Know the Facts - Consequences of Identity Theft

by Thomas Roberts

Would you know if your personal information had been compromised and your identity stolen?  Many victims do not realize their identity has been stolen until they apply for a home loan, are rejected for a credit card application or find purchases charged with their financial information.  Identity theft continues to be the fastest growing crime.  Information exposure is not merely an inconvenience for victims-it can take years for victims to clear the damage to their credit histories. 

The reports of phishing attacks (email designed to invoke or gather personal information) and spyware are widely used to intercept financial and sensitive data.  It is important to note that the trend of gathering personal information has moved to deliberate and planned attacks on personal and financial information used for identity theft purposes.

On July1, 2003, the landmark California SB 1386 state law was introduced that requires businesses to go public if sensitive personal information pertaining to California residents has been disclosed to any unauthorized person.

In January 2005, U.S. Senator Diane Feisnstein from California re-introduced a federal proposal that would require businesses or government agencies in all states to notify individuals when person information ad been compromised.  This interest was sparked by recent large-scale information compromises nationally, including many colleges and universities (nine major breaches from January to March 2005).   The proposed federal law would be similar to SB 1386 although possibly more stringent to avoid legal loopholes.

One recent and disturbing information exposure occurred at a company named ChoicePoint, which sells Americans’ personal information to other organizations.  The compromise occurred when the personal information of 145,000 individuals was “accidentally” sold to untrustworthy groups.  In addition, the president of the company testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that ChoicePoint had approximately 50 previous information breaches and did not notify the public because it was not legally required to do so prior to the California SB 1386 law.

Not only did this distinction lead to ChoicePoint being named as the Big Brother Lifetime Winner of the Menace Award (used to shame privacy violations) but one legal representative is asking for Congress to hold these companies liable.

Identity theft not only affects individuals but also can greatly affect organizations that process sensitive information.  Colleges and universities also share the responsibility to be vigilant with secure information handling procedures.  Being accountable for the security of information managed as a part of job duties is an important task.  Information sent, received, printed or stored on desktop machines needs to be treated with security in mind at all times.  For your use in learning about this area of responsibility, the ITS Security Office provides a pdf document entitled:  Personal and Community Security Disciplines at:  www.bgsu.edu/offices/its/security/advice.  General Information and Privacy information also is available at:  www.bgsu.edu/infosec.

-Thomas Roberts,

Security analyst, ITS