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40 Million People Hacked - YOU as Identity Theft Victim By Mike Valentine Saturday, MasterCard blamed a vendor of ALL credit card providers called CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a third-party processor of payment card data, as the source of loss of 40 million consumers credit card information. As is pointed out by several newspaper and web articles over the last few weeks, each recapping long lists of financial information data breaches, something's gotta give before we entirely lose trust in financial institutions, data brokers and credit bureaus. How much privacy loss can we take without acting? These types of data loss were very likely common and have very probably been going on for a very long time. The difference is that now, THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO DISCLOSE THOSE LOSSES - not just in California, but in many states. National disclosure laws on data security breaches are being considered in Congress. I suggest that these breaches of data security all came to light due to the California law requiring disclosure from companies suffering hacking loss or leaks or social engineering or crooked employees or organized crime rings posing as "legitimate" customers. All of the above have been given as reasons for security lapses or poor security policies. About three years ago, a friend told me his paycheck deposit to Bank of America went missing from account records after he took his check to the bank on Friday. By Monday, Bank of America was in the news claiming a computer glitch had disappeared the entire day's deposits. I mumbled to myself, "I'll bet that was a hack and that hacker just made a huge offshore banking deposit with B of A depositors' money." But we didn't find out why it happened in that particular case because there was no disclosure law in place at the time. Now we have disclosure laws that mandate notice of security breaches. Now suddenly - huge financial services hacks and devious criminal social engineering outfits posing as legitimate customers and apparently "innocent" losses by transport companies of backup tapes begin to come to light. This spate of data loss incidents is proof of the need for corporate "sunshine laws" that make public notice mandatory of those data losses that threaten customer information. Who is going to lose here - the public, the corporations, the criminals, or the government? I'd prefer that the bad guys get the shaft and take down crooked company insiders that either facilitate data loss by underfunding security and encryption or participate in data theft or loss in any form - even if that participation is security negligence. Financial companies and data brokers have been covering up the losses and keeping quiet about hacks so as not to worry or frighten their customers. But that practice is essentially ended now that they must notify the public and disclose those losses instead of hushing them up. Keeping the breaches hidden from public view is bad practice as it maintains the status quo. Disclosure will facilitate internal corporate lockdowns on the data and all access to it. Disclosure will educate the public to the lack of security and danger to the sensitive information we all provide rather casually and routinely to businesses. As the following link to a silicon.com story suggests, we cannot take much more of this lack of regard to privacy and must lock down financially sensitive data securely and must begin to hold data brokers, bureaus and handlers VERY accountable. Insist to your elected representatives that your financial data be locked down, encrypted and guarded by those entrusted with storing, transporting and using it. Since our financial, medical and legal lives are increasingly being housed in digital form and transmitted between data centers of multiple handlers - we need to know it is secure. We also need to know when that security has been breached and our data compromised or lost. Thieves are becoming more aware of the ease with which they can find and access financial data. Hacking is not the source of the greatest losses. Organized crime has easily found their way into our financial records by simply paying for it by posing as "legitimate" business customers of information brokers such as ChoicePoint and Lexis/Nexis. Any business can buy financial and credit information from those information bureaus and credit reporting agencies by meeting rather lax requirements for "need to know" that data. As long as it is possible to purchase our sensitive data from brokers and bureaus, organized crime will "legitimately" buy it from those sources, then ruin our credit by selling that information at a higher price in identity theft schemes. Since disclosure laws have come into effect, those breaches have been made public, credit cards cancelled before losses can occur and credit reports monitored to watch for suspicious activity. The bad guys activities are squelched because we are made aware of the possibility our information has been compromised. Not all blame can go to financial institutions and data brokers. Protect your own private data by protecting your computer records at home, in the office, on your laptop and in your PDA by using basic keyword security and locking down files. Use built in encryption on your operating system and your home network to keep data secure. Then be certain to clear that sensitive data off the computer when you sell it or throw it away. Data security is something we all need to take seriously and the corporate breaches are dramatic illustrations of how important it has become to build digital fortresses around our critical financial, legal and medical information. About the Author: Mike Banks Valentine is a privacy advocate and blogs about privacy issues at PrivacyNotes.com You can read more about identity theft issues at: Publish101 Contact MikeValentine for Search Engine Optimization http://www.seoptimism.com

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Police Blotter: Retail Fraud, Identity Theft and Malicious Destruction of Property - Patch.com

Police Blotter: Retail Fraud, Identity Theft and Malicious Destruction of Property Patch.com By Art Aisner Bloomfield Township police officers investigated a retail fraud, identity theft and a home invasion last week. Bloomfield Township police are still investigating how a shoplifter was able to get away from the Bloomfield Township TJ Maxx ... VERONA: Unauthorized account access, criminal mischief, harassing phone calls ...New Jersey Hills all 2 news articles »

Feds targeting tax return fraud - Gainesville Times

Feds targeting tax return fraud Gainesville Times The Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department have been cracking down on suspected identity theft perpetrators to curb the growing issue of refund fraud and identity theft. IRS Spokesman Mark Green said the issue is a growing problem ... and more »

IRS fighting identity theft, and you can too - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Los Angeles Times

IRS fighting identity theft, and you can too Fort Worth Star Telegram Put a lock on your mailbox to avoid theft of tax documents with personal data. If you think you're at risk of identity theft because of lost or stolen personal information, contact the IRS Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490 immediately so the ... Some US banks awash in ID theft tax-fraud proceeds as IRS cracks downReuters Blogs (blog) Beware of IRS tax refund check theftsNorthFulton.com Nelson pledges help in ID theftSun-Sentinel Los Angeles Times -MyFox Tampa Bay -Press-Enterprise all 34 news articles »

Layne: Preventing ID theft is the best way to handle fraud - Martinsburg Journal

Layne: Preventing ID theft is the best way to handle fraud Martinsburg Journal CHARLES TOWN - The most important thing people can do to protect themselves from identity theft is to obtain their credit reports regularly, Argina Layne told the Eastern Panhandle Entrepreneurs Forum at its recent meeting. "Your credit score is the ...

US Sweep to Rein in Identity Theft Targets 105, IRS Says - BusinessWeek

Los Angeles Times

US Sweep to Rein in Identity Theft Targets 105, IRS Says BusinessWeek 31 (Bloomberg) -- A nationwide sweep to rein in identity theft and tax-refund fraud targeted 105 people in 23 states, leading to 939 criminal charges, including 58 arrests and 10 guilty pleas, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft Crackdown Sweeps Across the NationLahontan Valley News The IRS fails victims of identity theft, fraudThe News-Press National crackdown on identity theftSalt Lake Tribune Wall Street Journal -Washington Post all 492 news articles »

IRS-DOJ Conduct Nationwide ID Theft Crackdown - About - News & Issues

IRS-DOJ Conduct Nationwide ID Theft Crackdown About - News & Issues "This unprecedented effort against identity theft sends a strong, unmistakable message to anyone considering participating in a refund fraud scheme this tax season," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a press release. "We are aggressively pursuing ...