THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friends have complimented me on my pumpkins, but are these things I’ve grown really pumpkins? Sure, they are round and orange and fluted. But look again: There’s more than a hint of red in their skins, and their shape is more akin to a doughnut than to a basketball.

But yes, they are pumpkins, if only because the word “pumpkin” refers to any squashy-type fruit that looks sort of like a pumpkin. No, a “pumpkin” doesn’t even have to be spherical and fluted and orange; there is at least one pumpkin variety, Lumina, whose skin is pale, almost white. Just the kind of pumpkin to scare Halloween goblins, eh?

Segue over into the world of botanical classification and you find what you and I call “pumpkins” falling into any of four different species. Each of these species also embraces one or more kinds of squashes.

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THE STALKS ARE TELLING

The easiest way to tell these species apart is by their fruit stalks. Look at the fruit stalk of Hubbard, Turk’s Cap, buttercup or banana squashes: it’s soft, round and prickly. The second part of the botanical name _ Cucurbita maxima _ hints at one of the pumpkins included in this group, the variety Dill’s Atlantic Giant. It has been the usual record holder for the world’s largest pumpkin, even if it does have more than a hint of non-pumpkinish pink in its skin. This group also includes the pale Lumina. (The record for the world’s largest pumpkin sits at a whopping 2,624.6 pounds.)

Next, look at the stalk of a Butternut squash; it’s smooth, hard and flares out where it joins the fruit. This species _ Cucurbita moschata _ includes so-called “cheese” pumpkins, such as Long Island Cheese, a variety esteemed for pies. Why cheese? Because the flattened shape and light ribbing suggests a wheel of cheese.

Yet another species that includes pumpkins are the gourd-like Cushaws, with smooth, hard and angled fruit stalks. Few pumpkins are represented here, but Japanese Pie pumpkin is one. The species name is mixta.

The species with the most pumpkins is Cucurbita pepo, with pentagonal fruit stalks and prickly stems and leaves. You are right to be reminded of zucchini squash here, because this species includes, besides pumpkins, zucchini and other summer squashes, acorn squashes and some miscellaneous gourds. Among pumpkins, here’s where you find varieties such as Connecticut Field, Small Sugar and Jack Be Little.

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WHY CHOOSE ONE PUMPKIN OVER ANOTHER?

Knowing your pumpkins’ lineage isn’t merely academic. Lineage might be important if you’re growing pumpkins for eating.

Most pumpkins used for pies come from the species pepo or moschata. Actually, butternut squash _ a moschata _ is often the ingredient of the “pumpkin pie filling” that you buy canned.

Lineage also factors into how long you can store your crop. Moschata and maxima pumpkins excel at “common” storage, the traditional method of keeping the fruits through winter by just sitting them on shelves in a cool, dry room.

If you are among the growing legion of gardeners who save their own seed, here’s another reason to know your pumpkins’ lineage: Grow more than one variety of pumpkin, and they just might cross-pollinate. Sow seeds from the cross-pollinated pumpkins and you’ll get pumpkins different from the mother ones.

The only pumpkin species that surely will not cross-pollinate each other are pepo and maxima types. On the other hand, crosses between moschata and maxima or between moschata and mixta are possible, while pepo crosses readily with either moschata or mixta pumpkins.

Finally, a pumpkin’s lineage tells you something about its handle. My pumpkins were an old French variety, Rouge Vif d’Etampe, a maxima species. I tried to lift the first one I harvested by its stalk; the soft stalk quickly said good-bye to the fruit. Pepo pumpkins have better handles.

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Did you know?

In 2016, Canadians lost $40 million to online scams. With identify theft and other online security breaches on the rise, consumers need to be aware of how to protect themselves.

What is identify theft?

Identity theft is when someone uses your personal information – like your credit card, Social Insurance Number or name – without your knowledge or consent, to commit fraud. Some common ID theft scams include creating false lines of credit and making purchases using a stolen bank account or credit card.

According to the Ontario Securities Commission, your identity is at risk when:

• you enter your credit card information online on a non-secure website
• you click on an email link from what looks like a legitimate bank or online shopping service (eg. PayPal) and enter your account information
• your personal information (Social Insurance Card, credit card or bank card) are stolen
• you give out your credit card’s three-digit security code over the phone to a scammer who claims to be from your financial institution
• any time your personal information is available to others

Aviva’s Identity Theft coverage is now even better

Aviva has introduced an enhanced ID Theft coverage – offering customers even more peace of mind as they tap, swipe and click their way through life. As one of the most comprehensive on the market, it features widespread financial protection if your identity is compromised, including:

• an increased limit of $40,000 per policy term for all ID theft expense claims
• a $5,000 limit per policy term to cover any financial loss due to ID theft
• 24/7 credit bureau monitoring and two credit bureau reports for six months after an ID theft claim
• access to your own ID theft case worker to help you identify and restore your finances and personal information after an ID theft claim

Don’t let thieves get the upper hand – learn more here or contact an insurance broker to add Identity Theft coverage to your home insurance policy.

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It now faces multiple investigations and lawsuits in Canada and south of the border, while its shares have fallen more than 30 per cent in less than two weeks.

Here is a look at how one of the largest cyber attacks in history unfolded and the fall out that followed:

_ _ _ _

Early March: The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team detects and discloses a vulnerability in Apache Struts, a widely-used web-application software product.

_ _ _ _

May 13 to July 30: Hackers have unauthorized access to Equifax Inc.’s files.

The company later says the hackers gained access through the vulnerability in Apache Struts, which supports Equifax’s online dispute portal web application.

_ _ _ _

July 29: Equifax’s security team observes suspicious network traffic on a U.S. online dispute portal web application. The company’s security team blocks the identified suspicious traffic.

The company says in later communication that it “acted immediately to stop the intrusion.”

_ _ _ _

July 30: The same team observes more suspicious activity and the company takes the affected web application offline.

_ _ _ _

Aug. 2: Equifax contacts cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which spends several weeks conducting a forensic review.

_ _ _ _

Sept. 7: Equifax publicly discloses the cyberattack for the first time, saying it may have compromised the personal data of up to 143 million Americans. The company adds an unspecified number of U.K and Canadian consumers also may have been impacted.

On a website for affected U.S. consumers, Equifax explains that the complex and time-consuming investigation is behind the delay between its discovery of the breach and disclosing it.

“As soon as we had enough information to begin notification, we took appropriate steps to do so,” the company says.

_ _ _ _

Sept. 12: An Ontario resident files a proposed class action in the province, seeking $550 million in damages from Equifax, according to Toronto-based law firm Sotos LLP. It is one of at least two proposed class action lawsuits filed in Canada against the credit monitoring company.

_ _ _ _

Sept. 14: The Federal Trade Commission says it is opening an investigation into the hack.

The chairmen of two congressional committees say in a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith that they are investigating the breach and ask for a slew of documents and a company briefing by Sept. 28.

_ _ _ _

Sept. 15: The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada launches investigation into the breach.

Equifax says fewer than 400,000 U.K. consumers had some of their personal information compromised, but it was more limited in scope and unlikely to lead to identity theft.

The company says its chief information officer and chief security officer are retiring. Both are replaced with internal employees on an interim basis effective immediately.

_ _ _ _

Sept. 19: Equifax says about 100,000 Canadian consumers may have had their personal information and credit card details compromised in the cyber attack. The breached data may have included names, addresses, social insurance numbers and, in limited cases, credit card numbers.

Later that day, Equifax revealed that it also had a security breach earlier this year that involved a different part of the company than the one accessed in the larger hack.

The breach involved TALX, which is Equifax’s human resources and payroll service. The company said there’s no evidence that the TALX breach, which happened between March and April this year, and the wider breach are related.

____

Oct. 2: Equifax provides an update saying a completed review determined that personal information of approximately 8,000 Canadian consumers was impacted, down from its original estimate of 100,000.

However, it said the review added about 2.5 million Americans to the list of those affected by the massive cyberattack, bringing the total number of people in the U.S. potentially impacted to 145.5 million.

Article extracted from ILSTV

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ICBC spokeswoman Joanna Linsangen says several customers report receiving texts informing them of a refund for a traffic fine or red-light violation and providing a link to claim the money.

Linsangen says the link directs the user to a site where personal banking information must be entered.

She says the corporation believes the texts are part of a SMiShing scheme, short for SMS phishing, aimed at tricking users to unknowingly download malware onto a mobile device or to send personal information.

A news release from the corporation says it never uses unsecured channels like text messages or social media to communicate sensitive information and it never issues refunds via text or Interac e-transfer.

Customers who have received a suspect message on their mobile device are encouraged to report it to the non-emergency line of their local police department and also to the federal government’s Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

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Many sellers of used cell phones are submitting fraudulent insurance claims to telecommunications companies by reporting a cell phone lost/stolen after a sale. In other situations, individuals are being sold stolen cell phones, or mobile devices that get blacklisted by a telecommunications company due to unpaid bills. Prior to a buy, consumers can test if the phone picks cellular service, or go online / contact a telecommunications company to determine if a phone is blacklisted, but that’s little help when a mobile device is blacklisted after a sale.

Fraudsters are benefiting financially by targeting individuals that can least afford to buy a new phone, lose $300-$500 on the purchase of a blacklisted cell phone, or purchase a “discounted” phone when entering into a contract with a telecommunications company that results in high monthly cell phone bills.

The Cell Clinic is advocating for individuals by shining a spotlight on this issue and providing tips to help safeguard consumers purchasing used cell phones. In order to offer consumers an opportunity to purchase low-cost used smart phones from a trusted source, with up to a six-month warranty, the Cell Clinic has excelled its used phone buy/sell program and is accepting all the risks associated with buying used cell phones.

The Cell Clinic is calling on telecommunications companies to stand up against fraudsters by implementing a process for consumers to report when a used phone they purchased has been blacklisted. Ideally a consumer will obtain the name, address and mobile phone number of the person that sells them a used phone. This information can be given to a telecommunications company, along with the IMEI number of the phone so they have an opportunity to address fraudulent insurance claims, and in time, perhaps help deter further fraudulent claims, which are supporting criminal activity.

Police agencies are unable to help individuals that are victimized by cell phone fraudsters because telecommunication companies cannot share client information.

excerpt extracted from ILSTV

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Cyber attacks are on the rise and most of the time catch individuals and companies by surprise. The impact can be detrimental to individuals and companies, alike.

Cyber attackers use various methods to access individual and company data. We have created 5 easy-to-follow steps to ensure you and your company’s data can be protected.

At Dentons, our Global Privacy and Cybersecurity team are experienced in helping individuals and companies put policies and procedures in place to deal with events like cyber attacks.

In an increasingly connected world, Cyber Security will undoubtedly require close attention and vigilance and the team at Dentons are here to help you stay protected.

Download the Article

About Dentons

Dentons is the world’s first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world’s largest law firm, Dentons’ global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.

Source: Mondaq

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA _ Statistics Canada will offer a detailed look Wednesday at the size of the gap between the country’s top income earners and those toiling at the bottom a chasm that appears to be narrowing but remains far too wide for many to easily cross.

The income data, collected as part of last year’s census, will offer an important signpost for the Trudeau government, which is looking for validation of its efforts to date to help reduce inequality and lend moral support to those in the lower income brackets.

The numbers are expected to show a 10 per cent increase in median incomes for families and single people over the last decade, suggesting a medium-term trend of positive economic news.

More broadly, however, the gulf between rich and poor in Canada remains a wide one.

The gap between the poverty line and the “one per cent” was at its widest in recent history during the 1980s and 1990s, when those at the top earned about 14 times than the average Canadian. That gap did narrow somewhat over the past decade; research shows the very wealthy now earn about 10 times more than the average worker.

In 2015, the top 10 per cent of earners pulled in $153,600 in wages, or “market income” about three times the median market income of $52,700, and roughly the total of the median incomes for the bottom 60 per cent of Canadians.

“There’s less confidence in social mobility,” said Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“There’s an increasing sense that the rules are rigged and the deck is stacked.”

That same sentiment helped propel Donald Trump to the White House and helped drive Great Britain out of the European Union. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hinted that Liberal social policy is designed in part to counter it in Canada.

The income data is the latest in a year-long series of data dumps from Statistics Canada as it paints the country’s most recent five-year census portrait. The first broad strokes began in February with population estimates, followed by details about age and gender, linguistic diversity and evolving family dynamics.

Details about trends in immigration, Indigenous Peoples, education and labour are due later this fall, which is when Statistics Canada will draw a more direct connection between various population segments and income levels.

This week’s release is based entirely on tax data from the Canada Revenue Agency, a sign of things to come. The idea is to one day use a variety of similar administrative data sources to build a digital portrait, all but eliminating the need to fill out a questionnaire.

Statistics Canada already makes tax filer data publicly available, which provides a fairly good idea of what the agency is likely to reveal Wednesday.

Doug Norris, chief demographer at Environics Analytics, said the median income of families and unattached individuals was $63,400 in 2015, an increase of about 10 per cent since 2005, once adjusted for inflation.

The changes in income reflect the shifting structure of the family dynamic: Among other things, Canadians are staying in school, living at home longer and delaying marriage and kids to keep their incomes on an upward trajectory.

Norris said the data will likely show women’s incomes increasing by about 18 per cent compared to a five per cent jump for men, with more women entering the labour force and male workers reeling from the 2009 recession.

There’s also likely to be signs of income gains for lone-parent households evidence that the traditional image of the single parent as a mother under age 25 with limited education and limited support is slowing being eroded.

“That’s not the typical profile of the single mother anymore,” said Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family, pointing to previous census data showing a rise in the number of women over 40 leading lone-parent homes.

Those older women tend to be better off financially because they are deeper in their careers, Spinks said, adding that fathers who are not partnered with mothers are more likely to be paying child support or contributing to household finances either directly with cash or indirectly through in-kind help.

The gender wage gap still remains Statistics Canada will reveal Wednesday how wide it was last year.

The biggest income gains provincially over the past five years are mostly likely to be in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, the result of a boom in commodity prices that began to fade about three years ago.

The Liberal government’s first budget offered extended employment insurance benefits to those hard-hit regions, anticipating costs of $827.4 million between April 2016 and March 2019.

As of early July, however, government coffers had doled out about $1.3 billion in additional benefits for some 317,261 claimants.

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The fallout of the Equifax data breach is going to be felt by companies, individuals and government for years to come.

This digital disaster will cause millions of people significant stress as they are dragged into a near never-ending battle with identity thieves.

It will cost billions to contain, and attempt to clean-up, and the proceeds of the crime will throw even more fuel onto the roaring fire that is global cybercrime.

What is Equifax and what happened?

Equifax is one of the big four credit bureaus — they rank a person’s worthiness to receive credit — things like car loans, mortgages, credit cards or sometimes even services such as telephone, cable and, in the US, even health care.

Their database includes personally identifiable information — names, addresses and most crucially, data like social security numbers in the US or social insurance numbers in Canada.

‘Companies aren’t yet required to report data breaches or disclose any information about such breaches. We are severely lagging behind many countries in this regard … ‘— David Shipley

In May, an unknown group successfully breached Equifax’s online services by exploiting a vulnerability in their web servers.

A software fix, called a patch for the vulnerability, had been available in March but was not put in place. Equifax only reported the breach last week. As many as 143 million Americans and reportedly as many as 44 million people in the UK are affected.

As of this weekend, all we know about Canada is that some people are affected, but no idea exactly how many or how much personal information has been compromised.

Reportedly 10,000 Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) subscribers in Canada have been notified that their information was included in the breach.

Why don’t we know more?

To be honest, it’s the result of gaping holes in Canada’s privacy legislation.

Companies aren’t yet required to report data breaches or disclose any information about such breaches. We are severely lagging behind many countries in this regard including the U.S. but leagues behind leaders like Europe.

We’ve passed some laws in 2015 regarding breach reporting, but haven’t brought the required regulations to support the law into force yet.

‘Firms of the size of Equifax aren’t going to change their behaviour for $100,000 fines,’ says Shipley.

Canada’s federal privacy commission issued a statement on Tuesday urging Equifax to provide this information to Canadians, pointedly noting they were first notified of the breach through media reports and have been “seized” with this issue.

The Commissioner says Equifax is “cooperating” with their office.

The privacy commissioner also took the unusual step of recommending Canadians not use the U.S. website Equifax has set up as it is only designed for use with U.S. Social Security numbers.

The new regulations under Canada’s digital privacy act will help a bit — they have fines of up to $100,000 for failing to report a breach like this, but fixed fines such as that have little impact on massive corporations.

What Canada should be doing?

Canada should move to adopt new European regulations called the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR.

Fines under those rules can run up to $30 million Canadian or 4% of revenues, whichever is higher.

Those are numbers that are causing firms that do business in Europe to stand up, take notice, fix shoddy products and services and pay more attention to defending against attackers.

Firms the size of Equifax aren’t going to change their behaviour for $100,000 fines.

The bigger you are the easier you fall

Breaches such as what happened to Equifax happen every day for a combination of reasons ranging from people falling victim to scam e-mails, to delays in properly updating or patching software or servers, to not investing in appropriate security technologies or audits.

What many people don’t know or realize is that large firms have something called technical debt.

Technical debt begins to accrue when you build a new complex IT system — say a system for gathering and sharing people’s credit scores. Companies invest millions or even billions to build these systems and then launch them.

‘Sadly, there’s not much Canadians who now have to live with the mess created by the breach can do to prevent something awful from happening to their finances,’ says Shipley. ((iStock))

But over time, the technology ages.

If firms aren’t careful, the system they built can become vulnerable as more and more flaws are found in it over time.

If they don’t fix those bugs or flaws — which may cause further issues and can be time consuming, expensive or cause service outages — then as time goes on the probability of a data breach increases dramatically.

What can Canadians do?

Sadly, there’s not much Canadians who now have to live with the mess created by the breach can do to prevent something awful from happening to their finances.

Credit monitoring services help, but they can’t stop identity theft. They can only alert you that it’s happened or at best, in-progress.

Some of the better credit monitoring or identity theft services can go a bit further by assisting in recovering your identity and paying some of the legal costs, but at the end of the day a lot of stress and harm can be caused by a data breach.

‘The bigger, longer-term issue that the Equifax breach has cast a spotlight on is the obsolescence of the social insurance number … ‘— David Shipley

In the U.S., there is an option for a credit freeze, though it can cost you money and take many steps to get in place.

Americans can ask the four major credit bureaus including Equifax not to provide their information to anyone, which will stop anyone from trying to get a car loan or credit in their name if the financial institution or service provider requires a credit check.

But that option really doesn’t exist in Canada.

Some of the bureaus do allow you to flag your account requiring additional ID or someone to contact you to approve any new credit applications, which may be helpful, but not all have that option and it’s not something that’s easy to figure out.

Moving past the SIN

The bigger, longer-term issue that the Equifax breach has cast a spotlight on is the obsolescence of the social insurance number and the need for a new secure form of unique personal digital identifier for government and commercial services.

We have to stop using a nearly 50-year-old approach that just doesn’t work in a 21st-century digital environment that’s full of cyber threats.

Efforts such as New Brunswick’s experiments to create a new secure digital ID are a step in the right direction.

The post Equifax data breach a ‘digital disaster’ for Canadians appeared first on Taridium.

“The reality is that cyber-crime has become an increasingly problematic issue, not only for the financial services sector, but for other industries in Canada and around the globe,” said Adam Evans, vice-president risk management at RBC. “It takes a combined effort between organizations and consumers to prevent fraudsters and cyber scammers from getting their hands on your private information.”

According to the Canadian Banking Association, 72 per cent of Canadians use online and mobile banking as their primary means of banking, up from 52 per cent in 2012. It’s clear that Canadians are accepting of new and convenient banking and payment technologies but it’s important they know how to stay safe when using these tools.

“Empowering our clients and the public to protect themselves is one of the best lines of defense,” added Evans. “As Canada’s largest bank we believe we have a responsibility to help educate the public on common cyber, fraud and privacy scams.”

Canadians can do their part to stay safe
Watch the RBC Be Cyber Smart video series; a collection of cyber awareness tips for individuals, families, youth and RBC clients:

1. Choose powerful passwords. Use multiple passwords, change them frequently and use ones that include a mix of letters and numbers: all essential components of online safety.
2. Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for confidential information. Be aware of schemes that ask for personal or financial information – they could be pretexting.
3. Beware of the phish. Do not click on a link in an email, call a phone number, wire money or take any requested action, unless you first verify that a request is legitimate.
4. Be cautious when sharing on social media. Be careful about including personal information online, on social networking sites and in email.
5. Be wary of public Wi-Fi. Avoid using public Wi-Fi to online bank, online shop or access any confidential information.
6. Keep your personal information private. Laptop and phone screens can easily be seen and your side of a phone conversation can be heard by everyone around you.

RBC is a proud participant in Fraud Prevention and Cyber Awareness months and aims to build awareness among clients and employees year-round. Read more tips and watch the Be Cyber Smart video series anytime on RBC’s Privacy & Security website.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We have over 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 35 other countries. For more information, please visit http://www.rbc.com/.‎

RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. For more information please see: http://www.rbc.com/community-sustainability/.

SOURCE RBC 

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