61–70 of 113 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a westerner working a tech job in China this is honestly a bad trend. How am I possibly going to live without access to Facebook?
Setup your own VPN.
Keep in mind that this is about chargeback risk, not implementing some secret government policy. "Anonymizing VPNs" are a high risk service -- the people signing up for them are more often "bad guys" than tech professionals looking for privacy -- and they're signing up with stolen payment information. There are far more hackers, crackers, carders, "script kiddies", spammers and other people that need to hide their lo…
> Keep in mind that this is about chargeback risk, First, I do not think this is about chargebacks, at all. I don't know what it is about, but it's not chargebacks. This looks like a blanket revocation of anonymizing/VPN services. That isn't how fraud/risk engines work (note: I wrote several fraud/risk engines for ecommerce/banking/travel industry as well as passive device fingerprinting). Sure, make this a riskier t…
Not blanket revoked. You can still purchase VPN services other than IPREDator.[0]
I'm surprised people here are taking TorrentFreak as an actual journalistic entity and not a website devoted to enticing a knee-jerk and vehement subset of tech users into clicking their articles.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Keep in mind that this is about chargeback risk, First, I do not think this is about chargebacks, at all. I don't know what it is about, but it's not chargebacks. This looks like a blanket revocation of anonymizing/VPN services. That isn't how fraud/risk engines work (note: I wrote several fraud/risk engines for ecommerce/banking/travel industry as well as passive device fingerprinting). Sure, make this a riskier t…
> blanket revoked Not blanket revoked. You can still purchase VPN services other than IPREDator. [0] I'm surprised people here are taking TorrentFreak as an actual journalistic entity and not a website devoted to enticing a knee-jerk and vehement subset of tech users into clicking their articles. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5988527
Though, it is not without warning. 2 days, if that can be trusted from the original article, is not sufficient warning.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can someone explain why the CC companies ban high-chargeback-risk companies? Why can't they simply ask for a higher fee?
Because the cost isn't limited to a single merchant, transaction, or customer. Every incident of credit card fraud increases the inconvenience of using credit cards. That's exactly the opposite of what credit card companies want. They want to make the process of using your credit card as simple and painless as possible. Ironically, this is also why they've taken none of the obvious technological steps that could virt…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Setup your own VPN.
This is the obvious answer for people with the technical skill to maintain a VPN server but what about everybody else?
And while I'm not aware of a properly turn-key solution for a VPN server, it should hardly be an epic undertaking to create one. Setting up a Linode account and running a StackScript is simple enough even for mostly-clueless people.
Keep in mind that this is about chargeback risk, not implementing some secret government policy. "Anonymizing VPNs" are a high risk service -- the people signing up for them are more often "bad guys" than tech professionals looking for privacy -- and they're signing up with stolen payment information. There are far more hackers, crackers, carders, "script kiddies", spammers and other people that need to hide their lo…
The fraud detection team at my bank called me last week to confirm the renewal payment was genuine. The same payment has been occurring every month for two years without issue, so it seems likely something has been tweaked within their detection algorthm.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because the cost isn't limited to a single merchant, transaction, or customer. Every incident of credit card fraud increases the inconvenience of using credit cards. That's exactly the opposite of what credit card companies want. They want to make the process of using your credit card as simple and painless as possible. Ironically, this is also why they've taken none of the obvious technological steps that could virt…
Can you elaborate on some of those techniques? Plenty of people are reluctant to use credit cards online for the fear that they might get stolen.
Such a reader can be built into laptops, keyboards, smartphones, available as small stand-alone USB devices, etc.. Web browsers, POS systems, etc. can send a request to the reader and tell the user to place their card on it and check the card's display.
Transactions without a valid signature can simply be discarded.
If the system is implemented properly, the only way to commit fraud should be to physically steal the card.
(A more paranoid version could include buttons on the card for entering a passcode, so that even if the card is stolen, it would be difficult to use, at least before being reported stolen.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you elaborate on some of those techniques? Plenty of people are reluctant to use credit cards online for the fear that they might get stolen.
Picture, for example, a card which has a small OLED display which displays an amount and a merchant name. You press a little button on the card, and an authorization is generated, cryptographically signed with an embedded key, and sent to the card reader (which also provides the power for the card). Such a reader can be built into laptops, keyboards, smartphones, available as small stand-alone USB devices, etc.. Web…
Somewhat OT. What is good way to use a vpn (not the sort of vpn connecting two networks which I have done before). Can I configure my router (or buy a router that supports this) so that all traffic leaving my house appears as though it is coming from the vpn? I realise I can just search for VPN providers, but I am interested in what is considered the best/easiest/cheapest solution.
Having a VPN configured and available on all of your devices makes it easy to use on a whim, probably the best thing for your privacy.