Category «Financial System»

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 22, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Musk Ally Demands Admin Access to System That Lets Government Text the Public; How Phished Data Turns into Apple & Google Wallets; Identity is the Breaking Point—Get It Right or Zero Trust Fails; Chase Says Making Payments Over Social Media Is Too Messy, Will Block Zelle Transactions; and FTC Launches Inquiry into Big Tech Censorship Practices.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Email Security, Encryption, Financial System, Legal Research

AI in Finance and Banking, February 17, 2025

This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Four highlights from this post: AI and Women’s Employment in Europe; Digital Innovations for Increasing Financial Inclusion: CBDC, Cryptocurrency, Embedded finance, Artificial Intelligence, WaaS, Fintech, Bigtech, and DeFi; 2025 Global Outlook for Banking and Financial Markets; and AI in Finance Summit New York, April 15-16, 2025.

Subjects: AI in Banking and Finance, Cryptocurrency, Economy, Financial System

Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired

Since January 20, 2025 America has been catapulted into an unimaginable inflection point. Sabrina I. Pacifici chronicles seismic events in recent weeks which have upended America’s democracy, jeopardized our economy, financial system, national security, science and medical communities, and fractured our national identity, at home and around the world. This is a commentary, and a guide written by a law librarian and former federal employee who was the target of a similar purge by Trump in 2018, to what and who has been targeted and purged, an overview of the process used to do so, and a perspective on the impact of these sweeping, deeply damaging and likely illegal actions.

Subjects: Climate Change, Constitutional Law, CRS Reports, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Digital Archives, Economy, Education, Ethics, Financial System, Government Resources, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy, United States Law

Career civil service across the government fired, programs suspended – list continues to grow

Democracy, the Constitution, the Federal Government – All At Risk. Since his inauguration on January 20, 2025 Donald Trump has rapidly implemented key recommendations of Project 2025 using actions executed by non career government personnel as well conservative public policy think tank members to create chaos, instill fear in the workforce, and freeze the delivery of health and medical services, food and nutrition programs, critical scientific and medical research, and the security of our homeland. In light of the ongoing issuance of directives, orders, firings, freezes to government funding, immigration raids, threats of action against specific groups and communities, and the list goes on, this report by Sabrina I. Pacifici will be published in several parts, with updates added to include new documents, actions by courts and Congress, and additional details on programs impacted.

Subjects: Congress, CRS Reports, Economy, Financial System, Government Resources, Leadership, Legal Research, Management, Telecommuting

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 26, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: The double-edged sword of AI and cybersecurity; Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog; Cybersecurity Alert: Users Deceived By Fake Google CAPTCHA Pages; Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location; and Your phone is listening. Do you care?.

Subjects: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Economy, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 18, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Apps That Are Spying on Your Location; AI-supported spear phishing fools more than 50% of targets; Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), once celebrated as an unbreakable defense, is crumbling under the weight of its outdated technology; NSA Warns iPhone And Android Users – Disable Location Tracking; and Chinese Innovations Spawn Wave of Toll Phishing Via SMS.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Email Security, Financial System, Privacy

Lie About Your Birthday 🎂

Your birth date, like your phone number (get a burner number), is personal information that scammers can use to steal your identity or target you for fraud. Sisi Wei asks you to think back: How many times have you been asked to verify your date of birth in serious situations, like when recovering your login from your bank, or getting your medical information from your doctor office?

Subjects: Financial System, Healthcare, Privacy, Search Engines, Shopping, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 11, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: A Day in the Life of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew; 33 Chrome extensions that have been found to have malware; Experian Conducted ‘Sham Investigations’ Into Errors in Its Credit Reports; and Lie About Your Birthday.

Subjects: AI, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 28, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the operator of Zelle, as well as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo “for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud” at the payment provider; You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family; North Korean Hackers Deploy OtterCookie Malware in Contagious Interview Campaign; How to block Chrome from signing you into a Google account automatically; and Mobile Phishing Attacks Use New Tactic to Bypass Security Measures.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

No flood gauges, no warning: 99% of US streams are off the radar amid rising flash flood risks – we saw the harm in 2024

Flooding is one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage each year. In 2024 alone, floods destroyed homes in over a dozen states and claimed more than 165 lives. Julie Arbit, Brad Bottoms and Branko Kerkez identify how thesedisasters underscore the importance of fast, accurate flood warnings. They’re also a reminder that extensive gaps still exist in the systems that monitor U.S. stream levels.

Subjects: Disaster Planning, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System