Hashemian Blog Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Your Favorite Pet Name  A couple of years ago a few sites started collecting answers to a few personal questions. The idea was to strengthen security by integrating a few personal questions to the authentication process. It also would help unlock accounts in case users forgot their passwords. After all the questions were private enough that only the account owner would know the answers. Nowadays it seems like every site is requesting personal and private information as a means of beefing up security. But I wonder if the security proposition is any longer valid. You've seen these questions before: - What is your mother's maiden name? - What is your favorite pet name? - What street did you grow up on? - What was the name of your elementary school? - What city were you born in? - What was your first car model? With so many sites storing so much personal information about you, is your privacy and security any longer assured? What guarantees do you really have that these responses will remain private and out of reach of prying eyes? Who knows what kinds of people have access to these responses. Are the responses encrypted? Are they shielded from the companies' personnel? Are they safe from hackers and snoops? Besides how secure can these responses be when so many people choose to reveal personal information on their blogs, forums, or Facebook accounts? Most likely these responses are given less protection than login names and passwords as they are generally the second line of defense in authenticating users. Once site operators have access to these private responses, it won't be too difficult for one bad apple to use them to gain access to your other accounts. Some guesswork and social engineering is involved but since when that stopped determined account thieves. Maybe I'm just too paranoid, but it seems to me that the enhanced security gained through personal responses is just an illusion and the convenience of password recovery is not worth the risk. In fact it may be worse than just the traditional login and password. At least you are not giving away personal details about your life to some faceless site. Nor will your accounts be compromised on the basis of a few answers which may be easily obtained on Google. web security,hacking,authentication,passwords Labels: hackers, web <Your Favorite Pet Name> // posted by rh 0 comments Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Credit Ratings Knocks  Years ago when I was a rookie employee at GE, fresh out of college, I was introduced to GE Interest Plus, offering a checking account with a competitive interest rate. I began saving my money there without realizing that this really wasn't a regular bank account. It wasn't their fault, the fact that they weren't a standard bank and therefore not FDIC-insured was clearly stated, it just took some time for me to realize that. By putting money in that account, I was really investing in GE's short-term debt and accepting a slight risk of loss. There risk was not being FDIC-insured, but GE had top credit ratings from Moody's and S&P and that gave some assurance that the invested money wouldn't just vanish. GE Interest Plus's Web site proudly displayed their perfect credit rating. Fast-forward a few years and it turns out that the credit-rating agencies really weren't adding much value. Many companies or investments that were deemed safe by these agencies either went bankrupt or had severe losses. The agencies may have sustained credibility damage but they still persist. What else is there? Last Friday GE and Berkshire Hathaway had their credit ratings downgraded by a notch. They are still considered safe but not first-rate. GE Interest Plus updated their credit ratings statement to reflect the change and below is snapshots of their before and after ratings statements. Could be a while before GE's credit rating is back on top again. ge,moody,s&p,credit ratings,fdic Labels: financial <Credit Ratings Knocks> // posted by rh 0 comments Thursday, March 12, 2009 Ponzi Sentencing  I have to admit to a bit of sympathy for the convicted schemer, Bernie Madoff, when I saw his picture today (he pleaded guilty today). I suppose if I had lost my life's savings in his game, I wouldn't be so forgiving. There's probably something about sentencing frail old men or women that gives it an aura of cruelty, regardless of what these people were like at their height of power. Even though Madoff and other white collar criminals spend their sentences in minimum security penitentiaries and don't face the harsh times experienced by violent criminals, the fact remains that they are locked up and taxpayers will have to foot the bills. There must be a more humane way to mete out justice with less burden on the society. For example the government could seize all their assets, strap a monitoring device on them and give them a small monthly stipend and food stamps equivalent to what people on welfare receive and then let them loose. That sort of punishment is a more humane way of treating white collar criminals and it's probably more cost effective than locking them up in some expensive institution. Their criminal records and their monitoring devices will keep them in check, while they get a taste of life as a part of the underprivileged class of people struggling to survive. madoff,ponzi scheme,criminal justice,welfare Labels: law, social <Ponzi Sentencing> // posted by rh 0 comments Sunday, March 08, 2009 Circuit City Goodbye  Last week, walking by a Circuit City store at lunch time, I noticed a few people out on the street holding liquidation signs. Tempted, I went inside the store and took a look around the near-empty and dark store with few remaining items collected in the front of store. There were slim pickings and but I left with a new Batman, The Dark Knight DVD and Saliva's Every Six Seconds CD for about $6. I suppose getting these items at such a bargain price should have given me a good feeling but the truth is that the experience was a depressing one. Circuit City wasn't exactly the kind of store I would shop at but I remember the times when the stores were vibrant and thriving. There were lots of merchandise on the shelves with shoppers zigzagging the isles and talking to the many associates. Today Circuit City shuttered its doors for the last time, joining the other bygone stores like CompUSA and Nobody Beats The Wiz. I couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt over the demise of this business, the throngs of people who have lost their jobs as a result, and the neighborhoods blighted by yet another failed store. In a way the failure of Circuit City is emblematic of the ailing economy as a whole. Whatever satisfaction I might have felt for getting a bargain, quickly turned into an empty and hopeless feeling that the fabric of our economy is fast unraveling under the weight of the economic crisis. I realize that we can't wish the bad times away, but I don't want any more liquidation sales and bankruptcy-driven bargains. I want to walk into a store and see it buzzing with shoppers. Christmas and independence-day sales are just fine with me. circuit city,bankruptcy,economy Labels: business, financial <Circuit City Goodbye> // posted by rh 0 comments Monday, March 02, 2009 GE Below Cisco  Add this to the list of things you thought would never happen. GE's market capitalization of around $80B today is almost the same as those of Apple or Oracle. It’s less than those of Cisco or Google or IBM. General Electric, the conglomerate blue-chip company that once was known as the most admired with the highest market cap in the world is now worth less than the specialized tech companies, much maligned after the tech bubble implosion of 2000. Lest you think that such reversal of fortunes pleases me, consider that as an ex-GE employee with many shares of this company in my 401k, my retirement savings have dwindled to dismal levels. GE was a company that set the criteria by which all others were measured against. Who would have guessed that the rules of long-term investing would turn upside-down in such a short time. One wonders if the time has come to discard everything we have learned for generations and draw up new rules. There are those who believe that the fear-motivated market freefall is terribly overdone. That soon the market will come to its rational senses and will correct itself in a hurry. I also believe that at these levels we must be somewhere near the bottom searching for a footing to climb back out. But as I witness the daily spillage of red ink, the voice inside my head keeps repeating: something has gone horribly wrong with capitalism. ge,general electric,market capitalization,stock market,capitalism Labels: financial <GE Below Cisco> // posted by rh 0 comments

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