Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Interesting Tidbits

  • Since 2001, premiums for PPO and indemnity plans have risen as much as 56%, according to the National Association of Dental Plans.
  • Buying Long term care insurance soooner is better. Up to 33% of applicants over 60 are denied coverage.
  • Dog bites now account for one-third of all homeowners claims costing over $350 Million annually.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Cyber Risk Increasing as Stolen Data Becomes a Commodity

Prices charged by cybercriminals selling hacked bank and credit card details have fallen sharply as the volume of data on offer has soared, forcing them to look elsewhere to boost profit margins, a new report says.

Researchers for Finjan, a Web security firm, said the high volumes traded had led to bank and credit card information becoming "commoditised" -- account details with PIN codes that once fetched $100 or more each might now go for $10 or $20.

In its latest quarterly survey of Web trends, the California-based company said cybercrime had evolved into "a major shadow economy ruled by business rules and logic that closely mimics the legitimate business world".

Finjan's Israel-based chief technology officer, Yuval Ben-Itzhak, said in a telephone interview that new types of stolen data were now commanding a premium, such as patient healthcare information that can be used for insurance fraud or to illicitly acquire and sell medicines.
Other premium data includes business information, company personnel files, and intercepted commercial e-mails.

MAFIA STRUCTURE
The Finjan report, partly based on contacts the company established with five groups trading online in stolen data, described a Mafia-type cybercrime hierarchy in which bosses operate as business entrepreneurs and typically leave the actual online attacks to underlings.

An "underboss", or second-in-command, provides the Trojaninfiltration software for launching attacks. The workforce that carries these out is paid according to the rate of infections achieved and the country of origin of the infected computers.

"Resellers" then trade the hacked financial data, in the same way that a criminal "fence" disposes of stolen goods.

In online exchanges with resellers, Finjan researchers were offered a menu of stolen data, with platinum, gold, and corporate card details commanding the highest prices.

Sellers promised the data was "fresh" and one even offered a 48-hour guarantee to supply new details if those originally bought were rejected by payment systems as stolen cards.
"It's like in the regular business world -- when you buy a good and it doesn't work, you go back and you want to replace it," Ben-Itzhak said.

"It indicates a competitive environment. ... They need to build reputation, they want to show they're providing high quality data for your money so you can go back and buy from them rather than go to the other groups."

Ben-Itzhak predicted banks, which until now have shouldered the burden of compensating people whose data are hacked, would seek to put some of the onus for security on the customer.
"So far the banks are not mandating the end-user to have some sort of security on their desktop. They're taking the risk, better to say they're paying the risk, when your account has been compromised," he said.

"However what we noticed recently is the volume increased significantly and the banks are starting to ask the question: did you install something or do you have something running on your desktop. ... The banks will start to ask questions of the end-users and put some responsibility at least on them."
By: Mark Trevelyan

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

FMLA Expanded For Leaves related To Family Members In The Milatary

In January Congress expanded the FMLA to require employers to provide unpaid leaves of absence for certain reasons related to family members serving in the Military. Under the new law, employees will be entitled to 12 weeks FMLA leave per year for certain "qualifying exigencies" related to a family member's active military duty. In addition, employees are entitled to take 26 weeks of leave during a single 12 month period to care for a covered family member who suffers a serious injury or illness while on active duty.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Individual Disability Insurance

Can You Afford Not to Have it?

Disability Insurance protects your most valuable assets and your ability to earn an income. Without this coverage, your financial means for continuing your daily financial lifestyle could be in serious doubt. Listed below are some interesting facts regarding individual disability insurance.
Each year 12% of the adult population suffers a long term disability.
1 out of 5 people age 35-65 will become disabled for 5 or more years before they reach age 65.
A worker who is 20 years old today has a 30% chance of becoming disabled before he or she ever reaches retirement age.
At age 32 your chances of suffering a 3-month or longer disability is 6 times more likely than death.
At age 35 your chances of suffering a 3-month or longer disability is 44%.
If you are 45, your chances of having a work disability are 3 times as high as a person in their 20’s.
On average 7 out of 10 claims for Social Security disability benefits are refused the first time requested.
About 110 million Americans do not have long term disability insurance.
About 8 million adults have some disability that limits or prevents them from working.
Disabilities are not just the result of accidental injury. Common chronic health conditions can cause disabilities that limit your ability to work. In fact, the top 3 chronic health conditions that can cause work limitations are back disorders, heart disease and arthritis.
If you pay the premium, the benefits are normally received free from income tax. If the premium is paid by an employer, the benefits are taxable as ordinary income