Archive for December, 2008
December 31, 2008 at 10:03 am · Filed under Online Psychology Resources
“Our responsibility as individuals is to be true to our own souls and NOT sell out to the System. If we cannot help heal the System we are in, then we must leave the System and find a better opportunity, even if we have to create our own system to do it.” Dorothy E. Fischer, “The System Versus the Soul,” an essay in Rediscovering the Soul of Business: A Renaissance of Values
Spirit and meaning is a missing link in many lives, teams, and organizations. Many who have material prosperity live in spiritual poverty. That’s what’s driving the rapidly growing number of meaning seekers in society. We want to know that our lives count for something. We want to make a difference. Our work and our lives become ever more meaningful the more they are in harmony with who we are and touch the very core of why we exist. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Psychologist, Abraham Maslow, developed a hierarchy describing our progression from the most basic to the highest needs of self-actualization the fulfillment of our full potential. He believed that “the unhappiness, unease, and unrest in the world today are caused by people living far below their capacity.”
In his book, The Greatest Miracle in the World, Og Mandino spins a tale of his encounters with Simon Potter, a humble and learned wise man. In one conversation, Og and Simon discuss the miracle people can perform in their own lives by resurrecting their dead spirits. Simon explains the need for this miracle, “Most humans, in varying degrees, are already dead. In one way or another they have lost their dreams, their ambitions, their desire for a better life. They have surrendered their fight for self-esteem and they have compromised their great potential. They have settled for a life of mediocrity, days of despair, and nights of tears. They are no more than living deaths confined to cemeteries of their choice.” We need to be less afraid of death and more frightened by an empty life.
When we feel the most love, passion, or energy is when we are the most alive. That’s when our soul sings. In Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, organization consultants and professors, Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal (co-author of the classic Corporate Cultures the 1982 book that popularized the idea of organization culture) conclude, “The signs point toward spirit and soul as the essence of leadership.”
The culture of a family, team, or organization is “the way we do things around here.” A toxic culture is loveless, passionless, and meaningless. It has a weak heart and a sick soul. A healthy culture is engaged in meaningful doing through purposeful being. It has a high-energy spirit. Leaders make work, families, communities, or life in general, purposeful. I can only do that if I am filled with purpose. Spirit and meaning starts inside the leader. They can only be developed from the inside out.
In their big busyness, organizations can easily lose their heart and soul. Without realizing it, or ever intending to, they can lose their deeper sense of meaning. Goals, plans, reports, and numbers take over. In the harsh glare of hard-headed analysis, soft “touchy, feely” emotions like spirit and meaning evaporates as dew in the morning sun. It’s like an academic study of a deeply moving story. The dissection may help us understand the technical pieces, but misses the feelings that touched us so deeply.
Regardless of our positions in an organization, we need to do whatever we can to help change that. We need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. But we need to ensure we’re not feeling like victims of a heartless team or organization with a hollowed out soul. It’s too easy to find ourselves being numbed by jobs that aren’t a passionate joy but really feel like work. Profit, wealth, or careers can become goals in themselves rather than the means to fulfilling our deeper, more meaningful destinies.
If we’re not in touch with our own heart and soul we may not realize how our life energy is being slowly drained by work that doesn’t feed our spirit and give us richer meaning. If we’re not careful, we can become hollow victims with our lifeblood sucked out of us. But I can’t blame “them.” I may not choose to be victimized by a toxic team, family, or organization, but I chose whether to be a victim. The choice is mine.
Excerpted from Jim’s fourth bestseller, Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success. View the book’s unique format and content, Introduction and Chapter One, and feedback showing why nearly 100,000 copies are now in print at http://www.growingthedistance.com Jim’s new companion book to Growing the Distance is The Leader’s Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success. Jim Clemmer is an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. His web site is http://www.clemmer.net/articles
December 30, 2008 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Online Psychology Resources
Some of the best persuasion techniques have been developed from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) methods. For example, if you hear a person saying, “I see,” a few times, they are probably processing information visually, according to NLP. To influence them then, you would use phrases like, “You can see how…” or you would actually show them things. A more auditory person would be influenced by, “I hear what you’re saying,” and “Listen.”
Notice if they use visual, aural, or kinesthetic words. If you want to convince your spouse to go to the Bahamas, it makes a difference which words you use. “We’ll be feeling that sun on our backs,” is not the same as “We’ll see sunny beaches,” or We’ll listen to the waves at night.” You may use all of these, but one of the three types of words will be more influential for most people.
More Persuasion Techniques
1. Use a person’s name. You have undoubtedly heard salesmen use and abuse this technique. Maybe a statement like “Look Steve, you can see the benefits of this…” just turns you off. Using a person’s name IS a powerful persuasion technique, but there is more subtlety and art to persuasion than just following simple rules.
People do love to hear their own name, but you have to be careful how you use it. First of all, use it how they want to hear it. Ask how they prefer to be addressed. A Mike may not like “Michael,” and a Joseph may be irritated by you calling him “Joe.”
Second, use it at the right time. Unless you are great at reading people and know it is okay, don’t say “Hi Betty!” the moment she walks into your office. Wait until there is a bit of rapport, and sometimes even ask permission (”Is it okay if I call you Betty?”).
2. Use motivating words. Say “think about,” they’ll do that. It is not a call to action. Use words like “today,” and “now,” and “do this.” Many subliminal experts will tell you that even using “by now,” repetitively, as in “By now you can see that this car is luxurious,” is subconsciously taken as “buy now.”
Remember to use THEIR words. If they use the word “efficient” often, then it’s an important word to them. Start using it: “You can see how efficient this RV is in it’s use of space.” Pay attention and pick out any words they use often. Persuasion is easier when you speak the same “language.”
3. Be a chameleon. Change your language to more closely match theirs. Slow or accelerate your speech to match theirs. Sit in the same position that they sit in. Use the same facial expressions. Laugh when they laugh.
This technique is called “mirroring and matching,” and, when done well, you can establish rapport quickly and easily with most people. Most people will never notice you’re doing this, but don’t be too obvious. The person will just feel like you’re like they are, that you can “relate” to them. A bond will begin to develop between you, and you can test this bond by “leading.”
This means that once you have established the bond, you can change your body posture, to see if they unconsciously do the same. If so, they are ready to follow. You continue to mirror and match, but you also start to lead them right to the bottom line on the contract, or to whatever action you want them to take. This is one of the more powerful persuasion techniques.
Steve Gillman has been hunting down obscure knowledge and useful secrets for years. Learn more about subliminal persuasion, and get a free gift at: The Secret Information Site (http://www.TheSecretInformationSite.com)
December 29, 2008 at 12:36 am · Filed under Recreation Resources
You can buy flies for fly fishing, but you’ll want to tie your own at some point. Undoubtedly, your first fly will be the Frankenstein Fly.
Of Flies…
There is a particular fly for every fish, location and situation. There are basic flies like the Woolly Bugger and millions of exotic ones. You can buy thousands of them, but it will set you back a pretty penny. So, it’s time to tie your own.
The first step in the fly process is getting some educated advice at the bookstore. You’ll need to browse the fishing section for the hundreds of books on the subject. You’ll see books like “Flies for Idiots”, “Be One With The Fly”, “I Fly, You Fly, We All Fly” and other mythical titles. Pick the one that seems tailored to your needs, buy your tools and supplies and head home.
One of the first flies most people try to tie is the Woolly Bugger. It can be used for most situations and seems fairly simple to tie. Since this is your first time, you’ll actually be tying the Frankenstein Fly whether you realize it or not. This is true regardless of the specific fly you try to tie.
With the Woolly Bugger, you’ll use a jam knot, a fluffy piece of marabou, lead wire and so on. You’ll follow the directions in detail. You’ll wind. You’ll strip fuzz. You’ll wrap like you’ve never wrapped before. In the end, you will have followed every step in agonizing detail. As you finish the last step, whip finishing your fly, you’ll step back to admire the best Woolly Bugger.
At this point, you’ll look at the book and your masterpiece. Then you’ll jump on the Internet and pull up pictures of Woolly Bugger flies. Then the neighborhood will shake with a piercing scream. Yes, you’ve created something that faintly looks like a Woolly Bugger, but strikingly like Frankenstein.
Congratulations, you’ve tied a Frankenstein Fly. Welcome to the league of mad tie scientists.
Have Faith
Tying flies is definitely an art. You will almost never get it right the first time. Don’t be discouraged. Keep at it. Who knows, maybe the fish will find your Frankenstein Fly to be a tasty treat.
December 28, 2008 at 2:31 am · Filed under Recreation Resources
Whitewater rafting is a great reason to get out of the office. However, there is a need for some organization when you hit the river. Along those lines, here are some thing that you may wish to set up and do before heading downriver.
You are going to want to take pictures; however, most cameras are useless when they get wet. You need to make sure that any cameras that will be used while on the river are waterproofed and ready for action. You may wish to ask the place where you will be rafting if they have any recommendations. It should be noted that there are some cheap one-use waterproof cameras; however, try one out in your own backyard before using it on the river.
Any supplies that you want to take with you must put into some sort of waterproof container, and the container closed securely. A waterproof container that hasn’t been securely fastened will not function properly and get its contents wet. Bear in mind that you will most likely be too tired at the end of the day, so don’t bother packing anything that doesn’t allow you to rest and relax when you leave the water. It will be tempting to bring art supplies, but you won’t be able to properly use them.
Don’t bring your modesty with you; it won’t be any use. The first thing that you are going to want to do when you get out of the water is to change into something dry. In order to do so, you’ll need to change in front of the other guys. A modest person would prefer to stay dry. Like a lot of other adventures, modesty just gets in the way of the fun.
Remember to pack light. There really isn’t any reason to pack heavy; you’re only going to be there a day or two, and you just need a bedroll and a change or two of clothing. Anything beyond that is just a waste of space.
Listen to what you are told, and execute it immediately. An issue some guys have is that they can’t take orders; this is a serious issue when your life hinges on your ability to listen to someone that has been down the river, and then obey what he says. If you can’t obey orders, even when they could mean the difference between life and death, then you have no business out on the river. Stay home instead and watch rafting movies unless you are willing to suck it up and do what you’re told.
Whitewater rafting can be a fun recreation; by pitting man’s cleverness against the wild waters, the rafters can learn a lot about themselves. Pay attention to what you learn; it can be extremely important to how you lead your life.
Martin Lucchi is a Web Developer for Eclipse Leisure, a British company that organizes hen weekends, stag nights, Corporate Events and corporate Christmas parties for the UK and Europe.
December 27, 2008 at 6:39 pm · Filed under Online Psychology Resources
Depersonalisation is a lesser known mental condition that can be very disturbing and unpleasant for the sufferer. It is a depressive disorder, which is usually brought on by a stressful event or situation.
As well as depression, the main symptoms are difficult to describe. It is a feeling of unrealness, of not being really “alive” or in full conciousness. Being out of oneself or lost. Thought and access to memory is slowed. Speech can be affected as words are harder to access. Emotions are felt much less and do not feel important. Sometimes there is numbness to the fingers and other symptoms. It can feel worse under fluorescent lighting. It is advisable to see your doctor to check this diagnosis.
The feelings can last for just a few minutes, reoccur, or remain continually for a long period. The sufferer should of course get out of the stressful situation if at all possible. However, this may not, in itself, cure the condition. It would seem that the brain is reacting to the stress by putting itself into a “safe mode”. However, it then can get confined in this condition.
Altogether it can be quite debilitating, but it a big problem when it comes to making others know how you feel. The sufferer is often told how well they look!
Treatment is often by way of anti-depressant tablets. This can alliviate the symptoms but seldom cure the problem. If you have this condition it is easy to become self-obsessed with the problem. As this will cause more stress it is best to live as normally as possible and to try not to think about it.
http://writingup.com/blog/rambler
December 27, 2008 at 12:41 am · Filed under Web Of Home Improvement
Blackout shades are fast becoming popular. They are used for blocking the light form entering into the room. While you take a nap in the afternoon you may want to darken your room. You can do this with blackout shades. Blackout shades are used in the rooms that have home theaters. While watching movies you might want to darken the room for a better effect. Blackout shades are the perfect room darkening tools. Blackout shades range from dark colors to soft colors. They are perfect for any type of a room that you want to keep dark. Wood shades have become popular over the year. Wooden shades give an artistic and homely look to a room. They are excellent blackout shades. There are woven wooden shades available that look extremely elegant. They are durable and high quality shades. These wooden shades are available in slight color differences. Bamboo shades add a lot of elegance to your rooms. These shades can be used in home theater rooms as well as in your bedrooms.
While buying wooden blackout shades ensure that they are made or bought according to the measurement of your window. If the blinds are not installed properly then you will not get compete blockage of light. You must get professional help to install the blinds. You will not get a total blackout if light seeps in through gaps in the blackout shades. Buy wooden blackout shades that are bigger by 3 inches so that they cover you window completely and do not allow light seepage.
December 26, 2008 at 11:47 am · Filed under Online Psychology Resources
Since moving to Northern New Hampshire seven years ago, I have observed an unusually large number of my friends and neighbors, many of who are of so-called Baby Boomer age, dealing with the myriad of issues associated with elderly parents. I have been struck by the great dignity and grace with which they have done this and wish I could somehow document it. Of course it is a very personal thing to discuss and each of us has our own way of dealing with it. Yet, if we can learn from each other’s experiences, perhaps in some small way it can help make this difficult phase a bit easier.
Whether it’s rural New Hampshire or urban Boston or wherever, it’s something many of us have to do when our parents reach an age where they can no longer care for themselves. Back sometime in April 1980, my dad approaching ninety, found himself in this situation so it was time for me and my siblings, only one of whom lived in Chicago at the time, to make a difficult and collective decision about locating a nursing home in the Chicago area. That particular sibling, my sister, would assume the awesome responsibility for watching over dad. We honed in on one in Rogers Park area of Chicago that seemed appropriate, but we had our own litmus test and that was that the attitude of the people in charge would need to be responsive to my father’s special needs and would endeavor to provide him with full dignity in his final days. After all, “Big John” as he was known, was our hero and we were determined to give him the very best we possibly could.
Before flying to Chicago from Boston, I arranged an appointment with Father Ballwebber, the home’s young director, to discuss these things having outlined beforehand a number of questions. I had been told that the good father was a realistic man knowledgeable about the sometimes hardscrabble life and mean streets of Chicago and would be straight with me. On the way I stopped to buy a bottle of something stronger than tea so that our mutual comfort might be a bit more positive…. if he were so inclined.
When we met, I was surprised to find we were both about the same age and that our backgrounds were not all that different. Both of us were first generation Americans and we had both grown up in the same Chicago neighborhood. We had been athletes in high school and college and were vaguely aware of each other’s reputation in that regard. So we started on solid common ground.
Well, I never got around to my specific questions, but we talked a lot about the Vietnam War, politics in general and corporate and Papal politics in particular. Wediscussed Papal Encyclicals, Jesuit Intellectualism, prejudice, love, divorce, annulment, death, and a whole lot of things in between. We used some coarse language when we hit on growing up in a tough city as we both had memories we just as soon forget. On a different level, he described how politics were not all that different from those in the business world and that sometimes people of the cloth were passed over for promotions for the same dubious reasons…and something, a nuance…..passed between us. We discussed excommunication and how unfair I thought it could be. We hit on how difficult it was for both a lay person and a priest to be a “good Catholic” and just what being a good Catholic meant.
Father Bill had placed two glasses on his desk when I first entered his office and we worked my bottle pretty good along with a pack of Salem’s. We sipped as we discussed the responsibility children must assume for their parents. I talked about how dad and I were very close despite our great age difference. I mentioned how he would always come to watch me play football and baseball and how he cheered wildly during my many amateur boxing matches and how he would jump into the ring after a fight and put ice on my face if I had lumps or bruises and towel me down. We talked about going smelt fishing in Lake Michigan, going for Sturgeon in Northern Wisconsin, and spending time at a hunting cabin in frigid Yankton, South Dakota or Lake Zurich, Il. Father Ballwebber said he had similar experiences and remarked how his father had nurtured and coached him as he became a college-bound halfback and pro prospect, but how his father was so proud when he had decided on the priesthood as his life’s work.
We went back and forth like this for a another hour or two, sometimes laughing, sometimes with moist eyes. At one point he said, “you truly love him, don’t you?” I nodded and said I want him to live out his days peacefully and without suffering.” He said he would do his very best but that was something no one could really guarantee. I knew he was right. I also knew right there and then that we had made the right choice. Finally, I said I had to return to my sister”s home and meet with the siblings, as I had a flight the next day and was starting to feel just a tiny bit lightheaded. He said he was as well and we both laughed and shook hands firmly. He didn’t say anything else but looked straight at me in a way that left no doubt he understood what I wanted for my father. Curiously, I had never asked him one single pre-outlined question.
On the way to my sister’s, I reflected on our lengthy conversation and the soulful quality of the priest. It wasn’t as much about religion as it was about two 43 year old men finding a common ground on something upon which neither of us could probably put a handle. For me, it was about finding a level of comfort and confidence that made me feel my dad would be just fine in this man’s care.
After reaching agreement with my siblings, making final arrangements and visiting with my dad, I drove to my hotel knowing that I might never see him again, for I would soon be going to Switzerland on a lengthy business trip. I had tears in my eyes and prayed mightily to my God that I had done the right thing. Well, “Big John” passed away just a few months later and he did so peacefully and with grace and dignity.
So as many of you find yourself in a similar situation, there are many different ways to make this excruciatingly difficult decision. This was simply one way of engaging it, and I thought I would share it with you. If there is anything that resonates in some useful way, then I will have achieved my purpose.
“The greatest gift I ever had came from God, and I call him Dad!” Anonymous
Ted Sares, PhD, is a private investor who lives and writes in the White Mountain area of Northern New Hampshire with his wife Holly and Min Pin Jackdog. He writes a weekly column for a local newspaper and many of his other pieces are widely published.
December 25, 2008 at 9:57 am · Filed under Online Psychology Resources
Like it or not, we think in line with our customs and tradition often times, right down to the level of how we think of death, or about death. I was a licensed counselor for many years, and the issue came up a few times, and I was sad at its results, to hear Americas shamefully trying to avoid talking about it. But let me put that aside and finish the article. Yes customs and traditions set down; do play a big part in how we view death. Death being a normal and natural thing; we mimic our parents and our TV heroes, and how they portray death. Why so much gloom out there on death [?] It has been around for a long time, as long as I’ve been around anyhow, fifty-seven years. It is often a taboo subject to talk bout it in certain places. But you can see a lot of books on the subject; more than I can count.
I live in Minnesota, and Peru, and I have traveled much through Mexico, Central America, and South America. The Maya, the Inca and the Aztecs took dying as a preparation period, along with rituals to be put into place; when they knew it was near; my mother was much like them. She told me about her preparing for death, three years before she died at 83, in 2003. She was looking death into its face. And just before she died she said, “I’m ready, I’m alright with it, let me go.” I was sad, but being sad only says we had good times together, that is what brought my tears, no more times. Selfish in a way; also, my mother left me with some fine last words, something TV never leaves out and parents that do not allow their children to see their dying grandparents, and so forth; on TV, or at the movies, all one can find are grunts for their disappearing heroes. That is not life.
People fear to talk about death, as if it was a storm out of control, brewing just for them. Death is seldom viewed by children in America (as I previously implied), as if it was a private affair. I seen my mother in the hospital 26-times in 23-days, when she was dying; and she was laughing and joking in her death bed. I am grateful for that time. It is a choice I feel, and I’m glad I had the deciding vote. I believe children should be allowed to visit and see their grandparents on their dying beds, should they so wish to, and even pushed a bit to do so. My son’s daughter saw her grandmother while she was dying in the hospital, and started crying, she was but a child. But what I feel she will remember is not her crying, but her great-grandmother’s smiling, for that was the last picture she saw of her.
Perhaps death is too much like hell for Americans, because most people I talk to think everyone is going to heaven, and thus, hell no longer exists. Be that as it may, hell and death seem to be connected; as my mother used to say, “Dennis, why does everyone think they’re going to heaven.” I couldn’t answer that, but now I can, hell is too close to death, and death is their nemeses.
Author and Poet Dennis Siluk, his web site is: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
December 24, 2008 at 1:11 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Did you know that we all have the ability to enhance self-healing, increase comfort and improve nutrition, exercise, communication and flexibility? This article explains clinical hypnosis and how it can bring relief to clients suffering from arthritis. Hypnosis is easy to learn, you can do it on your own and it empowers you to take an active role in your healthy well-being.
The subconscious mind has many jobs. It quietly and effectively regulates our bodily functions and stores all of our values, beliefs and memories. It also balances our blood pressure, heart rate and co-ordinates each step we take everyday of our life. The negative effects of arthritis extend into many areas of a client’s life, as does the positive resolve and relief of hypnosis. Hypnotherapy is the simple process of accessing and directing the subconscious mind to support certain positive changes. It is the language of the mind, it access the most powerful level of awareness and down loads new applications of freedom and relief.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It causes a deterioration of the protective lining of cartilage in our joints. This deterioration occurs due to a breakdown of the chondrocytes that form cartilage. Osteoarthritis affects men and women equally. Most people over 30 years of age have some features of early osteoarthritis. The degree of limitation depends on the location of the inflammation. The major areas of concern are hips, knees and spine. The development of osteoarthritis may be related to trauma, aging or heredity.
The symptoms of stress play a big role in exacerbating the situation. Communication with family and friends plays a key role in managing stress and hypnosis makes this a lot easier. Suggestions offered to a client during a hypnosis session encourage them to share what’s on their mind enabling them to offload concern and frustration, giving them more time doing things they enjoy.
It takes energy to deal with any physical or emotional burden. Hypnosis creates ideal sedation allowing for sound sleep. We all follow the path of our most dominant thoughts and if the last thoughts a client has at bedtime involve deep restful sleep, they are in a much better position to recharge their body and mind for tomorrow’s challenges.
For those suffering with arthritis it’s often difficult just keeping up with the fast pace of day-to-day life. Hypnosis helps individuals adjust to a more appropriate pace and also to release the frustrations and anxiety associated with any limitation. Clients who routinely relax with hypnosis are more centered, balanced and less affected by things they can not control.
Increasing muscle tone reduces stress to affected joints, which increases mobility and comfort. Low impact activities like swimming; walking and range of motion exercises are commonly recommended to clients with arthritis. With hypnosis it’s easier to integrate new regimes and to establish positive subconscious connections between healthy activity and improved mobility, comfort and freedom.
The more protection in your joints, the more comfort and mobility you create. Since the subconscious controls the multitude of our bodily function, hypnosis can direct it to increase the production of chondrocytes, which increases the growth of healthy new cartilage. Pain is often the biggest issue with arthritis. Some pain, however, is necessary; it acts as a warning system telling us that something isn’t right. The responsible approach with hypnosis is to only reduce unnecessary pain, leaving intact the body’s ability to signal us and protect us from further complications.
Hypnosis can also be used to regulate the flow and distribution of endorphins, which are the ‘feel good’ chemicals the body uses to create comfort and relaxation. Using hypnosis to regulate endorphin production plays a big role in putting the client in control. Hypnosis can also alter the perception of where the pain is located. By redirecting sensitivity away from key areas such as hips, knees and vertebrae to a less critical part of the anatomy like a finger tip, the client has much more control.
The same approach can be used to attach a different quality to pain. A sharp pain can be perceived as dull; burning pain can be perceived as cool. Involving other senses is one of the distinct advantages hypnosis offers in managing the symptoms of arthritis. Another technique involves using one color to represent pain and another to represent comfort, and then blending the two offering instant relief.
Lastly, by attaching a number value to pain creates the option of change. By imagining a yardstick during hypnosis a client can pick the number that best reflects their current level of pain, and then they are directed to different numbers which changes their perceived level of discomfort.
With hypnosis arthritis sufferers gain a distinct advantage in managing and even reversing the limitations of arthritis. Hypnosis is simple, empowering and extremely effective. A few sessions with a hypnotherapist gets you started and with a little practice you begin to effect healthy positive changes in your life. We all have remarkable self-healing abilities and hypnosis is an excellent way to jumpstart a return to a healthier more active life.
About The Author
Paul Gustafson RN, BSN, CH runs HealthyHypnosis.com of Burlington, Massachusetts. His 11 years of acute cardiac and hospice experience offer a solid foundation supporting his clinical approach to hypnotherapy. Visit HealthyHypnosis.com or call toll free at 888-290-3972.
info@healthyhypnosis.com
December 23, 2008 at 4:57 pm · Filed under Networks
Saturday, MasterCard blamed a vendor of ALL credit card
providers called CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a third-party
processor of payment card data, as the source of loss of 40
million consumers credit card information.
As is pointed out by several newspaper and web articles over
the last few weeks, each recapping long lists of financial
information data breaches, something’s gotta give before we
entirely lose trust in financial institutions, data brokers
and credit bureaus. How much privacy loss can we take
without acting?
These types of data loss were very likely common and have
very probably been going on for a very long time. The
difference is that now, THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO DISCLOSE
THOSE LOSSES - not just in California, but in many states.
National disclosure laws on data security breaches are being
considered in Congress.
I suggest that these breaches of data security all came to
light due to the California law requiring disclosure from
companies suffering hacking loss or leaks or social
engineering or crooked employees or organized crime rings
posing as “legitimate” customers. All of the above have been
given as reasons for security lapses or poor security
policies.
About three years ago, a friend told me his paycheck deposit
to Bank of America went missing from account records after
he took his check to the bank on Friday. By Monday, Bank of
America was in the news claiming a computer glitch had
disappeared the entire day’s deposits. I mumbled to myself,
“I’ll bet that was a hack and that hacker just made a huge
offshore banking deposit with B of A depositors’ money.”
But we didn’t find out why it happened in that particular
case because there was no disclosure law in place at the
time. Now we have disclosure laws that mandate notice of
security breaches. Now suddenly - huge financial services
hacks and devious criminal social engineering outfits posing
as legitimate customers and apparently “innocent” losses by
transport companies of backup tapes begin to come to light.
This spate of data loss incidents is proof of the need for
corporate “sunshine laws” that make public notice mandatory
of those data losses that threaten customer information.
Who is going to lose here - the public, the corporations,
the criminals, or the government? I’d prefer that the bad
guys get the shaft and take down crooked company insiders
that either facilitate data loss by underfunding security
and encryption or participate in data theft or loss in any
form - even if that participation is security negligence.
Financial companies and data brokers have been covering up
the losses and keeping quiet about hacks so as not to worry
or frighten their customers. But that practice is
essentially ended now that they must notify the public and
disclose those losses instead of hushing them up.
Keeping the breaches hidden from public view is bad practice
as it maintains the status quo. Disclosure will facilitate
internal corporate lockdowns on the data and all access to
it. Disclosure will educate the public to the lack of
security and danger to the sensitive information we all
provide rather casually and routinely to businesses.
As the following link to a silicon.com story suggests, we
cannot take much more of this lack of regard to privacy and
must lock down financially sensitive data securely and must
begin to hold data brokers, bureaus and handlers VERY
accountable.
<http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39131279,00.htm>
Insist to your elected representatives that your financial
data be locked down, encrypted and guarded by those
entrusted with storing, transporting and using it. Since our
financial, medical and legal lives are increasingly being
housed in digital form and transmitted between data centers
of multiple handlers - we need to know it is secure. We also
need to know when that security has been breached and our
data compromised or lost.
Thieves are becoming more aware of the ease with which they
can find and access financial data. Hacking is not the
source of the greatest losses.
Organized crime has easily found their way into our
financial records by simply paying for it by posing as
“legitimate” business customers of information brokers such
as ChoicePoint and Lexis/Nexis. Any business can buy
financial and credit information from those information
bureaus and credit reporting agencies by meeting rather lax
requirements for “need to know” that data.
As long as it is possible to purchase our sensitive data
from brokers and bureaus, organized crime will
“legitimately” buy it from those sources, then ruin our
credit by selling that information at a higher price in
identity theft schemes.
Since disclosure laws have come into effect, those breaches
have been made public, credit cards cancelled before losses
can occur and credit reports monitored to watch for
suspicious activity. The bad guys activities are squelched
because we are made aware of the possibility our information
has been compromised.
Not all blame can go to financial institutions and data
brokers. Protect your own private data by protecting your
computer records at home, in the office, on your laptop and
in your PDA by using basic keyword security and locking down
files. Use built in encryption on your operating system and
your home network to keep data secure. Then be certain to
clear that sensitive data off the computer when you sell it
or throw it away.
Data security is something we all need to take seriously and
the corporate breaches are dramatic illustrations of how
important it has become to build digital fortresses around
our critical financial, legal and medical information.
Mike Banks Valentine is a privacy advocate and blogs about
privacy issues at PrivacyNotes.com
You can read more about identity theft issues at:
Publish101
Contact MikeValentine for Search Engine Optimization
http://www.seoptimism.com
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