Online Security: Why don't we have this down yet?

Ah, rickrolling. That takes me back. All of a sudden I can remember the early days of the internet when life was a lot simpler and the worst that one could expect from an online prank was being forced to view a Rick Astley video.

But those days are long gone and the pranksters aren't so innocent anymore. They want your name and they want your money.

Sounds harsh, but the reality is I have had my debit card replaced mulitple times in the last year, namely because of data breaches at Target, Home Depot, and an unknown breach that aled to someone charging $300 to a department store in Beijing on my card.

I was lucky. My bank texted me as soon as the suspicious charge posted and I was able to immediately cancel the card and get my money back. That it happened on the very day I was leaving on a week-long vacation was a massive inconvenience and made me paranoid that the new card my bank was sending me would be stolen out of my mailbox before I even got home.

I once lost my driver's license in Houston's Hobby airport which prompted me to purchase identity theft protection. I still have it. It makes me feel more secure even though I know that it's a false sense of security. Then I see this video and it blows the top of my head off!

It's 2016!!! What are these people doing blindly scanning a QR code? Why aren't they checking if the parking ticket is legitimate? Don't they know that QR code can download malware onto their phone which could copy all of that information and send it on to a third party who could use it to make their life a nightmare for months or even years and permanently damage their personal credit?

I don't get it. I really don't get it. People need to be more careful because they aren't as safe as they think they are.

I ran into another story just a few minutes after I ran into the first one. According to Fast Company, many merchants still haven't adopted chip readers for credit cards even though they could face stiff financial liabilites for not doing so. Instead of upgrading to scanners that read the chips, they still require customers to swipe their cards, a payment method that is incredibly vulnerable to fraud and identity theft. But the chips aren't foolproof. They're still vulnerable to online fraud and identity theft.

So what are you supposed to do? Nobody can agree. I think if you're smart and careful and watchful, you can reasonably protect yourself. I just don't think people can afford to be naive anymore. Maybe that's the point the rickrolling pranksters were trying to make.