Monthly Archives: October 2011

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Biggest ID Theft Bust in U.S. History

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In the largest bust of its kind, authorities arrested 111 people in connection with a massive identity theft operation based in Queens, New York. The suspects are allegedly responsible for fraud losses that amounted to more than $13 million in the 16-month period between May 2010 and September 2011.

The group, who apparently have ties to gangs in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, were under surveillance for two years in a sting called “Operation Swiper,” in which police placed wiretaps on dozens of phones in the area, intercepting thousands of conversations in Russian, Mandarin and Arabic.

This is how the thieves apparently operated their massive scheme:

Bosses of each crime ring received blank credit cards from suppliers in Russia, Libya, Lebanon and China. The bosses then hired “skimmers” who posed for jobs such as waiters and retail shop workers so they could use electronic devices to steal information from customer credit cards. That information was then sent to a “manufacturer” who programed the information into the magnetic strips of blank credit cards.

The crime rings also used card printing machines to forge credit cards and state drivers licenses to match them. “They can actually make a license from any state in the union, print credit cards of any color and even put the holograms on there,” said NYPD deputy inspector Gregory Antonsen.

Police then said “shoppers” in the crime rings would use the forged credit cards and IDs to go on weekly shopping sprees around the U.S. at retailers such as Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, Gucci and Best Buy and sell those items mostly to people overseas.

But by far, Antonsen said, thieves spent the most time buying computer products from Apple. “This is primarily an Apple case,” Antonsen said. “Apple is a big ticket item and a very easy sell.” Antonsen added forged credit cards were easy for criminals to make here because U.S. credit cards are less sophisticated than those in Europe, where fraud of this magnitude would have been much more difficult.

Which brings us to the topic of U.S. credit card companies and their lack of initiative regarding credit card security. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown mentioned just that when he accused U.S. credit card companies of “putting too much money into marketing and not enough into security.” He stated that these companies would rather take the losses than invest in much-needed security measures.

Europe has already caught on to the fact that credit cards need the highest level of security embedded into them. European cardholders are required to enter a personal identification number on a keypad during purchases. These “smart cards” also contain computer chips that encrypt the customer’s transaction information. U.S. banks issue cards with a simple magnetic strip on the back, which are more vulnerable to thieves.

American banks realize they need to change, but are reluctant to do so because, of course, it costs money. The good news is, however, that change must come — and soon. Both Visa and Mastercard have announced that retailers who do not support smart cards by 2015 and 2013, respectively, would be liable for fraudulent transaction.

Is the smart card our answer to credit card fraud by way of ID theft?

Maybe. But only until thieves figure out a way to outsmart the smart card.

Disaster Planning for Any Business

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Lying in the wake of some of the most recent flooding, wildfires and earthquakes our nation has seen are the risk and loss concerns harvested by business owners.

Whether a disaster is natural or man-made, recent events have certainly taught business owners about the importance of proactive planning.

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This form of preparation can and should be a part of every business’ risk management strategy. Proper risk management solutions take into consideration all areas of potential loss, including those caused by Mother Nature and beyond.

Although the term “disaster” may infer a catastrophic event such as large-scale flooding, fires or earthquakes, the most common claim-worthy disasters tend to be smaller in scale, such as flooding from a burst pipe, heavy snowfall resulting in a leaky roof, contamination and so on.

In order to plan, one must be aware of the risk exposures you face as well as what to expect. With that said, what potential disasters may your business fall victim to?

  • Fire
  • Water (i.e., flooding, leaking roof or pipes)
  • Physical Damage (i.e., vibrations from an earthquake, damage from an employee, etc.
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    )

  • Pests (i.e., rodents or insects)
  • Contaminants (i.e., dust or gasses)
  • Criminal (i.e., robbery, isolated theft, vandalism)

Once you’ve determined the forces you are up against, it’s critical that you develop a plan to safeguard your commercial investment. One tactic can include implementing a “collections risks assessment.” Ask yourself a series of questions, in regards to the aspects of your business which may be affected by a disaster – what is the potential resulting loss in value? What is the likelihood that a natural or man-made disaster will occur? What percentage of my company or goods and services are vulnerable?

Taking the time now, to prepare and help prevent significant loss, is a surefire way to protect your commercial enterprise.

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It costs far less to put the proper risk management plans in place than to recover from the full force of an unexpected disaster.

Gordon B. Coyle, CPCU, ARM, AMIM, is owner of independent risk management agency The Coyle Group.

Steve Jobs: The Passing of an Icon

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The passing of Steve Jobs is a watershed event for the today’s digital world. He may not have invented the computer or the MP3 player or mobile phone or the tablet, but his innovations revolutionized the way we interact both with our technology and with each other. His impact cannot be understated. As President Obama said in response to Jobs’ death, “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success that the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” Similarly, I’m typing this on a Mac and I’m sure many of you are reading it on your own Macs, iPhones and iPads. As one writer put it, he now joins the pantheon of American innovators like Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. For many, he was and will remain a hero.

Back in 2005, Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford University. As was his style, it was a direct and inspiring address. The YouTube video is below and the transcript can be found here. Many quotes stand out but I wanted to highlight a couple that resonated for me. The first came after he told the story of how he was fired form Apple in 1985:

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

The next came after he spoke of his fight with pancreatic cancer:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Coincidentally, I also wrote a bit about Steve Jobs and his departure from Apple in the Preface of the October issue of Risk Management. In it I talked about Apple’s next steps in light of their founder’s departure. The article is not available online, so I share it here:

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced his retirement in August, the internet exploded as countless Apple fanboys wondered about the future of their beloved company. The unenviable task of replacing Jobs now falls to Tim Cook, who formerly served as Apple’s COO. He certainly has his work cut out for him. During Jobs’ 14-year tenure as CEO, Apple’s stock has risen more than 9,000%, taking it from a tech start-up on the verge of bankruptcy to a firm that now vies with Exxon Mobil for the title of “most valuable company in the world.” Perhaps more importantly, Jobs was the visionary behind such innovations as iTunes, iPods, iPhones and iPads that have not only changed markets but helped transform the way people interact. Talk about a tough act to follow.

Despite the size of the shoes he has to fill, it is unlikely that Apple will suffer with Cook at the helm. After all, he has been with the company for 13 years and even served as acting CEO during Jobs’ medical leaves. It is, however, a different world than it was when Jobs took over Apple in 1997. Hacking is no longer simply a hobby for basement-dwelling computer geeks. Now it is big business. And what better target than the products of the world’s most valuable company? Malware and viruses that were once virtually nonexistent on the Mac platform are already starting to proliferate as motivated hackers have become more creative. Case in point: hackers recently discovered a vulnerability in MacBook batteries—a place no one ever thought to look—that would allow them to take over the computer or even set it on fire. Based on this, perhaps Apple’s new CEO will need to focus less on growing the company and more on protecting it.

As I read through various message boards about Jobs, I came across a quote shared by many people in one variation or another that shows the impact he had on so many people. “Three apples changed the world forever. The first once seduced Eve, the second fell on Newton and the third was offered to the world by Steve Jobs.”

Modern society is typically given to hyperbole that is, in many cases, unearned. Steve Jobs is not one of those cases. It is the rare CEO that can inspire devotion and admiration beyond the products or services their company sells. But as the many tributes you are likely to see in the coming days will attest, Jobs was no ordinary businessman. He was a visionary and an icon and he will be missed.

Rest in peace, Mr. Jobs.

Apple’s Succession Plan

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Many are already aware of the passing of Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs. Though he is gone, his products, vision and motivation will be around forever.

As the business world mourns the loss of one of the greatest innovators of all time, they should also learn from Apple’s succession plan. In the October issue of Risk Management, we covered succession planning in a section of the feature, “Immovable Objects.” In it, author Lori Widmer writes about Jobs’ battle with cancer, his three medical leaves of absence within a six-year period and the board’s decision to develop a CEO succession plan. She writes:

In August, when Jobs eventually relinquished command of the company he built, the business world went nuts. Many feared the stock would plummet overnight. One month later, however, the tech giant’s share price was higher than it had been during Jobs’ final weeks at the helm and was threatening to eclipse $400 per share for the second time this year. Investors have responded favorably to the company’s new CEO, 13-year company veteran Tim Cook, who Apple’s board was confident could successfully lead the company. After all, he had already done so on three other occasions when Jobs was forced into medical leaves of absence.

Unfortunately, stories of seamless transition are uncommon. Few boards build a succession plan. In fact, while 84% of directors find succession plans to be essential, only half of boards of Fortune 1,000 companies have them, according to Korn/Ferry International’s “34th Annual Board of Directors Study.” It seems that boards are long on talk but short on action.

Those figures are sobering. Without a complete succession plan in place, no matter if the current CEO is in good health or not, a company is often left in limbo, usually scrambling to chose who should fill the shoes. The transition, without a proper plan, can be anything but smooth and have ill effects felt throughout the entire company.

A recent report from Cutting Edge Info on succession planning states that “forward-looking companies ses succession planning as an opportunity to reinforce corporate identity, elevate operation performance and ensure continuity. They recognize the link between organizational objectives and individual goals, and they understand how succession planning impacts the bottom line.”

Without a comprehensive succession plan, companies risk more than losing a CEO.