[Dagger]

Can someone try to connect to this site and see if it works. Last couple of days for some reason i can not get the page to come up.

[Jock]

Have you used this address before? I usually go to americastestkitchen.com to access the magazine. Although for most things you have to register before you can access anything useful.

I did try cooksillustrated.com and it didn't work for me either.

Jock

[Nicko]

I tried it and it didn't work. If you do a search it comes up in the search engines but maybe they are trying to move away from this brand to America's Test Kitchen.

[Dagger]

www.americastestkitchen.com but this didn't work to. My guess both would take you to the same place. Wonder if someone crashed their server?

[Vera Bradley]

As paid subscriber to the online site, I can't get in either. I even tried using a link in the e-mail newsletters they send.

My most recent e-mail from them arrived 1/26/06. It was one of those "exclusive online" book offer deals - and the clickable link to order did not work.

I get the Error 404 Page Cannot Be Found.

I did notice that all links provided in previous e-mail from CooksIllustrated.com would send me first to www.cooksillustrated.chtah.com That immediately redirects me to www.cooksillustrated.com, which is unavailable and has been for several days.

Any ideas on what might be happening there?

[Jock]

OK, I was just able to get on to americastestkitchen.com with no problem. Time now is 3.50pm Pacific time. The Cooksillustrated.com link went to a page that said, "Cooks Illustrated will be available shortly".

Jock

[Vera Bradley]

Dear Friend of Cook’s,

As you have probably noticed, our Web site has been offline since Monday. This was due to a file being deleted in the “back office” part of our site over the weekend. We did not know how, or by whom, this file was deleted. As we do retain sensitive personal information from our Web members and registrants, we decided, for security reasons, to take the site down immediately.

As soon as we discovered the problem, we took steps to determine the cause and to determine whether or not any personal information was subject to unauthorized access. As of today, Friday, February 3, we have no indication that any sensitive personal information was compromised, nor can we say for sure whether this event was caused by a purposeful act or by a system malfunction.

Out of an abundance of caution, we have removed all credit card information from our servers before bringing the site back online. That means that all aspects of our Web site are functional except for your personal account information and My Favorites. As soon as we have determined that it is appropriate for us to reintegrate the credit card information with our online services (hopefully early next week) our site will be restored to full functionality.

Although we were, of course, anxious to bring our Web site back online quickly, our most immediate concern has been the security of our customers’ sensitive information, and we therefore wished to move deliberately. This has required a bit of patience on your part and also on ours. Here, as in cooking, haste is no virtue. (Much like you, however, I do find waiting painful.)

We intend to update all paid Web site members by mail or email as soon as we have concluded our analysis.

Thanks so much for your patience.



Christopher Kimball
Founder and Editor
Cook’s Illustrated

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/othe...d=519&bdc=6228

[Vera Bradley]

It was very BAD news for people (like me) who paid for membership to Cooks Illustrated:

A LETTER FROM CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL

February 10, 2006

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Dear Friend of Cook's,

When I write to our website members, it is usually about cooking or country living.

Today, however, I am writing on a more serious matter. I want to tell you about an incident that may have involved your sensitive personal information.

What I Know Happened
On January 30, 2006, we determined that a log file and a data table on one of our Internet servers had been deleted, causing portions of our website to stop working. The deleted data table contained basic information about our website members, such as their names, street addresses and email addresses. The deleted table did not contain any credit card information.

What I Did
As soon as I learned that the files had been deleted, I had our website shut down and had our computers disconnected from the Internet. I then directed that all credit card information be removed from our servers before bringing our site back online on February 3, 2006.

Cook’s has engaged outside computer security consultants to test the security of our system before we bring the credit card information back online.

I also immediately began an investigation into the cause of this problem. Unfortunately, we have been unable to determine how, why or by whom the files were deleted. We are, therefore, unable to rule out the possibility that individuals gained unauthorized access to our computers. Because our website members’ credit card information is also stored on the same computer system as the deleted files, we cannot rule out the possibility that someone gained unauthorized access to our customers’ credit card information.
Given that there is a possibility that someone has gained unauthorized access to our system, I am writing to give you notice that your credit card information (such as card number, cardholder name, billing address and expiration date) used to pay for your website membership may have been unlawfully accessed. Please be aware, however, that personal information, including credit card numbers, used at our bookstore and for all magazine transactions are not located on the same computer system as the deleted files and we, therefore, have absolutely no reason to believe that they have been subject to unauthorized access.
To protect yourself from credit card fraud and identity theft you should take the following steps.

What You Should Do
You should remain vigilant by reviewing account statements and monitoring free credit reports. Even if you do not find any suspicious activity on your initial credit reports, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that you check your credit reports periodically. Victim information sometimes is held for use or shared among a group of thieves at different times. Checking your credit reports periodically can help you spot problems and address them quickly.
I recommend that you contact your credit card company and keep a close eye on the activity on your cards. If you discover that questionable charges are appearing on your card you should contact the card issuer immediately to notify them of the fraudulent use, cancel the existing card, and have a new card issued.
You should contact the major credit reporting agencies and have them place a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. Call any one of the three major credit bureaus listed below. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts. All three credit reports will be sent to you by the credit reporting agencies, free of charge, for your review.
Below, we've listed the contact information for all three major consumer credit reporting agencies and several other agencies and organizations that can help you monitor and manage your credit information.

I have also put together a list of FAQs which you can access by logging onto www.cooksillustrated.com/webfaqs.

As you know, we do not accept advertising in our magazines or on our websites, and depend entirely on the goodwill and support of our readers and members. That, over the years, has created a strong sense of community between editors and home cooks as well as a commitment to no-nonsense reporting. With that spirit in mind, I wanted you to know exactly what happened, when it happened, and what we have done about it.

As Calvin Coolidge often remarked, “When you don’t know what to do, do the work in front of you.” That has been sound advice in the last couple of weeks.

Thanks so much for your patience in this matter. I hope that my next communication will be substantially more enjoyable for both of us.

Cordially,

Christopher Kimball
Founder and Editor
Cook’s Illustrated

Who else got this letter?

I also received from Cook's Illustrated the contact information for our three major U.S. credit bureaus and advice on placing a security freeze on my credit file. I'm not happy.

[cakerookie]

I don't know if this means anything but I just tried it and it came up for me. Time 5:25pm Eastern Time US...

[Vera Bradley]

Yes, thank you, Cakerookie. The site has been functional for two weeks. I should have mentioned that.

However, there was a serious security breech and the private information of paying members may have been accessed by a criminal. That was the point of my last two posts.

[cakerookie]

Ooooooooooops, sorry. Guess I should have read more thoroughly. Do that sometimes. Hope it works out OK for you...

[Vera Bradley]

If you paid for an online subscription at any time in the past, check your credit card statements carefully. I was just charged for an unwanted renewal.

[phatch]

They state in their user agreement that they'll try to automatically renew your account and should have emailed you about it.

Phil

[Vera Bradley]

Thank you, phatch. It is strange considering that I've received not a single email message or newsletter from them in over two years. And now this $34.00 charge shows up on my AmEx. Glitch, maybe? Anything is possible. Still, I feel uneasy knowing that my info is still in CI's system at this point.

Just saying... anyone who cancelled a subscription (or allowed one to lapse) might do well to watch his credit card statements for a long time.