Just wanted to let you all know in case you didn’t find out yet, Internet Explorer 7.0 is out. Download it here.
Is it better than Firefox? Stay Tuned.
Welcome!
Subscribe to Financial Freedumb
+Simpy This! +Shadows Tag! +Blink It +My Web |
+Furl It +Spurl +Tag!RawSugar |
- Posts: 461
- Comments: 1450
- Hits:
- Akismet spam: 146,514
Why Freedumb and not Freedom? Because I'm human, I don't know everything, and because I'm not that smart. I want to achieve financial freedom, that's why I blog, but at the same time I am not an expert, I don't know everything. This site is not a source of professional financial advice. Please see a professional for any advice. Really. Read and enjoy, but don't take things too seriously. Money isn't everything. Have fun & thanks for your support!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 2.5 License.
- Birthdate: September 5, 2005
- Spent: $5091.79
- Avg. per day: $4.68
- Income: $0.00
- Value: priceless
- Would You Rent an Apartment to This Woman? (pfblogs.org)
- Paying Down Debt - What An Amazing Feeling (pfblogs.org)
- Weekly Roundup - Mailing Articles Edition (pfblogs.org)
- Planning for living on less than two incomes (even if you’re already there) (pfblogs.org)
- Back again…temporarily? (pfblogs.org)
Courtesy of
You Have Insurance? Auto, Life, Home. What About Data Insurance?
So you’re fully insured. Don’t have to worry as much about the house, the family, or the car, because you have insurance. What little peace of mind it brings, it does help.
But what if something happens to the data on your computer? There’s no insurance convering that. Will it have a financial impact on you if your data is lost? How much time will be lost redoing all the Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. Not to mention the priceless images, videos, and emails you’ve saved, all lost.
Horrible thoughts, sure, but something you need to consider. This is a little off topic, but for me it does have an important role in finances. If I don’t have my data backed up, it will cost me a lot of time and aggravation trying to find and restore years of hard work.
Financial Web Site Security. The Best Defense Is In the Details.
Larger corporations have been making strides in providing secure access beyond the primitive username password combination. At the same time, smaller financial institutions have not. At least that seems to be the case with financial institutions I use. Although, I will admit my credit card companies seem to be falling behind in that area as well. Bank of America seems to be the only one that has taken a few extra steps to protect me. I haven’t seen anything from Chase, Citi, American Express, and MBNA yet. Well, I thought it’d be interesting to take a look at a few of the systems in place.
 ING (Security Page):Three field security, using a customer number, PIN, and a personal question. In my opinion this is the best security system. It’s a good combination of convenience and security. I do with they would increase the question pool though.
|
 HSBCDirect (Security Page):HSBC uses a 2 tier system, and combination of the username/password, but then a second password for bank to bank transfers that can only be entered using your mouse. Convenient? NO. Secure? Not bad. I like this system, but it’s not really that secure. In essence the safe is locked tight, but the entrance to the bank is left wide open. Also, the buttons could be a little larger. |
 Bank of America (Security Page):BofA uses a typical username/password combination with a twist known as a “Sitekey.” You enter your username, and then you are presented with a Sitekey. The Sitekey is an image that will be displayed if you are looking at the authentic BofA website. This image is one you choose. If you don’t see your sitekey, then that means you shouldn’t be entering your password. I like the concept. However, I don’t like the implementation. It’s a little too clunky, and I think it’s acceptance is going to be harder because of it. |
Summary:
Overall, I believe if they combined BofA’s Sitekey security with ING’s personal question system with multiple questions (the larger the pool, the better), the system would be highly secure. A system like BofA’s will help confirm to the user that you are at the right place, then the personal question will confirm your identity. The 2 tier system is an improvement from the username/password security system, but criminals could have access to your preliminary information, which is not good, so I would not support this system as the de facto standard.
The worst security scheme I can think of? Login with your account number and a simple password. WRITE YOUR BANK NOW! Seriously, tell them to fix it or take your banking somewhere else.
Action to take:
It’s always a good idea to be aware of the sites you are entering your personal information! Just take an extra second to glance at the bottom right corner for the little lockpad and the proper URL in the address box. These two steps alone can help prevent giving away valuable information.
Also, don’t enter personal information at public workstations, no matter how much you need to do so. Anyone and everyone can use the system, and you don’t know what sort of spy apps are running in the background. The security hack could even be as primitive as someone standing over your shoulder!
Finally, if your financial instituion does not have anything but the username/password security system, WRITE them and let them know you want something more secure. It’s way too easy to break in. Do you have any other interesting security measures you’ve seen? Of course there are biometrics, but I’m not a big fan of that either. I like security systems that depend on information stored in my brain, it seems like the most secure location to keep security info. 
TiVo revolutionized the way people watch TV. Ask anyone with a TiVo, and they’ll say they can’t live without it. I’ve read posts where people cry when their TiVo dies because they missed their favorite shows and lost what they were saving. But folks, I hate to say it, but I have to, TiVo is bad. It’s a bad investment that is.