Providers of identity technologies need to work together more efficiently to beat the onslaught of phishing attacks and identity theft, according to security firm Verisign.
Nico Popp, chief technology officer and vice president for authentication services at Verisign, told delegates at the Digital Identity World conference in San Francisco that “networks are the answer”.
When banks and websites start sharing information about online attacks, a “network effect” is created which could prevent victims falling prey to the same attack.
This network effect, better knows as Metcalfe’s Law, states that the value or power of a network increases in proportion to the square of the number of nodes on the network. A single fax machine is worthless, for example, but with every additional machine the network gains more value.
“[In a network] every protected site creates a better protection for all,” said Popp.
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Police found driver’s licenses, social security cards, bogus work IDs and payroll checks.
Toledo police think they’ve broken up a major identity theft ring. Two Nigerian men are in custody and investigators are on the trail of more suspects tonight.
Toledo detectives were investigating what they thought was a run of the mill, single case of identity theft. But instead they ended up uncovering an elaborate, nationwide operation to steal identities and a lot of money. The suspects are Nigerian nationals Sunday Afegbua and Cyril Mokwenye. Toledo police believe they are part of a sophisticated crime ring.
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Criminal charges might be filed against two students for stealing personal information at a west suburban high school. The students at Hinsdale Central are accused of hacking into the school’s computer system and obtaining Social Security numbers for students and staff.
Hinsdale school officials say the accused students have had the Social Security numbers of their fellow students and teachers for months, but there is no indication that they have done anything with that information. Still, the school may take disciplinary action against the students, and criminal charges could be filed.
Thursday night at Hinsdale Central, it was well wishes for the gymnastics team. But earlier in the day, tongues were wagging about the two students accused of hacking into the school’s computer and accessing the Social Security numbers of other students and teachers.
“When we grow up and get our jobs, that’s our life right there. They can access anything about us. It just screws us up for the rest of our lives,” said Julianne Junus, student.
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Identity thieves can steal your sense of well-being, your good credit and your money.
Now, several banks and insurance companies are selling identity theft insurance. NewsChannel5’s Adam Shapiro looked at whether purchasing this protection is worth it.
On Wednesday, identity theft crook Jerome Moonie was sentenced to two years for his crime, but he’ll be out of prison before most victims are able to fix their credit.
That’s why ID theft insurance may sound like a good deal. But make sure you know what you are buying.
Identity theft is a crime that totals almost $50 billion, and has 10 million victims nationwide, reported Shapiro.
Maureen Mitchell, of Cleveland, is one of those victims.
“Being the victim of identity theft is equated to financial rape and all the insurance in the world will not minimize the emotional trauma to the victim and the invasion of privacy that has occurred,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell has her identity stolen six years ago, and has been trying to get her life back ever since.
“The paper work in this brief case alone represents 400 hours of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears, and this is just our first round of ID theft — there’s another briefcase at home,” said Mitchell.
National City Bank Vice President Thomas Munoz says that studies have shown that it takes as long as two years for a customer to restore their identity.
This is one reason National City is getting ready to offer customers identity theft insurance, called Identity Protect.
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A ring stole the identities of dozens of patients from a Chicago hospital and doctors’ offices and then used the confidential information to steal at least $150,000 from the victims’ bank accounts, federal authorities said Thursday.
The 35-count indictment, made public Thursday, alleged that the ring bought the sensitive information from two insiders who at the time worked for the doctors’ groups.
Among those charged were Tiana Hill, 36, who worked as an administrative employee in the billing department for physicians who practiced at the University of Chicago Hospitals, and Bonnie Williams, 59, a receptionist at Lincoln Park Family Physicians Group.
Both women allegedly accessed patient records, obtained bank account and other personal identification information and sold it to ringleaders Geraldine Cooper, 63, and Lamont Martin, 55, the indictment charged.
According to authorities, the ringleaders obtained the information on more than 100 patients from Hill and dozens from Williams.
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Instead of using sophisticated Internet skills to mine their loot, a group of Miami-Dade County identity thieves simply walked up to mailboxes and commandeered phone numbers to reach out and rob someone, police said Thursday.
A group of 16 people were arrested as members of an identity theft ring that authorities say stole more than $500,000 from at least 100 victims in Miami-Dade within the last two years.
Although all the victims were from Miami-Dade, investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said similar rings operate in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
“[Identity theft] is the soup de jour crime of this decade,” said Enrique Gutierrez, who leads the federal agency’s Miami Division.
Police said Miguel Bover, 39, of southwest Miami-Dade, led the group that was snared on Thursday. The group included his daughter, Dayani, 20, and his brother, Jesus, 44. Police were looking to identify and arrest at least four others.
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Clark Kent was Superman. Samuel Clemens was Mark Twain. Increasingly, however, Rogers police are finding people — comic book heroes and literary legends aside — who have multiple identities complete with stolen documentation for use in capturing ill-gotten gains.
Cpl. Kelley Cradduck of the Rogers Police Department talked about identity theft with the Friends of the Library group on Tuesday. “This is a huge, huge problem,” Cradduck said.
Last year, Rogers investigated 30 cases of identity theft, which ranked the municipality fourth statewide along with Fort Smith and Jonesboro. Little Rock, which was No. 1 on the list, dealt with 214 cases.
While Rogers’ number may seem relatively small, Cradduck said identity-theft investigations are tricky. “Logistically, it’s a nightmare to deal with a victim in another state or (a perpetrator),” Cradduck said.
In fact, city police have had to look outside the United States to investigate identity-theft cases.
And while the breadth of the problem has grown, so has its depth.
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Identity Cops Inc. received a third grant from the Maine Technology Institute this week, again demonstrating its viability and the importance of its new technology. Identity Cops first applied for and received grant funding in November 2005, was awarded a second grant just two months ago in March 2005, and have received a third grant this week in May. “Once again, MTI has clearly indicated they believe we have something important here,” said ID Cops President, Rebecca Weinstein. “We have been approved for funding each time we applied. A team of experts in the field read these applications; their support just further strengthens our confidence in our product and the need for it in the marketplace,” continued Weinstein.
Identity Cops is a cutting-edge company tackling a very serious and growing problem, identity theft. The unique patent pending PrivacyProBot™ technology searches hundreds of electronic databases you cannot get to alone. It finds information that may invade your privacy and lead to identity theft - information you did not know was out there! It then notifies you and provides options to fix the problem, before more harm is done. No other product or service offers the comprehensive identity theft and privacy detection, protection, and recovery of PrivacyProBot.
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Executives from the data broker industry told a Senate panel yesterday they are making progress in stopping identity theft, a crime affecting about 10 million consumers a year at a cost of more than $50 billion.
The House and Senate are holding hearings this week to consider whether to make data providers and credit-card companies subject to the same regulations as banks and other financial services companies.
In the past several months, ChoicePoint, LexisNexis and Bank of America have admitted that customers’ information has been lost or stolen.
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Millions of people use the Internet every day, and with your business or your personal life growing more dependent on Internet communication, many people might be ready to take the next step and get a device that allows you to access the Internet on the go.
But going wireless could mean your computer system goes unprotected.
Computers as we first knew them were not meant to be portable. They were not lightweight, and with a maze of wires, they were a little tied down.
But laptop computers are going everywhere and the Internet is going with them.
“I walk around the house, I go outside in the yard. I take my laptop to friend’s and family’s house if they have wireless Internet,” said Jamie Frederick, with Cyber Warehouse.
Wireless Internet is known as Wi-Fi, and it operates on the same principles as walkie-talkies or cell phones.
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