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Twitter Settles Charges that it Failed to Protect Consumers’ Personal Information

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:39:22 +0000

Social networking service Twitter has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers and put their privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal information, marking the 30th case the FTC has brought targeting faulty data security, and the agency’s first such case against a social networking service. The FTC’s complaint against Twitter charges that serious lapses in the company’s data security allowed hackers to obtain administrative control of Twitter, including access to tweets that consumers had designated private, and the ability to send out phony tweets pretending to be from then-President-elect Barack Obama and Fox News, among others. “When a company promises consumers that their personal information is secure, it must live up to that promise,” said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Likewise, a company that allows consumers to designate their information as private must use reasonable security to uphold such designations. Consumers who use social networking sites may choose to share some information with others, but they still have a right to expect that their personal information will be kept private and secure.” Twitter allows users to send “tweets” – brief messages of 140 characters or less – to “followers” who sign up to receive such messages via e-mail or phone text. Twitter offers privacy settings through which a user may choose to designate tweets as nonpublic. For instance, users can send “direct messages” to a specified follower such that only the specific author and recipient can view such a message. Twitter users can also click a button labeled “Protect my tweets,” which makes that user’s tweets private so that only approved followers can view them. The privacy policy posted on Twitter’s website stated that “Twitter is very concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information. We employ administrative, physical, and electronic measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access.” According to the FTC’s complaint, between January and May 2009, hackers who gained administrative control of Twitter were able to view nonpublic user information, gain access to direct messages and protected tweets, and reset any user’s password and send authorized tweets from any user account. In January 2009, a hacker used an automated password-guessing tool to gain administrative control of Twitter, after submitting thousands of guesses into Twitter’s login webpage. The administrative password was a weak, lower case, common dictionary word. Using the password, the hacker reset numerous user passwords and posted some of them on a website, where other people could access them. Using these fraudulently reset passwords, other intruders sent phony tweets from approximately nine user accounts. One tweet was sent from the account of then-President-elect Barack Obama, offering his more than 150,000 followers a chance to win $500 in free gasoline. At least one other phony tweet was sent from the account of Fox News. During a second security breach, in April 2009, a hacker compromised a Twitter employee’s personal e-mail account where two passwords similar to the employee’s Twitter administrative password were stored, in plain text. Using this information, the hacker was able to guess the employee’s Twitter administrative password. The hacker reset at least one Twitter user’s password, and could access private user information and tweets for any Twitter users. According to the FTC’s complaint, Twitter was vulnerable to these attacks because it failed to take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized administrative control of its system, including: requiring employees to use hard-to-guess administrative passwords that are not used for other programs, websites, or networks; prohibiting employees from storing administrative passwords in plain text within their personal e-mail accounts; suspending or disabling administrative passwords after a reasonable number of unsuccessful login attempts; providing an administrative login webpage that is made known only to authorized persons and is separate from the login page for users; enforcing periodic changes of administrative passwords by, for example, setting them to expire every 90 days; restricting access to administrative controls to employees whose jobs required it; and imposing other reasonable restrictions on administrative access, such as by restricting access to specified IP addresses. Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter will be barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it maintains and protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information, including the measures it takes to prevent authorized access to information and honor the privacy choices made by consumers. The company also must establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program, which will be assessed by a third party every other year for 10 years. The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent agreement was 5-0. The FTC will publish an announcement regarding the agreement in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through July 26, 2010, after which the Commission will decide whether to make it final. Comments should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. To submit a comment electronically, please click on: http://public.commentworks.com/ftc/twitter . NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the respondent has actually violated the law. Consent agreements are for settlement purposes only and do not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000. The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,800 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics .

Notorious Rogue Internet Service Provider Permanently Shut Down

Thu, 20 May 2010 11:39:11 +0000

3FN Service Specialized in Hosting Spam-Spewing Botnets, Phishing Websites, Child Pornography, and Other Illegal, Malicious Web Content At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a district court judge has permanently shut down a rogue Internet Service Provider that recruited, hosted, and actively participated in the distribution of spam, spyware, child pornography, and other malicious and illegal content. The ISP’s computer servers and other assets have been seized and will be sold by a court-appointed receiver, and the operation has been ordered to turn over $1.08 million in ill-gotten gains to the FTC. In June 2009, the FTC charged that 3FN, which does business under a variety of names, actively recruited and colluded with criminals to distribute harmful electronic content including spyware, viruses, trojan horses, phishing schemes, botnet command-and-control servers, and pornography featuring children, violence, bestiality, and incest. The FTC alleged that the defendant advertised its services in the darkest corners of the Internet, including a chat room for spammers. The FTC complaint alleged that 3FN actively shielded its criminal clientele by either ignoring take-down requests issued by the online security community, or shifting its criminal elements to other Internet protocol addresses it controlled to evade detection. The FTC also alleged that 3FN deployed and operated botnets – large networks of computers that have been compromised and enslaved by the originator of the botnet, known as a “bot herder.” Botnets can be used for a variety of illicit purposes, including sending spam and launching denial-of- service attacks. According to the FTC, the defendant recruited bot herders and hosted the command-and-control servers – the computers that relay commands from the bot herders to the compromised computers known as “zombie drones.” Transcripts of instant-message logs filed with the district court show the defendants’ senior employees discussing the configuration of botnets with bot herders. And, in filings with the district court, the FTC alleged that more than 4,500 malicious software programs were controlled by command-and-control servers hosted by 3FN. This malware included programs capable of keystroke logging, password stealing, and data theft, programs with hidden backdoor remote control activity, and programs involved in spam distribution. The FTC charged that 3FN’s distribution of illegal, malicious, and harmful content and deployment of botnets that compromised thousands of computers, harmed consumers and was an unfair practice, in violation of federal law. On June 15, 2009 the court issued a preliminary injunction to prohibit 3FN’s illegal activities and require its upstream Internet providers and data centers to stop providing services to 3FN. The court has now ordered a permanent bar on the illegal activities of 3FN and its agents and has appointed a receiver and instructed him to liquidate the operation’s assets. The defendants named in the FTC’s complaint are Pricewert LLC, also doing business as 3FN.net, Triple Fiber Network, APS Telecom, APX Telecom, APS Communications, and APS Communication. This case was brought with the invaluable assistance of NASA’s Office of Inspector General, Computer Crime Division; Gary Warner, Director of Research in Computer Forensics, University of Alabama at Birmingham; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; The Shadowserver Foundation; Symantec Corporation; and The Spamhaus Project. The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,800 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics .

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Notorious Rogue Internet Service Provider Permanently Shut Down

The Safety Net Shreds – Investor’s Business Daily

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:51:54 +0000

The Safety Net Shreds Investor’s Business Daily Then, looming ahead, is the angel of economic death known as cap-and-trade . Peter Orszag, now director of the Office of Management and Budget, predicted as … and more

Climategate: the parliamentary cover-up – Telegraph.co.uk (blog)

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:14:25 +0000

Climategate: the parliamentary cover-up Telegraph.co.uk (blog) We've been told cap-and-trade would create thousands of green jobs, yet the Congressional Budget Office, Department of Energy, National Black Chamber of … and more

Europe’s Rise Is Held Down By Portugal’s Downgrade – Wall Street Journal

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:45:40 +0000

Europe's Rise Is Held Down By Portugal's Downgrade Wall Street Journal The UK Serious Fraud Office arrested three British directors of the French engineering group on allegations over bribery, money laundering and false … and more

Why Stupak Really Flipped

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:00:44 +0000

From the Office of Bart StupakFor Immediate ReleaseMarch 19, 2010 Contact: Michelle Begnoche(202) 225-4735 STUPAK ANNOUNCES $726,409 FOR AIRPORTS INALPENA, DELTA AND CHIPPEWA COUNTIES [

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Why Stupak Really Flipped

Actual Debt Collectors Violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:39:53 +0000

Debt collectors violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDPCA) all the time. It’s time to name and shame a couple of them. Of course I reported these to the Federal Trade Commission ( www.ftc.gov ) but to date the FTC hasn’t done diddle about them. First we have “Agent Washington” of UCB (United Collection Bureau) claiming to be a law enforcement officer, claiming to have paperwork in the Bulloch County State Attorneys Office First off credit card debt is a civil matter, not criminal. Everything about this phone call are multiple violations of the FDCPA. Listen to my conversation with Agent Washington (MP3 format). She even called my next door neighbor while I was talking with the idiot. If I knew then what I knew now I would have owned United Collection Bureau. Next up is West Management claiming Fraud Charges. The caller claims to be

Exclusive: Sheriff’s Office investigating money order scam – WTVM

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:52:24 +0000

Exclusive: Sheriff's Office investigating money order scam WTVM COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – Local authorities are issuing a warning about a new scam circulating in the Columbus area. … and more

Mail money order scam invades Central Texas – KXXV News Channel 25

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:03:30 +0000

Mail money order scam invades Central Texas KXXV News Channel 25 WACO – A new high-tech version of an old scam is sweeping through Central Texas. US Post Office investigators said hundreds of people are …

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Mail money order scam invades Central Texas – KXXV News Channel 25

Virginia AG Goes After Capital One for Debt Collection and Re-Aging

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:36:00 +0000

I’ve had dealing with Capital One myself, they are a sneaky bunch, it appears that the Virginia Attorney General decided to do something about it. Hopefully other State’s Attorney Generals will dig deeper into Capital One’s business practices. West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw announced Friday that his office has sued credit card issuer Capital One and a debt collection agency for “unconscionable conduct in connection with their credit card lending and collection practices.” The complaint alleges that Capital One Bank, a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), tricked consumers into payment plans by sending them solicitations disguised as offers of new credit. The arrangement allowed Cap One to re-age the debt so that it did not fall under the statute of limitations.