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In today’s digital world, Internet
security is a complicated issue full of conflicting interests, misinformation,
and technology snafus.
The Internet was created as a research and information tool, and therefore
was never designed to take into consideration consumer privacy and security.
But with the birth of e-commerce came a whole new set of problems for the
consumer to bear. At the heart of the problem are technology savvy criminals,
or “hackers,” who steal personal information and use it for their own financial
gain.
This is called identity theft and according to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC), it is the fastest growing crime in America. Identity theft involves
someone using key pieces of your personal identifying information to impersonate
you. The usual purpose being to acquire goods or services through the use
of credit or debit cards. You may already be a victim and not even know it!
The consumer also has to contend with all kinds of people tracking your every
move on the Internet. Web sites usually want to know all they can about you
and consumers generally want to share as little as possible. Advertising companies
will pay big bucks for consumer data collection. They use information gathered
from various sources on what sites you visit and buying habits, which has
privacy advocates screaming for change. This information is then used to launch
new advertising campaigns. Although this is a serious problem that threatens
our right to privacy, it isn’t as directly damaging as identity theft.
Hundreds of databases already exist that contain detailed information about
your personal life, spending habits and other lifestyle characteristics. The
amount of information available on the Internet about you and those you know
is staggering. This information is not as hard to find as you may think. Hackers
and identity thieves have utilized the Internet to obtain this information,
which has resulted in Billions of dollars in losses every year.
According to CBS news, an identity thief strikes every 79 seconds. Last year,
a hacker posted tens of thousands of credit card numbers, stolen from the
Internet retailer CD Universe, on a Web site; he offered to share more for
$1 apiece. Later, an MSNBC investigation revealed dozens of Internet Relay
Chat rooms where stolen personal profiles - names, addresses, phone numbers,
and credit card numbers - are bought, sold and traded out in the open. Then
there was the alleged identity thievery by a New York busboy, who stole the
identities of some of the richest people in America. Steven Spielberg, Oprah
Winfrey, George Lucas, and Ross Perot were members of this exclusive list
to name just a few. These are only a few of the hundreds of thousands of cases
every year, over 700,000 per year according to the FTC, and as you can see
anyone’s identity can be stolen and it’s easier than you think.
Although there are constantly new initiatives to halt this activity, it seems
that hackers and identity thieves always stay one step ahead. But there are
measures you can take to protect yourself. Follow these guidelines to minimize
your risk:
Use only one credit card for online purchases; this makes it easier to identify
fraudulent charges. Make sure a retail site uses the latest technology to
ensure your information stays confidential and stay away from smaller retail
sites that don’t. The latest security technology is 128 bit SSL (secure socket
link) and is supplied by the company Verisign and can be recognized by their
signature padlock logo.
Keep careful track of your bills, both content and that they arrive at the
same time each month. A late or missing bill could be an indication that someone
has taken control of your credit card account and changed the billing address.
Don’t provide credit card information in response to a solicitation. Check
your credit report from all three major credit bureaus at least twice a year
to make sure all your information is accurate and up to date.
There are also companies that can provide a credit monitoring service to alert
you of any activity. This is a great preventative measure to identify “fishy”
activity early.
If you have already become a victim of identity theft the FTC recommends that
you file a police report, call the FTC’s identity theft hotline at (877) ID-THEFT
or visit their web site and file a report with the commission. Then place
a fraud alert with each of the three major credit bureaus. This will prevent
any new credit accounts being opened without contacting you first.
Obtain a credit report from all three bureaus and begin writing letters to
have the erroneous and fraudulent items removed. Identity and credit run hand-in-hand.
And as we move through this digital world and into a new century, there will
be technological advances with the Internet and security to make some assurances
of our privacy. With the advances of technology will come smarter thieves.
And as long as there is money to be made from victims, the inescapable fact
is the consumer will have to stay more in-tune with their credit… or suffer
financial suicide.
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