles animated cursors. MS is advising people to not click on any unknown emails, or any unsafe or questionable websites:

Microsoft is investigating new public reports of attacks exploiting a vulnerability in the way Microsoft Windows handles animated cursor (.ani) files. In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must either visit a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit the vulnerability or view a specially crafted e-mail message or email attachment sent to them by an attacker.

Source: Microsoft

A new Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system has been recently introduced to the Police force in Utah and California, and is now standard equipment on their patrol cars. These special cameras can automatically “read” license plates — 3,000 an hour! — then compares them to a central database where information is stored concerning any kind of crime linked to the vehicle.

The reading can take place in any weather condition, and even in complete darkness! With this type of system, criminals will have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Source: Gizmag

Whereas the current fingerprinting technique is fairly cumbersome and gives results that are not always clear and reproducible, this new method developed by a team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, will give clearer pictures in a shorter time. With the pseudo-science all too often depicted in the highly popular “CSI” series currently running on television all around the globe, it was about time to see a real advancement in forensic science.

Hidden fingerprints can now be revealed quickly and reliably thanks to two developments in nanotechnology.

Source: Chemical Communications, via The Royal Society Of Chemistry

Who would have thought that the trusty old photocopier would become the next biggest identity theft tool?  With companies equipping hard drives into them, there is no telling how your information will be used after you run of a few copies of maybe your drivers license, your passport, maybe even a credit card.  Remember the Xmas party where you photocopied your ass?  Whoops!

At issue are the hard drives embedded in most copiers and intelligent printers manufactured in the past five years. Data is stored on the drive before a document is copied or printed; unless security provisions are in place, the data is stored unencrypted and remains there until the drive is full and new data overwrites old.

Source:  Computer World