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TAKE NOTE
WHO’S IN YOUR WALLET?
Recent investigations have revealed that data thieves single out stores
with strong wireless signals and weakly protected data, then set up
somewhere outside with a laptop and an off-the-shelf wireless receiver
to pick up the signals being broadcast around the store and use them
to gain access to its computer systems.
Once in the systems, the hackers download credit card account numbers
stored in the databases. The widespread use of wireless technology
by businesses has left merchants’ computer systems increasingly
susceptible.
Investigators say these crimes illustrate that while banks and payment
processors have been the targets in the highest-profile computers
attacks, and have received the most security checks, the system’s
most vulnerable points may be the estimated five million merchants
where credit cards are accepted.
YOU ARE NOW FREE TO WAIT AROUND IN THE
AIRPORT
What are the chances that your next flight will be on time? If you’re
flying from Atlanta to Newark, don’t bet on it.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. defines a delayed flight as one that
departed or arrived at least 15 minutes late. The department’s
Bureau of Transportation Statistics says this is shaping up to be
the worst year for departure delays since 2000. Through June, nearly
one in five flights, or 17 percent, left airports late.
AirTran Flight 576 from Atlanta to Newark has the distinction of being
late more often—72 percent of the time—than any other
flight in the United States.
TRACK AND TRACE
It’s for our own good, but it sounds a bit quirky: New laser
technology soon will be used to tattoo our fruits and vegetables.
Instead of reading “Born to be wild,” the tattoos will
display names, identifying numbers, countries of origin and other
information.
The government-approved process has been deemed safe by the food industry
and is part of track and trace efforts to protect the food supply
at various stages of distribution.
Miniaturized bar coding also is being tried as well as palettes with
radio frequency identification tags that can be tracked by satellite.
In the near future, producers, manufacturers and supplier might never
again lose a single inventoried item during shipping. |
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