Protecting your identification

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ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley There is some sort of unique code in every country and jurisdiction, usually a number, that identifies you to the governm
[See the full post at: Protecting your identification]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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ibe98765, fisher75, Elly, Douglas, windbg, rizzquery, Steve S., WCHS, gort77, TechTango, jburk07, SueW, ronjwal, DLivesInTexas, dataman1701, mpw, lmacri, John Stein, DKThompson, Myst

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Good advice but based on the news it appears that the horses have left the barn, and who knows where they have run to.

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rizzquery, LGrand87, mpw, WSchetfreeman

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Elon Musk has taken over the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.  He now has everybody’s everything.

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Charlie, rizzquery, WCHS, LGrand87, LHiggins, NaNoNyMouse

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Is there anyone left in the US whose SSN is not already in a hackers database?

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Charlie, rick41, WCHS, Marhn Fullmer, gort77, Geo, NaNoNyMouse

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blank checks have everything an attacker would need to transfer funds out of your bank account. Down at the bottom of that check is all the needed information — the bank routing number and your account number — to make a transfer out of your account.

Susan,
Even a check that you give to someone to pay a charge has that information at the bottom. So, isn’t it risky these days to pay anyone by check??

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Geo

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WCHS wrote:

So, isn’t it risky these days to pay anyone by check??

Best not to pay anyone at all!

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WCHS

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Hey Y’all,

You can also setup a Login.gov account and then use Google Authenticator to get your 2FA codes.

You can use this login on OPM and SSA accounts, and others.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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ronjwal

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Thanks for the reminders to stay vigilante, we try anyway.

Just a question, have you or any of the writers ever done an article comparing Login.gov vs Id.Me?  We rarely have a choice between these two, but wondering if either is really better.

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Douglas, rizzquery

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If I remember correctly Id.me is run by a private company while logon.gov is a US government site.  At one time Id.me was required if you wanted to logon to an account with the IRS but with the advent of logon.gov that has changed.

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SueW

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Something I encountered a few months ago has left me gasping for breath. I was opening an online savings account for my elderly mother and the institution (one I had been using for 15+ years) requested the account # and password word to her brick and mortar bank account!!! I have several online banking accounts and have NEVER been asked anything so insane. They said it was for a 3rd party (WHAT!!!) verification app. – “PLAID”.  I immediately stopped and called her bank. They said that ‘yes, it was a real thing (PLAID) that most banks are using now’. I went ahead and set up the account because my experience with the bank has been issue free. I immediately changed the login and password to her account, and have been closely monitoring it. But how can such a thing exist? Giving your account # and password to a 3rd party? How can you be protected? The bank can truthfully say; “well you voluntarily gave out your info”…. Has anyone else had this PLAID experience? I think it’s a very stupid, high security risk way of verifying an account!

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windbg

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It’s cheaper to palm things off to a 3rd party than it is to do it yourself and get it right, some of the time. But 3rd parties are known to get it wrong as well (Cloudstrike!).

If yours is a smaller bank then it makes some sense to do it this way, but it’s up to you to vote with your feet if you are not happy.

cheers, Paul

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TechTango, windbg, WSbobby-p

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not really small, <IBC>

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Doug Reed wrote:

They said it was for a 3rd party (WHAT!!!) verification app. – “PLAID”.

Yes, you could switch banks, but this might make you feel a little better:

Plaid currently connects with a variety of large bank and credit card companies including Bank of America (2nd largest bank in the USA), Wells Fargo, American Express, and U.S. Bank to name a few.

https://www.investopedia.com/what-is-plaid-5207625

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Doug Reed wrote:

I was opening an online savings account for my elderly mother and the institution (one I had been using for 15+ years) requested the account # and password word to her brick and mortar bank account!!!

As far as I understand it, Plaid is a service that connects your existing accounts to some app or portal for monitoring of some type.  As such, it would require your account number and password.

However, I would shy away from such services and would not share account numbers and passwords.

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windbg

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