Why Is The Media Taking JPMorgan Chase's Word on their Massive Negligence?
by Spocko
Last night I put up a post over at FDL: 83 Million Reasons We Should Break Up JPMorgan Chase.
I joked a bit about how the media will cover it and just accept what they are told, because hey, it came from the official spokespeople, they wouldn't lie to us, would they?
Things must remain stable otherwise the terrorists/Russians/hackers win!
If we had actual competition in the industry this breach would be a signal to all the other big banks to start snagging JP Morgan Chase customers. But none of them want to risk breaking the code of silence.
But that doesn't mean that other entities can't start suggesting to people to leave Chase. Credit Unions, smaller banks and mattress companies can all start campaigns to get people to leave JPMorgan Chase.
I told my friends at New York Communities for Change to restart their campaign to get cities to leave JPMorganChase. They had some big successes and I'll bet those cities are very happy today.
I've just read about 15 articles on the story. The press plays dutiful stenographer. 'Just the facts' as they are told. A few talked to some security experts. But no one talked to the people who actually worked on this breach. So it's all second hand guesses how bad it really is.
The stories are now about how a consumer can protect themselves, since JPMorgan didn't. Chase is outsourcing the fraud detection to the humans whose accounts were negligently secured. Nice trick! Thanks for the new job!
But none of them suggest this, "Leave JPMorgan Chase."
I watch lots of mystery shows about big thefts and one thing you notice is how misdirection and social engineering is used. For example, we have been told that they used an employee password to get in. No genius hacker or massive supercomputer cracking necessary. "It coulda happened to any bank!" they cry. But with the proper controls in place it never would have gotten this far. That is negligence. If it happened in a smaller bank fewer people would have been impacted.
Trust Us. Have We Ever Lied to You Before? Wait, Don't Answer That!
The bank is now engaging in their own media blitz and social engineering to keep everyone calm. It's working so far, the stock had a tiny drop but no big deal. And that is all Wall Street cares about. "Didn't drop too much? Okay move along, nothing to see here."
What is the panic they were afraid of? Everyone leaving the bank and going elsewhere. Not just individual accounts, business accounts. And that can still happen. JP Morgan wants you to see them as Jimmy Stewart and the good ol' Building and Loan. But they are Mr. Potter and we all know it.
What if you want to destroy a big bank, but you didn't want to directly take away their money? You might start by injecting doubt into the integrity of the bank. You might give people a reason to take their money out of the bank, voluntary. You interrupt the revenue stream, indirectly.
They are blaming the Russians because that is their current tech bad guy. (I'm surprised they didn't blame ISIS or Occupy.)
What if you wanted to protect a specific bad bank but don't want to acknowledge it's just them? You make it about the entire system. You wrap it in a flag, call it national security.
Any problems then must be seen as bad for America, not just JP Morgan Chase. It's not an attack on a specific bank with bad security, it's an Attack on America! That way everyone rallies around the bank! And they get special government help. "We must maintain confidence in the American Banking System!" But it's not "The American Banking System" it's JPMorgan Chase. They are the law-breaking-fine-paying, too-big-to-fail-so-we-won't-prosecute them, bank.
If I was another bank that kept my systems secure, I wouldn't want to be thrown in the same category as them but I would welcome the government's protection.
Will This Breach Change People's Behavior?
I shop at Target. I pay cash. I know a lot of people who do, even though they probably have a much more solid security system now, it's just this hangover feeling people have.
Will people start pulling their accounts? JP Morgan Chase is afraid of a run on the bank. If I wanted to stop a run I would do like they did. I'd write a carefully crafted statement that the media swallows whole with little or no demands to know more. "Trust us," they say, "have we ever lied to you before?"
Is my money at JPMorgan Chase safe?
Yes. There is no evidence that financial data such as account numbers, passwords, user IDs, dates of birth or Social Security numbers were accessed, acquired or compromised.
As always, you are not liable for any unauthorized transaction on your account that you promptly alert us to. We have not seen any unusual fraud activity related to this incident.
I just watched an episode of Crossing Lines in which the issue of "evidence" of a crime on a computer was erased. The crime happened, they just didn't have evidence.
Just like the bank was wrong earlier about how many accounts were compromised, they could be wrong on "the evidence" or they could be lying. Do they have to make any of these statements under oath? Can anyone see those? How about the SEC? Any non-captured regulators? How about that new-fangled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?
What the hackers might do with the data isn't clear YET. Maybe they are waiting. Maybe this is exactly what they wanted to accomplish.
In this hilarious FAQ JPMorgan Chase tell people they don't need to change their passwords and the bank doesn't offer to buy you a credit monitoring service.
Note the wording, they don't "believe" it's necessary to change passwords. They don't "think" customers should get new cards.
Besides working with computer software security experts, I've also worked with someone in the fraud part of the credit card industry. He explained that it is cheaper for the banks to just let the fraud happen than issue new cards. Sure they cover any fraud purchases, but what of the people whose identities were stolen? Ooopie. What is that line from Animal House? "You f'ed up you trusted us!"
The media is still absorbing this story. Action News 7 will run the, "What can you to protect yourself?" stories. But "Five on Your Side" will never state the obvious, leave JPMorganChase. Because that would be attacking an advertiser.
During the upcoming media, PR blitz I expect this attack on JPMorgan Chase will morph into "It's your patriotic duty to stick with this bank or the terrorists win." You all can start asking your cities, businesses and groups, "Why are you still with JPMorgan Chase?"
Starting today they don't need a "political" reason to leave them like they did because of their previous horrible acts in the mortgage and foreclosure business. They can use the good 'ol, "It's in your best self interest!" reason to leave them. You know, the magical hand of the market!
For the kids, here's the hashtag. #LeaveJPMorganChase
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