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Daily Archives: September 11, 2019

Think your credit card is safe in your wallet? Think again.

Washington Post –  …“Card-not-present” credit, debit and prepaid card fraud has ballooned in the United States in the last few years, reaching $4.57 billion in 2016, up 34 percent from the year before, according to the most recentFederal Reserve Payments Study. These shadowy crimes hurt both small businesses and the customer shopping experience. If you’ve swiped a credit card at a gas station that has a hidden skimmer, your information was compromised during the Equifax data breach, or you ordered something from a website infected by malware, it is more than likely that thieves have your card information, according to cybersecurity experts, who often find themselves one step behind international criminal networks.

“Recent figures suggest that over 80 percent of credit cards currently in people’s wallets have already been compromised,” said Markus Bergthaler, director of programs and marketing for the nonprofit Merchant Risk Council, which educates businesses on strategies to curtail fraud. Crooks obtain credit card information by stealing it right from the card or buying it on the massive online marketplace for stolen cards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube as well as the dark Web, a separate network that can’t be reached with normal browsers…”

Everything We Know About Exercise and Depression

Outside – A new meta-study, which followed 267,000 people, sheds a few answers – “For exercise enthusiasts and those who study the mind-body connection—or perhaps better put, the mind-body system—it has long been known that physical activity helps with depression. And yet even as evidence for this effect continues to mount, “the incorporation of exercise as a… Continue Reading

How Architects Are Making Concrete Walls Look Like Crumpled Paper

CityLab – “We’re pushing the limits of what this material can do,” says a designer behind the Kennedy Center’s new building, describing its experimental concrete treatments. “The Reach, the long-anticipated expansion of D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, opened to audiences on September 7 with a festival featuring the Kronos Quartet, the Chuck… Continue Reading

Expert predicts 25% of colleges will “fail” in the next 20 years

CBSNews: “For the first time in 185 years, there will be no fall semester at Green Mountain College in western Vermont. The college, which closed this year, isn’t alone: Southern Vermont College, the College of St. Joseph, and Atlantic Union College, among others, have shuttered their doors, too. The schools fell victim to trends in… Continue Reading

Key findings about the online news landscape in America

“The digital news industry in the United States is facing a complex future. On one hand, a steadily growing portion of Americans are getting news through the internet, many U.S. adults get news on social media, and employment at digital-native outlets has increased. On the other, digital news has not been immune to issues affecting… Continue Reading

More than two-thirds of Americans have little confidence in what the White House says

Washington Post: “The Trump administration has asked a federal court to reconsider a ruling that opened the door for potential payments to millions of federal employees and others due to the cybertheft of their personal information. The Justice Department request, filed last week, involves what it calls “massive litigation” stemming from hacks of two government… Continue Reading