Data Security and Identity Theft

Identity Theft (IT?) is rare in Europe except in the UK where last year 100,000 people i.e. 0.17% of the population fell victim to account hijacking etc.The comparable figure in the US last year was 10 million ID theft victims i.e.3.39% of the population.

Though many reasons are given for relative insecurity in the US, the following recently reported cases explain why we must not be surprised:

Time Warner and CitiFinancial lost personal data of their employees and customers when computer tapes were lost by their couriers,Iron Mountain and UPS resply.The tapes contained names,social security numbers,payment history etc.TW and CF clarified that the mishaps occured despite enhanced security! (What would happen if security is lowered?) Ofcourse,the missing tapes were not encrypted.They were therefore sitting ducks.Both companies have promised that,in future,data will be sent electronically in encrypted form.

Identity thefts do not just happen;they are facilitated by corporate action!