Business, finances, forex

Measure would penalise companies that help Russia’s Gazprom complete pipeline to Germany

The news of the Capital One data breach comes just as Equifax paid a $700 million fine for its 2017 incident. And this undoubtedly will have consumers and businesses more on edge about the security of their financial data.

Capital One Data Breach

Even though the perpetrator of this crime was arrested, it wasn’t due to Capital One or the authorities. The theft of the data took place on March 22 and 23, 2019. However, no one knew about it until a tipster warned Capital One its data may have been leaked. This was on July 17, almost four months after the fact.

This further highlights the need for everyone to keep an eye on their financial records on a regular basis.

You can set five minutes a week to go through your records to make sure your data hasn’t been compromised. Those five minutes will save a lot of headaches. Headaches that can last for months or even years if someone steals your information and destroys your credit.

As this case clearly points out, you can’t depend on these companies to monitor your data at all times. After all, they have hundreds of thousands or even millions of customers around the world. You are the only one that can give your data the attention it deserves.

The best you can hope for is for a quick reaction once an organization finds out. And in the case of Capital One that is exactly what it did.

So, What Happened?

As the Justice Department says in the release, these are just allegations and a person is innocent until proven guilty.

According to the Justice Department, a Seattle tech worker named Paige A. Thompson (aka erratic) posted the theft of information from Capital One on GitHub. On July 17, 2019, a user saw the post and alerted Capital One on its Responsible Disclosure Program.

Capital One verified the information on July 19, 2019, and it alerted the FBI. The FBI was then able to identify Thompson as the person who posted the content. Agents then executed a warrant at her residence and they seized devices which contained copy of the data.

Thompson was able to exploit a misconfigured web application firewall that enabled access to the data.

For its part, Capital One says, “We immediately addressed the configuration vulnerability and verified there are no other instances in our environment. Among other things, we also augmented our routine automated scanning to look for this issue on a continuous basis.”

If guilty, Thompson can face up to five years in prison along with a $250,000 fine.

You can take a look at the complaint below.

Thompson Complaint by jonathan_skillings on Scribd

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The Stolen Data

Capital One says the victims in this crime total 100 million individuals in the U.S. and another 6 million in Canada

The majority of the information comes from consumers and small businesses who applied for credit card products from 2005 through early 2019. The information includes names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income.

Thompson also allegedly obtained portions of credit card customer data; customer status data such as credit scores, credit limits, balances, payment history, contact information; and fragments of transaction data from a total of 23 days during 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The company goes on to say this didn’t affect bank account or Social Security numbers. However, it did affect around 140,000 Social Security numbers of its credit card customers and roughly 80,000 linked bank account numbers of its secured credit card customers.

In Cananda, 1 million social insurance numbers were stolen.

Capital One will notify all affected individuals and make free credit monitoring and identity protection available to them.

In the end, Capital One says this incident will end up costing the company anywhere from $100 to $150 million in 2019.

You Have to be Proactive

The threat to all financial institutions is a relentless attack which takes place 24/7/365. And eventually, people will break through.

Before this happens, you have to take matters into your own hands. This means being proactive in the protection of your digital data. Monitor your credit report with all three agencies, update the software on your computing device with the latest version, and change your passwords on a regular basis.

These are just a few of the things you can do, but if you want to take additional measures the Federal Trade Commission has a guide you can follow here.

Image: Capital One

This article, “How the Capital One Data Breach Could Affect Your Small Business” was first published on Small Business Trends

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Chair of trustees cites ‘tight’ financial pressure after public funding cuts

In the past, a small business owner might not consider using a Non-Disclosure Agreement (also called a confidentiality agreement or an NDA). But times have changed, and today having an NDA in your toolbox is a must.

With freelancers now regularly taking part in projects with small businesses, you have to use an NDA. And if you don’t make your freelancer sign one, it could have negative repercussions down the road. But NDAs can also protect you with inventions, purchase or sale, development of a project, and even a private party.

A new infographic from LegalTemplates has some valuable information about NDAs. Additionally, LegalTemplates provides some free NDA templates and everything you need to know about NDAs.

So, What is an NDA?

An NDA is a contract between a disclosing and receiving party, and It recognizes a legally binding relationship between them.

Anyone can be the disclosing party, such as an individual, company or an entity. The receiving party is the one getting confidential information, such as an employee.

When you sign an NDA, you agree not to disclose information which is in the agreement.

According to LegalTemplates, an NDA is also known as Confidentiality Agreement (CA); Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA); Proprietary Information Agreement (PIA); Secrecy Agreement (SA). This will depend on the region or industry.

Cases Where You Need an NDA

There are many cases which require an NDA. If you are not sure, you can err on the side of caution and have one drawn up. But it is best to consult a legal expert to make sure you are doing the right thing and you have the necessary elements in the contract to protect yourself.

NDA may be required for:

Employees – Notifies employees not to discuss business information.

Interviews – Because sensitive company information can be revealed during an interview, an NDA ensures it is protected.

Inventors – Inventors use NDAs with investors or other parties when they discuss details of their creation before they get a patent.

Real Estate – This type of NDA protects the buyer, seller, broker or anyone else involved in a property transaction.

Trade Secrets – Companies use this NDA to protect their trade secrets when talking to third parties.

Anyone can draw up an NDA contract to ensure your information and privacy is protected. As long as both parties agree to the contract and sign it, it is valid.

What Happens if You Don’t Use an NDA?

Whether you have invented the next big thing in tech, or you are protecting the recipe for your fried chicken, an NDA safeguards your information. But if you don’t use an NDA, someone can potentially use the information as their own.

As a legally enforceable agreement, an NDA will ensure the parties involved can’t use your information for their own advantage.

Some of the information an NDA can include are business practices and/or strategies; customer lists; drawings, designs, documents; financial information; marketing materials; proprietary information; prototypes or samples and much more.

Types of NDAs

There are two types of NDAs, a unilateral (one-way) and mutual (bi-lateral) non-disclosure agreement. Although both NDAs protect confidential information, they are not the same.

In a unilateral NDA, only one party is disclosing valuable information, only one party promises to protect the information, and it is used by an inventor and potential investor.

On the other hand, in a bilateral NDA, both parties are disclosing valuable information, both parties promise to protect the information, and it is used in a joint venture or merger.

Take a look at the LegalTemplate’s infographic below for more on NDAs, and make sure to visit their site to get the free templates here.

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “Non-Disclosure Agreements: When Does Your Business Need Them?” was first published on Small Business Trends

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Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova announced during parliamentary scrutiny that for a total of 143 managed beaches, the average price for a stay under an umbrella is about BGN 6.50 and for a sunbed – about BGN 5.60.

She announced that there are beaches with facilities prices of 2-3 leva respectively, and there are some with free umbrellas and loungers but mandatory consumption of products from the bar.

She pointed out that much of the current beach concession contracts were concluded in the late 1990s and early millennium, in the absence of a mechanism and a legal way to regulate maximum umbrella and deck chairs.

As of 2017, all new concession or lease contracts include a maximum umbrella and lounger clause, offered by the participant, which is fixed and cannot be exceeded for the entire contract period, with penalties provided for violations, including termination of the contract.

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Over the past 24 hours, two distress calls have been received at the Mountain Rescue Service, rescuers told Focus News Agency. Yesterday, an operation took place near the Malyovitsa hut. The rescue team helped a person with a broken leg. Another accident involved a bad fall of a paraglider near Sopot. The person had multiple injuries and was taken to the hospital.

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