U.S. a juicy target for hackers
NEW YORK – The U.S. is the juiciest target for hackers hunting credit-card information, and experts say incidents like the recent data theft at Target’s stores will get worse before they get better.
That’s in part because U.S. credit and debit cards rely on an easy-to-copy magnetic strip on the back of the card, which stores account information using the same technology as cassette tapes.
“We are using 20th century cards against 21st century hackers,” says Mallory Duncan, general counsel at the National Retail Federation. “The thieves have moved on, but the cards have not.”
In most countries outside the U.S., people carry cards that use digital chips to hold account information.
The chip generates a unique code every time it’s used. That makes the cards more difficult for criminals to replicate – so difficult that they generally don’t bother.
U.S. gas prices down 2 cents per gallon
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average U.S. price of gasoline has dipped 2 cents a gallon in the past two weeks after a month of increases.
According to the Lundberg Survey released Sunday, the average for a gallon of regular is now $3.26. Midgrade averages $3.46, and premium is $3.61.
Of cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, the lowest price, $2.84, was in Tulsa, Okla. Long Island, N.Y. had the highest, at $3.62. Just a penny less was Los Angeles with an average of $3.61.
Exec apologizes for offensive AIDS tweet
Justine Sacco, a public-relations executive who gained almost instant infamy – and unemployment – for an insensitive tweet about AIDS in Africa, issued an apology Sunday.
She was in London on Friday, headed for a vacation in South Africa, when she tweeted “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”
Sacco hopped aboard her flight, the tweet blew up and social media outrage was booming before she ever landed.
The hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet gained traction on Twitter, taking the top-trending spot for hours.
The withering social media criticism she drew is drawing almost as much attention as the tweet itself. But, Sacco was all about apology on Sunday.
“Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet,” she said in her statement, first released to African news outlets.
She added: “There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country, that we read about in America but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand.”
Associated Press and USA TODAY
