I'm going to start paying cash for gas

[pokerfan]

Though I don't normally carry around that kind of money.

Gas Stations Ripe for ID Theft?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070626/tc_pcworld/133405

Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service Tue Jun 26

Using a credit card at a gas station could pose more of a risk for data theft than shopping online, as point-of-sale terminals have emerged as a weak link in the security chain, according to a Gartner Inc. analyst.

When a card is swiped, point-of-sale (POS) terminals often collect and store the data held in the magnetic stripe on the back of a credit card, said Avivah Litan, a Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst. Retailers are often unaware that their POS applications collect so much information.

In the hands of sophisticated hackers and counterfeiters, the data collected from the magnetic stripe is enough to create a replica card. "It's almost more dangerous to go to the gas station than it is online," Litan said at Gartner's Identity and Access Management Summit in London on Monday. "The data is just sitting there. No one even thought about what data is on a POS controller."

Retailers' network configurations are partly to blame. Many are using the Internet to transmit data in place of dial-up networks, and many have incorporated wireless access points into their networks using WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), Litan said, which is not considered a strong form of encryption.

Hackers lurk in parking lots looking for weak networks to penetrate. Since the POS terminals are linked via IP, once a hacker has accessed a network they can try out neighboring IP addresses until they locate a store of data, Litan said.

Data breaches that occur offline are common. Of 160 breaches investigated for one major credit card brand, 128 took place in the brick and mortar world where the card was physically present for the transaction, rather than being used online or over the telephone, according to Gartner.

To strengthen security, card brands such as Visa and Mastercard are pressuring retailers to comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard, a code of best practices created by the card industry. The standard forbids the storing of magnetic stripe data on POS terminals, and Visa plans to start fining retailers in the coming months if they don't comply, according to Gartner.

Implementing security is cheaper in the long run than having a data breach, which can be expensive and hurt a company's reputation. Gartner calculates that a data breach costs companies around US$300 per exposed account because of investigations, fines and lawsuits. On the other hand, beefing up security costs around $16 per account for the first year, and that cost falls over time, according to Litan.

The short-term forecast for POS security doesn't look great, however. Gartner predicts that by next year, most attacks against retailers will be directed at their POS terminals, and only 30 percent of POS software will be compliant with the prevailing security standards by 2009.

"The thieves always find the path of least resistance," Litan said.

[Breeze54]

1. Not only that but some gas stations

will withhold $50 to $100 until your ATM pays out!
They actually freeze your account for that amount
and it can be days before the freeze is released!
It's happened to people who were two days before a paycheck
and had no money for food after using their ATM card for gas.

Totally wrong!!

[pokerfan]

4. I understand a temp hold

while you are pumping the gas (they need to make sure the card is good for the amount that you are going to wind up charging.

But ONCE YOU ARE FINISHED pumping, the hold should be released and replaced with the actual charge!

It's also always bothered the shit out of me that gas pumps don't ask for a PIN. Why is that?

[Breeze54]

6. I think I can use a pin around here but I don't

usually do that because it takes longer to get it to approve it.
I only buy at two different stations, depending on price, so they
know me and I know them. I'm leery of stations I'm not familiar with.

[bigwillq]

2. I always pay cash for gas

I really don't use my credit card, I only have one, all that much except for ERs.

[dembotoz]

3. The other benefit such as it is

Is that paying cash helps you realize what you are spending on gas.
dumping it all on a card makes it too easy to forget how much is really going out the tailpipe until the statement comes and then it is too late.

[pokerfan]

5. I pay cash for everything else

Groceries, clothes, etc. It's just that pay at the pump is so convenient. And on long road trips, I always hate stopping but when I needed gas, I'd lock the vehicle, start the pump, go inside, take a whiz, buy a drink and/or a snack and be back at the pump before it was finished pumping. Then back on the road.