Total Identity Protection

Now more than ever, criminal hackers are hacking into databases that contain Social Security numbers and using the numbers to open new financial accounts. Criminals use stolen Social Security numbers to obtain mobile phones, credit cards, and even bank loans. Some victims whose Social Security numbers fell into the hands of identity thieves have even had their mortgages refinanced and their equity stripped.

WTEN.com reports an arrest has been made of an individual alleged to have illegally downloaded personal information, including Social Security numbers of about 15,000 people.

Police arrested a man “for stealing the collection of Social Security numbers from computers belonging to contractors working for the Office of Disability and Temporary Assistance, which is the New York state agency that decides some initial disability claims for Social Security.”

As in most cases of data theft, the Office of Disability and Temporary Assistance will notify and provide credit monitoring services to affected individuals.

According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse’s Chronology of Data Breaches, more than 500 million sensitive records have been breached in the past five years.

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Welcome to the Friday’s Food for Thought post from the ITAC blog.  There have been a number of stories this week that point to the simple fact that hackers are gaining traction, momentum and some would even say getting more powerful.

We recently wrote a post about a PandaLabs report that highlights how hackers are getting able to be more financially successful these days. And, as we all know, were there are dollars people will follow — even if that have a weaker morale code than the rest of us. On top of that, we also did a post about a report from Symantec that stated that cyber attack toolkits are becoming more accessible and easier to use, allowing criminals with little technical expertise to turn to cybercrime. As a result, the company believes that the incidence of cybercrime is set to increase with the proliferation of this pre-made hacking software that will be used by less sophisticated criminals.

And, finally hackers have broadened their reach beyond Windows and are focusing now on smart phones, tablet computers, and mobile platforms.

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A data breach at the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) has exposed the personal and financial records of members of the U.S. military and their families, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of identity theft.

The Pentagon Federal Credit Union database, which includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers, was accessed by a malware-infested PC.

PenFed serves about 100,000 members in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union offers mortgages, credit cards and loans to its customers, and has $15 billion in assets.

The full extent of the data breach is not yet known.

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A lot of people complain that the government isn’t doing enough to prevent identity theft from happening in this country. Seeing as 12% of Americans have been victimized, it’s not hard to see things in this light. That being said, you may find it encouraging that something new is being done. The government is working on what it calls a National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.

The point of this policy is to help people protect their identities online by adopting online credentials, mobile identity cards or something similar that people can use to prove that they are who they say they are before they make a transaction over the Web. These personal identity cards and such are said to be part of an Identity Ecosystem.

If this policy becomes mainstream, you could see the age of usernames and passwords go away in favor of a more high tech way to automatically be identified.

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Here are some practical tips from McAfee to ensure optimal Internet safety and security in 2011:

Be aware that threats aimed at mobile phones are growing – Use software that backs up smart devices and use strong discretion when storing, saving or editing personal information on your smartphone or device. Don’t keep all of your personal passwords on your device, and avoid using it to store financial information like credit card and bank account numbers.

Keep in mind that gaming and entertainment devices are now Internet-connected – Many people don’t realize that their new gaming console may represent another port of entry for cybercrooks into their household. Some Internet TV applications can expose personal information, so be sure to install anti-virus software, two-way firewalls, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, and safe search capabilities, just as you would on a PC.

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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from the ITAC blog. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are doing a “light” post today on all current identity theft, data breach and cyber security news (all in one convenient spot). For those of us who are not working today, we hope you can take a moment to remember what this day is really all about — honoring an individual who has played a major role in promoting racial equality in the United States.

Facebook Enables One-Click Identity Theft Option for Rogue Application Developers In a move that could herald a new level of danger for Facebook users, third party application developers are now able to access your home address and mobile phone number. Facebook has announced that developers of Facebook apps can now gather the personal contact information from their users. I realize that Facebook users will only have their personal information accessed if they “allow” the app to do so, but there are just too many attacks happening on a daily basis which trick users into doing precisely this.

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