This guy’s nightmare could be yours:
Those security lapses are my fault, and I deeply, deeply regret them.
But what happened to me exposes vital security flaws in several customer service systems, most notably Apple’s and Amazon’s. Apple tech support gave the hackers access to my iCloud account. Amazon tech support gave them the ability to see a piece of information — a partial credit card number — that Apple used to release information. In short, the very four digits that Amazon considers unimportant enough to display in the clear on the web are precisely the same ones that Apple considers secure enough to perform identity verification. The disconnect exposes flaws in data management policies endemic to the entire technology industry, and points to a looming nightmare as we enter the era of cloud computing and connected devices.
This isn’t just my problem. Since Friday, Aug. 3, when hackers broke into my accounts, I’ve heard from other users who were compromised in the same way, at least one of whom was targeted by the same group.
Moreover, if your computers aren’t already cloud-connected devices, they will be soon. Apple is working hard to get all of its customers to use iCloud. Google’s entire operating system is cloud-based. And Windows 8, the most cloud-centric operating system yet, will hit desktops by the tens of millions in the coming year. My experience leads me to believe that cloud-based systems need fundamentally different security measures. Password-based security mechanisms — which can be cracked, reset, and socially engineered — no longer suffice in the era of cloud computing.
This is not a problem Wendell Berry has to spend much time worrying about. The rest of us are not so lucky.
Helen 
hetzer 
Peter 
Hope 
Saint Andeol 
Nicole 
About five years ago someone stole my identity by hacking the supposedly secure website of one of the major banks. This person then–in the span of about an hour–created fake Ebay, Paypal, and Hotmail accounts in my name; used the information they obtained from the bank to verify these accounts; bought $8,450 worth of Apple products on Ebay; charged all of this to my credit card issued by the aforementioned bank; and had all of the items shipped to various countries in Southeast Asia.
None of the companies mentioned ever contacted me and asked if the accounts or purchases were legitimate. In fact, the bank threatened to sue me for non-payment when I refused to pay the charges. They kept insisting the charges were legit because the vendors that sold the items could produce legitimate receipts. It eventually took six months to straighten everything out.
At the time I thought to myself: Is this nightmare the wonderful future everyone keeps talking about? Since then, things seem to have only gotten worse. One need look no further than the algorithmic trading fiasco on Wall Street last week to see how vulnerable all of these virtual systems are. Yet, rethinking our reliance on these same systems is somehow not even a topic worthy of consideration for most people.