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CSO magazine has an article and very cool video about a company that literally shreds hard drives, like you would shred paper (although the shredder is just a bit more beefy).

The heart of Corporate Destruction Solutions is a blue beast of a machine that sits on the back of a small white truck James drives from one customer to the next.

After recording the hard drive serial number, he drops the small metal slabs into a slot atop the machine, and from a TV monitor he can watch the drives falling between steel grinders. Sparks erupt from the hard drives as they're torn to pieces. At the end of the process, all one can see on the monitor is smoke and tiny fragments of metal. The machine spits the remains into a bucket, and the shrapnel is then sent off for recycling

Video. Watch for the sparks and smoke.

How long do delinquent debts remain on credit reports in the U.S.? Seven years. How long do Chapter 7 bankruptcies remain on credit reports? Ten years.

Does paying off a delinquent account require the derogatory marks to be removed from your credit report? No. If the debt is in collection, it's may be possible to negotiate with the debt collection company to have black marks removed. I'd recommend negotiating for that up front, as part of your deal to close out the debt. It's doubtful that the original creditor would ever listen to your request if they already sold your debt to the collector. If debt is not in collection, then negotiate with your creditor to have the derogatory data removed as part of your payment deal. In all cases, I'd expect it will be quite difficult to accomplish, however.

Will delinquent debt reduce your credit score? Yes, it will definitely cut your credit score. 35% of your credit score is computed using your "payment history" which includes amount of delinquent debt, length of time past due or in collection,  number of items delinquent, and how recent.

We announced today that the Info Security Products Guide has honored us with the Shaping Info Security 2008 award. This prestigious industry award recognizes individuals from around the world that have made the most positive impact on the security market.

Read the press release and the ISPG award page.

An article about identity theft in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel lists myTruston as one of the ID theft protection products worth checking out.

Using a debit card for purchases has some inherent problems, so you should at least be aware of them. (When we talk about debit cards here we mean check cards or ATM cards with a credit card network logo on them like Mastercard or Visa.) You may want to avoid using them for purchases or having one at all. The underlying reason is that buying something on your debit card pulls money right from your checking or savings account. This can lead to these problems.

1. Card blocking. Some retailers, including gas stations, hotels and rental car companies, will block a card in advance of the transaction clearing. Some will block using a default value for every purchase. If you buy $10 worth of gas, your checking account might have $75 blocked. Several days may pass until it is unblocked. So if your balance is low, you might end up bouncing checks or causing costly overdrafts--and you'd have no idea why.

2. Fraud results in no fund access. When your debit card is used fraudulently, it's your money that has been pulled, not your card issuer's. With credit card fraud, the criminals are playing with the card issuer's money. Your maximum liability for credit card fraud is only $50 by Federal law—this is governed by the Fair Credit Billing Act. Debit cards are governed under a different federal law: the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (Reg E). If you don't report debit card fraud within 2 days, your liability could be $500.If not reported within 60 days it could be as high as 100% of the fraud! To make matters worse, no matter what the situation, if you're fighting to recover from debit card fraud, the bank is holding your funds in the meantime. That's your money--and your bank balance is that much lower. You might be bouncing checks all over the place or be unable to pay bills on time, when you did nothing wrong.*

3. Fees. Banks earn substantial fees on debit card transactions. Some consumer advocates are up in arms about this. Apparently, when you use your debit card with a PIN, some banks charge you a special point of sale fee. And when you use it as a credit card, they charge merchants a lot--even though there's much lower risk than credit cards.

Some experts like Javelin argue that survey data shows that debit cards are not riskier than credit cards. That may be true, but point #2 goes beyond analyzing pure fraud data--even if you get your money back eventually, you can still get hosed. Regardless, you should be aware of these risks and make your own decision.

If you are seriously concerned about debit cards, then you have the choice of having an ATM-only card (but I've heard of some banks charging you a fee to make it ATM only!). When opening an account, ask for an ATM card only with no credit card logos.

* Note: Both Mastercard and Visa have a zero-dollar fraud liability policy and they do apply that voluntarily to debit cards with their logo. But the criminals still are using your money, not the bank's.

The other day, the Consumerist blog published a piece entitled 5 Steps To Take If Your Identity Is Stolen. Unfortunately, three of the steps are misleading and I felt should be addressed because they are common myths. I submitted a comment there but it seemingly was rejected and never appeared, so I am posting my thoughts here.

First and foremost, to attempt to create a 5 step list for all identity theft will never, ever work. Because the correct procedures for recovering from existing credit card fraud, or new credit card fraud, or ATM/debit card fraud, or other types of fraud are all very different. I'll address the specific steps in the blog post that are inappropriate here. The real world example they used for the 5 steps was a woman who had a credit card stolen with unauthorized charges.

Step 1: Place a fraud alert on your credit files and monitor your credit reports regularly.

In the example they used, credit card fraud on an existing account, placing a fraud alert is not a best practice--it simply is irrelevant when dealing with account takeover. If someone steals your credit card, then they can't open a new credit account in your name, so a fraud alert won't help. Now, setting fraud alert doesn't necessarily hurt, but it is useless in this situation--and may give a false sense of security (fraud alerts might only be useful in the case of new credit account fraud).

Step 3: File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) .

Sorry, this is a waste of time and certainly never a priority. I see this suggestion on so many lists, I think because the writers just lift their ideas from other lists and perpetuate the myth this is helpful to a victim. The FTC does not investigate identity theft, and has no jurisdiction or budget to do so (and never has). The FTC simply uses the data you provide to compile an annual report (the 2006 report was issued in November 2007). So feel free to be a good citizen and report it, but to imply it is an essential step for victims is wrong.

Step 4: Contact your local police or the police in that community where the identity theft took place and lodge a complaint.

Look, it doesn't hurt to get a police report but this is a time consuming, inconvenient step and usually not necessary for existing credit card fraud (again, this was the example they used). If you contact your credit card company in a timely way, dispute the fraud and they agree to wipe off the charges, then there is no need to get a police report. Why waste someone's time with that when it is pointless?

I do appreciate that they made an honest attempt to help people. I just would hate for people to read the steps and be misled or think they are performing best practices.