[	Tags	|	security	]
[	mood	|	pissed off	]
[	music	|	Orbital - "Fahrenheit 303"	]

I'm seriously considering switching away from Vodafone. It's just too easy to hack their systems.

To change the statement address for a Vodafone account, all you need to give Vodaphone is a name and address. They don't even ask you for the corresponding phone number (which is at least less public), let alone the account number (which should only be on bills). When you get your hands on an intercepted statement, you have the account number with which I'm sure you can do all kinds of nastiness.

I spoke to Vodaphone about this, and they say that they set up a PIN the first time someone calls them. However, this PIN is apparently only authenticated with the name and address of the caller, so again provides no security - I've had my phone for years and never called their customer service line before. The chances are that most people will be in the same situation. Why don't they ask you for your account number, which shouldn't be known by anybody other than you and them?

Update: Rather than just blogranting, I have e-mailed Vodafone. Again, I will let people know if I get a reply.( E-mail )

[	Tags	|	security	]
[	mood	|	thoughtful	]

You may have noticed that I haven't commented on current affairs recently. This is because I've been on a self-imposed media blackout after nearly putting my foot through greyeyedeve's telly at the sight of our smug grinning cunt of a Home Secretary on the news. I've always gotten annoyed with people who didn't take an interest in the world around them, but I've reached the end of my tether. I just can't cope with the fucking moronic sheep of this country and Parliament, and I'm sticking my head in the metaphorical sand for a few weeks until it all blows over. Which of course, it won't. Maybe I'll end up emigrating to Venezuela after all...

But anyway, I was in Primark yesterday, when a gang of lads were wandering through. One of them looked around and shouted "Look out! He's got a bomb!". Naturally, everybody turned to look, realised it was nothing serious, and went on their way. My first reaction was that the guy in question was a fucking moron and shouldn't be doing that in a crowded shop. Then later, while mooching around the Arndale, I started to think about it more seriously. I'm certain this wasn't the intent of the shouter, but his actions can be seen as a good thing - in the wake of the bombings in London, the British public are horribly overreacting to the perceived thread of terrorism, helped along as usual by the panic-mongering government and tabloid press. Crying wolf like that, over time, will desensitise people and drag them back to a more sane level of threat awareness and reaction.

It's probably horribly illegal under President Tony's "Defense of the Reich" Act, but do freedom and democracy a favour, and next time you're walking through a crowded shopping centre, shout "Look out! He's got a bomb!"