Don’t Trust “Hacker Safe”

Perhaps you’ve seen this logo at sites like http://geeks.com:

Well Information Week posted this story: Many ‘Hacker Safe’ Web Sites Found Vulnerable

The merits of the ScanAlert service came into question just over a week ago following the publication of a letter from the parent company of Geeks.com, a site also certified “Hacker Safe.” The letter warned the site’s customers of a data breach last December and said it was possible “that an unauthorized person may be in possession of your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card number, expiration date, and card verification number.” … ScanAlert spokesman Nigel Ravenhill subsequently asserted in an e-mail that “no one knows exactly what happened, or whether this breach occurred on the [Geeks.com] Web site or somewhere else.” And he said, “There is no evidence that this Web site was hacked while it was certified ‘Hacker Safe’.”

Gee, thanks for the help. I’m guessing the folks over at Computer Geeks are wondering what they are paying for…