Total Identity Protection

Todd Yurgin of Newark has been sentenced to 16 years and seven months in prison for identity theft.  This is the longest sentence in Delaware history for fraud and identity theft.

His partner in crime, Joseph Aughenbaugh, was sentenced to 12 years and one month.

Yurgin pleaded guilty to six charges, including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, in August.

Yurgin and Aughenbaugh stole mail of victims and confirmed the Social Security numbers through background search sites, said Robert Kravetz, assistant U.S. attorney in the office of Charles Oberly III, U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware.

They stole the identities of 93 people, around 44 of them were children.

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Keeping up on the latest advances in technology has always been my thing. I once had a beeper the size of a pack of cigarettes, and a mobile phone bigger than a shoebox. I’m something of a gadget geek and a wannabe innovator. I like new and shiny. .

You probably haven’t run across the name Everett Rogers in People Magazine. In 1962, Everett Rogers developed a theory for the adoption of innovations.

According to Rogers, innovators are the first individuals to adopt a new innovation, and are often the inventors themselves. Innovators are risk takers with close ties to scientific sources and connections to other innovators. Because of their high tolerance for risk, innovators often adopt technologies that ultimately fail.

Early adopters are the second wave of individuals to adopt an innovation. These individuals are opinion leaders, and realize that early adoption will help maintain their position as central communicators.

The early majority tends to be slower to adopt an innovation.

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Seven percent: This is the amount, according to the Federal Trade Commission, of identity theft victims who were 19 or younger in 2009. Seven percent might not seem like much but keep in mind that there were approximately 10 million identity theft victims last year and we are expecting a higher percentage of victims under 19 for 2010. Of these victims, a good number had their identities compromised by a parent.

If you think about it, this makes sense. Parents are the ones who, in most cases, register a child for his or her Social Security number. In the case of a divorce, a parent who does not live with the child may even use his or her information with malicious intentions – perhaps as a way to get revenge on the custodial parent. Sometimes they just see it as a quick way to get out of a financial crisis.

According to an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, this type of identity theft seems to be on the rise due to the large amount of unemployment.

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Passwords are the bane of the security community. We are forced to rely on them, while knowing they’re only as secure as our operating systems, which can be compromised by spyware and malware. There are a number of common techniques used to crack passwords.

Dictionary attacks: These rely on software that automatically plugs common words into password fields. Password cracking becomes almost effortless with a tool like John the Ripper or similar programs.

Cracking security questions: When you click the “forgot password” link within a webmail service or other site, you’re asked to answer a question or series of questions. The answers can often be found on your social media profile.

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Health Net who provides health insurance to 6 million people nationwide, has suffered a large data breach affecting around 2 million people.

The California based company lost data servers containing health and financial records for 1.9 million customers. The personal data also included Social Security numbers.

“While the [internal] investigation continues, Health Net has made the decision out of an abundance of caution to notify the individuals whose information is on the drives,” the company said in a statement.

 “Health Net has agreed to provide two years of free credit monitoring services to its California enrollees, in addition to identity theft insurance, fraud resolution and restoration of credit files, if needed,” department spokeswoman Lynne Randolph said in a statement.

In January, Health Net learned it was missing some computer server drives, when its information-technology vendor couldn’t find them, the state Attorney General’s Office said Monday.

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Lets face it. We love to hate celebrities. To us average earthlings, they seem to live a life of privileged that is further cushioned by an industry and a public that caters to their every need, and many times we simply enjoy a bit of schadenfreude when it comes to celebrities. Who hasnt enjoyed watching Charlie Sheens public meltdowns?

Well, the FBI is reportedly investigating a hacker group who is taking schadenfreude to the next level by attacking phones and computers of stars and stealing nude photos and other personal items. The latest victims whose nude photos have been stolen and posted online are Scarlett Johansson and High Sschool Musical star Vanessa Hudgens.

Heres some more on this story from the NYC Fox News affiliate:

As many as 50 celebrities could be victims of a hacker ring, TMZ reported Thursday, citing sources who claim the FBI is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into a hacking ring that is attacking stars accounts for the thrill.

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