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Earlier this week it was reported that millions of credit card numbers were exposed to a cracker who managed to find his way into a the large database of an online transaction processing company.

Imagine what some nefarious little sod could do with eight million fresh, guaranteed active, credit card numbers could do?

There are literally hundreds of thousands of online merchants just waiting to sell stuff to web-surfers and who are happy too accept credit cards as a method of payment.

If you're a card-holder then you might be thinking "Oh dear!" -- but rest assured that most banks are happy to indemnify their customers against fraud of this type.

However, before you relax completely, don't forget that although the bank may reverse any fraudulent charges that appear on your credit card account, they won't compensate you for the hassles, costs and inconvenience associated with having your card canceled and a new one issued.

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But one has to ask: Why haven't the banks automatically cancelled and re-issued all those cards that may have been compromised?

Surely it would be cheaper to do this than to carry the cost of indemnifying all those customers who might find huge amounts fraudulently charged to their accounts?

Well no -- it wouldn't.

I'm betting that the banks would rather just leave it up to their customers to spot any fraud and go through the whole irritating process of disputing claims, cancelling cards and requesting replacements.

The main reason for this is that the banks seldom lose out when it comes to online credit card fraud.

Although you may think that they're carrying the losses associated with your credit card being stolen and used to buy stuff on the Net, they're not. It's the poor old merchant who is left out of pocket.

You don't have to worry about stolen cards, the bank doesn't need to get all flustered -- but merchants ought to be feeling a little nervous because they're the ones who will suffer if those card numbers are used fraudulently.

Is this fair? Will it result in fewer companies taking the risks associated with online retailing? Should the banks have been more pro-active and automatically issued new cards to replace those which were compromised? Now that they know of the risks but have taken no action, should the banks be prepared to cover the incidental costs incurred by customers who may find it necessary to replace those cards?

What are the banks doing to indemnify merchants against the risks associated with eight million card numbers that might well now be in the hands of fraudsters?

Are credit cards just too risky for online commerce? You tell me.

Lighten Up
Time for more of the oddities, obscurities and outrageous offerings from the wonderful world wide web.

(Note, coarse language). Here's another example of how you can replace those boring old 404 (page not found) errors on your webserver with something just a little more creative.

Have you ever thought how neat it might be to get your hands on one of those really tiny wireless video cameras that TV programmes such as Target and 60 Minutes sometimes use to covertly record conversations? Well why bother going small when you can wear a conspicuously concealed camera instead?

Have you ever wondered as to the whereabouts of the mate to those odd socks you find in the dryer or your sock drawer? Maybe they're here.

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