January 12, 2000
Page A6
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Russian hacker nabs credit card numbers
A ssociated P ress
A computer hacker stole credit card numbers from an Internet music retailer and
released thousands o f them on a Web site when the company refused to pay
a $ 100,000 ransom, raising concerns for consumers who w ant to shop online.
The cyber-espionage will have a minimal effect on CD Universe custom ers’
pocketbooks, but it probably will dissuade some people from buying online
and may strike fear into online retailers, analysts said Monday.
The New York Times reported the hacker claimed to have taken 300,000 card
numbers. The parent company ofCD Universe, eU niverseof Wallingford, had
not determined how the Web site was compromised or how many customers
may have been affected.
“There’s no way to tell. It’s not a good situation,” Brett Brewer, a vice president
o f eUniverse, said. Internet security specialists shored up CD U niverse’s Web
site as the FBI tried to track down the hacker.
The hacker, a self-described 19-year-old from Russia using the name Maxim,
sent an e-mai I to the Times boasting that he exploited a flaw in the software used
to protect financial information at C'D Universe. He said he sent a fax to the
company last month offering to destroy his credit card files in exchange for
$100,000.
After he was rebuffed, he used a Web site called Maxus Credit Card Pipeline
to distribute as many as 25,000 o f the stolen numbers, said Elias Levy o f
SecurityFocus.com, a computer security firm. The site was shut down Sunday.
CD Uni verse said it did not know whether any customers’ credit card numbers
had been used to make unauthorized purchases, though the Times said the
extortionist said in e-mails that he used some o f the numbers to obtain money.
“We haven’t had anybody call us and say, ‘Hey, somebody just bought a car
with my credit card,’ “ Brewer said.
CD Universe got credit card companies to cancel customer numbers that had
been stolen and is notifying those cardholders by e-mail. Brewer said. He said
the credit card companies will automatically give those customers new cards.
E-commerce analysts said it was only a matter o f time before a case o f hacker
blackmail was made public, saying that many attacks go unreported.
“ It is a public relations disaster o f incredible scale for the company,” said
Charles Rutstein, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. “In terms o f the actual
consumer, their liability is at most $50 or zero. The problem is the loss in
consumer confidence.”
In general, credit card holders are responsible for only as much as $50 o f any
unauthorized charge. Consumers offered mixed reaction to the news.
“The Internet is no better or worse than a phone call, and I don’t hesitate to
order by phone,” said Milburn, N J., resident Andy Cohen outside the RCS
computer store in New York. Others, though, said they would be more reluctant
to buy online. “I might put off buying music and stuff (on the Internet) until
I find out what happened,” said Carol Schmaltz, 19, a student at DePaul
University who was browsing through compact discs at a downtown Chicago
music store. “Everybody is talking about it. Just the amount of people whose
card numbers were stolen, if the story is true — how could that many numbers
be stolen like that?”
1RS offers free workshop to help solve tax problems
Now is the time for Portland area
residents to plan on special IRS help
for resolving difficult federal tax -
related problems in Portland from 10
a.m .to6p.m .on Wednesday, January
26 at the IRS office, located at 1220
S.W. Third Ave.
As part o f the Problem Solving Day
program. Internal Revenue Service
officials will be available to work with
taxpayers to resolve their ongoing
federal tax problems, such as missing
refunds, unfiled returns, penalties and
inability to pay.
The Problem Solving Day program
has been highly successful, helping
more than 40,000taxpayers nationally.
The opportunity to meet one-on-one
and having decision makers on site
are two features o f Problem Solving
Day that have earned high marks in
c u sto m e r s a tis fa c tio n su rv e y s
conducted during previous events.
Taxpayers should call (503) 326-
3295 to make an appointment for the
Problem Solving Day in Portland. An
a d v a n c e d a p p o in tm e n t is not
required, but it helps the IRS provide
better service by having preliminary
research completed and appropriate
staff scheduled.
In co n junction w ith Problem
Solving Day, the IRS will hold a free
Offer-in-Compromise workshop in the
same location at 9 a.m. For workshop
information or reservations call (503)
326-3295.
An offer in compromise allows a
taxpayer to offer the IRS less than the
full amount of tax, penalty, and interest
owed when there is doubt the full
amount owed will ever be collected.
Recent tax law changes have given
the 1RS authority to extend offers in
compromise to more taxpayers.
Portland Housing Center
awarded $55,000
eqk T me P qrtlasd Q bserveb
The Portland Housing Center recently received funds totaling $55,000
to bolster its Home Purchase Partners programs which educates and
prepares first-time home buyers to become “mortgage-ready.” Local
lending institutions that support the Center have granted the majority o f
these funds. Portland Housing Center is one o f 39 national Neighborhood
HomeOwnweship Center and a designated one-stop-shop resource
center providing education, counseling, and financial assistance to first
time home buyers.
The Center received a $15,000 contribution from US Bank, three
contributions from US Bank, three contributions o f $10,000 each from
W ashington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac, and two $5,000
contributions from Norwest Mortgage and Portland Teachers Credit
Union.
Over the course o f the last six months, Portland Housing Center has
received a total o f $ 145,00 to support Home Purchase Partners, a program
designed to educate and assist people to purchase their first home. “We
are grateful for the support we have received from local lenders, government,
private foundation, and the community,” says Peg Malloy, Executive
Director ofthe Portland Housing Center. “These funds will enable Portland
Housing Center to continue to be taking away the uncertainty and
intimidation in the home buying process,” says Malloy.
Home Purchase Partners works with first-time homebuyers by providing
comprehensive homebuyer education and one-on-one counseling. The
program is designed to help first-time homebuyer understand the home
buying process and to individually develop a plan to remove the many
barriers to homeownership through counseling services and financial
assistance. O rientation sessions are held w eekly throughout the
metropolitan area and provide an overview o f the home buying process
and the services offered by the Portland Housing Center. These services
are now offered in English and Spanish.
The Portland Housing Center provides education, counseling and
financial services to promote people’s ability to access affordable and
stable housing in the Portland metropolitan area. The center is a private,
non-profit organization founded in 1991. Primarily government, financial
institutions, and foundations provide financial support.
New law requires auto dealers be licensed
COMRiBLTED STORt
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I f you want to become a used car
dealer(oranyotherused motor vehicle
dealer) you must now go to school
first. The Oregon Independent Auto
Dealers Association successfully
passed a law at the Oregon Legislature
last year requiring prospective used
car dealers to successfully complete
an eight hour seminar and pass a test
before they can get a license to sell
vehicles. The law became effective
Jan. 1.
The Association has received
approval from the DMV for a dealer
pre-licensing course and was licensed
by the State o f O regon in late
December to provide the education.
“The Association believes this
new education law will result in a
better understanding o f the huge
amount o f regulations car (motor
vehicle) dealers must comply with to
legally and ethically do business in
Oregon,” said Monty King, OIADA
Executive Director. “We know there
are people who think they can just get
a license and start selling cars, without
knowing what they must do to comply
with the hundreds o f Oregon and U.S
Picture yourself in the
Government rules, regulations and
la w s .” K ing said th a t m ost
prospective dealers, however, really
w ant the education so they can
operate legally.
“This law will help protect
c o n su m e rs by h aving a m ore
professional and ethical car industry.
W e’re tired o f people coming into the
industry without any idea o f the rules.
The only way they could learn before
was by the ‘trial and error’ method,”
King said. “Unfortunately, those
learning experiences were not at the
cost o f the new dealers. Most o f the
cost was borne by consumers.”
career o f your dreams a t the
NotlUlLLKst
Career Fair
fd o b Expo
>4
Saturday, J a n u a ry 29th
fu fa r
1
Merger from page 1
networks, and hopes to float shares
in the online operations associated
with them. News Corp, has also made
a series o f Internet investments in
places like financial news provider
TheStreet.com.
So far only Disney, which owns ABC,
and General ElectricCo.’sNBC have
gone so far as to form separate
d iv isio n s focusing on Internet
business and sell shares in them to
the public.
Worry
major online partner don’t need to
start worring - yet.
“ If it’sclearly established that there’s
a competitive disadvantage to not
owning an ISP, then the other media
companies will, I’m sure, reassess
their strategies,” said Morton Pierce,
a merger expert at the New York law
firm Dewey Ballantine. “But until that
time there’s really no imperative to
a lte r th e ir cu rren t d istrib u tio n
strategies.”
10 a m - 4 p m
FREE ADMISSION
w
has just slashed the dozen to four:
AOL/Time Warner; Disney/ABC;
Viacom/CBS and News Corp., the
parent company o f Fox.
“The concentration is getting more
severe and the range o f the diversity
o f voices is clearly being constricted,"
Alger said.
Analysts expect this trend to continue
as other Internet companies look for
combinations with TV, film and news
outlets.
With the AOL-Time Warner deal, the
Internet, once considered the voice
o f the I ittle guy, has suddenly become
a powerhouse player.
“ T he rise o f the In te rn e t w as
supposed to be the rise o f the
independent voice,” said Matthew
Felling, media director o f the Center
for Media and Public Affairs. “With
the auditorium being filled with large
bands, the guy playing his clarinet is
really going to get outshouted and is
going to get completely crowded out
o f the concert .”
AOL might not write the news. But it
channels news to its users. The
Internet portal may be more likely
now to send the point-and-clickers
toward CNN and Time instead of
MSBNC and Newsweek, media
watchers said.
Some analysts believe the quality o f
the news suffers when media worlds
collide.
“You need to have an independent
voice that can keep an eye on powerful
interests,” Rosentiel said.
In 1998, ABC News killed a proposed
* ’20/20” story about alleged security
problems at Disney World in Florida.
Officials said the network’s corporate
parent, Walt Disney Co., had no say
in the decision, but others were
critical.
Meet over 100 companies!
Here are just a few...
»
from page 1
Media mergers are nothing new,
beginning in earnest in the m id-1980s
with the takeovers o f TV networks,
including ABC and NBC, Dean Alger,
a u th o r o f the
1998 book
“Megamedia,” said Tuesday.
The trend accelerated in 1996 after
C o n g re ss
p assed
th e
T eleco m m u n icatio n s Act in an
attempt to spur competition. Instead
o f making it easier for companies to
compete, the opposite has occurred,
A lger said - the big mergers that grew
out o f the law means today’s media
are run increasingly by a dwindling
number o f owners.
In his book - subtitled “How Giant
Corporations Dominate Mass Media,
Distort Competition, and Endanger
Democracy - AI ger listsw hathecalls
th e “ d o m in a n t d o z e n ” m edia
conglomerates. Now updating the
book for paperback editions. Alger
I
But those companies, Go.com and
NBCi, were only formedjust last fall,
and both are still busy forming deals
and stra te g ie s for how best to
proceed.
In the meantime, with questions
rem aining over how high-speed
media delivery will reach the home,
whether through cable TV lines, digital
subscriber phone lines or satel lite TV
dishes, some industry watchers say
those media companies without a
Oregon Convention Center
NORTHW EST
Accountants, Inc.
American Family Insurance
Apple One Employment Services
Ashmead College -
School of Massage
ATSI
BCTI
Boly/Welch, Inc.
CNF Transportation
Computerjobs.com
Creditemps
Encompass TeleServices, Inc.
Express Personnel Services
Fred Meyer
Freightliner Corporation
Galore Communications
George Fox University
Guardian Management
Gunderson, Inc.
Initial Staffing Services
Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Inc.
Manpower, Inc.
Merix Corporation
Mt. Hood Community College
Nabisco
Oregon Employment Department
Oregon Lottery
Pacific Benefits Group
PacifiCare
Paychex
Pioneer Pacific College
Portland Police Bureau
Portland Teachers Credit Union
Professional Staffing Services
Prudential Individual
Financial Services
Schwan ’s Foods
SCORE
Shari’s Management Corporation
Sherwin Williams
State Farm Insurance
State of Oregon
Tendercare Childcare
The Mony Group
United Parcel Service
US Army Recruiting
Wacom Technology
WaferTech
Wells Fargo
Wendy's International
Westaff
Willamette Securities, Inc.
and more...
New Horizons Computer Training
Northeast One Stop Career Center
North Pacific Group, Inc.
Notus Career Management
For more information call:
Oregon Health
503-243-7595
Sciences University
Olinger Travel Homes
JWJ
www.jammlnfm.comwww.kxl.com
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