Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Coming Pandemic - Editorial - CIO: "As the world tries to ready itself for the inevitable spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, it’s unsettling to see another pandemic creeping up on us for which we seem frighteningly unprepared. I’m referring to identity theft and to the fact that companies are simply not taking sufficient care to protect their most important asset: their customers."
Free Internet Press - V.A. Delayed Reporting Theft Of Veteans' Personal Data For 19 Days: "The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department learned about the theft of electronic data on 26.5 million veterans shortly after it occurred, on May 3, but waited two weeks before telling law enforcement agencies, officials said Tuesday."
Error exposes 26m veterans to ID theft - World - Times Online: "Personal data on 26.5 million veterans fell into the hands of criminals when a laptop and computer disks were stolen from a government official who had taken the information home without permission. The data contains the name, date of birth and social security number of everyone discharged from the American Armed Forces since 1975.
The security breach is second in scale only to the hacking attack on CardSystems Solutions last June, which compromised the accounts of 40 million credit card holders. But it is potentially even more damaging because the stolen information contains social security numbers, which can be used to obtain credit cards and loans in a victim’s name."
The security breach is second in scale only to the hacking attack on CardSystems Solutions last June, which compromised the accounts of 40 million credit card holders. But it is potentially even more damaging because the stolen information contains social security numbers, which can be used to obtain credit cards and loans in a victim’s name."
Friday, May 12, 2006
Identity Theft 20X Bigger Problem Than Reported: "A new report issued by the US Dept. of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reveals that the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) initial 2004 identity theft report missed severely missed the mark, according to the National Crime Prevention Center (NCPC).
The FTC reported in its Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data that there were only 246,847 complaints filed in 2004. But a report released this month by the BJS says that 3.6 million households, or about 3 percent of all US households had been the victim of at least one type of identity theft during a six-month period in the same year.
'The new data proves that identity theft is not only one of the fastest growing crimes in America, it is also one of the most underreported and misunderstood ones.' said Al Lenhardt, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council. 'Because of the nature of the crime, victims can go about their daily lives never knowing their identity has been stolen until they get a phone call from creditors regarding an account they never opened or they are denied credit because of bad accounts in their names'"
The FTC reported in its Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data that there were only 246,847 complaints filed in 2004. But a report released this month by the BJS says that 3.6 million households, or about 3 percent of all US households had been the victim of at least one type of identity theft during a six-month period in the same year.
'The new data proves that identity theft is not only one of the fastest growing crimes in America, it is also one of the most underreported and misunderstood ones.' said Al Lenhardt, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council. 'Because of the nature of the crime, victims can go about their daily lives never knowing their identity has been stolen until they get a phone call from creditors regarding an account they never opened or they are denied credit because of bad accounts in their names'"
