Identity theft is on the rise. The starting point in the fight against identity theft is prevention. Major corporations are just starting to incorporate identity theft awareness into their overall security awareness programs to educate their employees, clients and vendors on the minimum security measures that must be and are expected to be taken. Like I always say, it is your information and only you can initiate the efforts and take the steps to protect them. Whether you are an individual concerned with the security and privacy of your own personal information or that of your family, or, a company concerned with the personal information of your clients and employees, you must have theft awareness and take the steps to educate yourself first, and then others who also handle your information. This could include your kids, your accountant, attorney, vendor, and a bunch of others.
Contrary to all beliefs, the information security and protection business is not an old profession. Information privacy is even in its infancy in my opinion. Take a look around; social security numbers are floating around every where from the doctor’s office to the internet like they’re piece of worthless junk, while the same social security numbers are heavily relied on to identify us. Businesses ask for our social security numbers, names, phone numbers, addresses, zip codes (interestingly enough, zip codes are used to validate our identity and ownership of the credit card we use at the gas pump), and other piece of information in public and expect us to respond back with the information while surrounded by other people.
Do we really believe that identity theft can be fought while we continue to treat and handle our personal and most valuable information in such manners? One of the information security principles is that, all information is not born equally. As a society, we need to determine what information is critical to us, and apply more stringent security measures to protect them.
If we rely on social security numbers as a main source of identity validation, then we must treat it differently than our home phone numbers. I have further described this philosophy in my identity protection system, KAOS™.
In a lot of the identity theft cases, the responsibility is shifted to the consumers for the time being. Besides a few laws that make identity theft a crime, or limit the credit card liability to $50 if discovered and reported timely, consumers are left in the dark. For one thing, they don’t know what piece of their personal information is really important and how to protect them; second, if they get hit with identity theft, they are on their own and at the mercy of the financial institutions to solve their problem, the same institutions that are not held responsible for luring consumers into buying their products or falsely handing money to thieves who claimed to be you. People are lured into getting a bunch of credit cards or other credit accounts, forced to reveal their personal information in public, or enticed to apply for multiple mortgages or Home Equity Line of Credits (or HELOC) and left alone when hit with identity theft because businesses who lured the consumers into sharing their personal information with them in the first place, did not tell them that there is an increased and proportional risk with the number of times they share their information with others, or won’t take responsibility when the crime occurs.
It all starts with identity theft awareness. Be aware of what’s at stake, what needs to be protected, why and how. Take responsibility in case no one else does. Educate your family and friends about the risks of identity theft. Inquire and monitor the security practices of those whom you share your information with. Businesses are forced to share their privacy policies with you. Read them carefully and don’t do business with those who do not make you comfortable with the way they intend to protect and share the information you entrust them with.
Be Identity Safe! Henry Bagdasarian
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