According to the results of a recently released 2008 U.S. Justice Department study an estimated 11.7 million Americans (aged 16 and over) were victims of identity theft. The survey of 56,500 household residents is the first time the Bureau of Justice Statistics has collected data on these types of property crimes.
According to a press release from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only 23 percent of those victimized suffered some financial loss, but the total cost to society came to $17.3 billion during the two-year period of the study.
Due to the fact that identity theft is so rampant – with about 10 million victims a year – a lot of financial institutions are stepping up their security methods in order to help prevent identity theft. Here are some of the things they are doing, that go beyond just asking three privacy questions instead of one:
*Assigning a code a customer must use when initiating a funds transfer. This means that thieves need to have this code in order to perform that transaction.
*Initiating a notification to the bank when a customer changes his online bill pay to have a new recipient. This can prevent thieves from transferring themselves money from someone else’s account under the ruse of being a payment recipient.
*Using analytics to tell when a person logs on to his or her account from a channel not normally used; for example not from the office or home computer.
Q: What if I don’t want certain files backed up on Carbonite?
A: Carbonite will accommodate you. The easiest way to remove a file from backup is to right-click on the document’s icon, and select “Don’t back this up.” If the file has already been backed up, it will be removed from your Carbonite storage within 72 hours. If you haven’t yet run your first backup with Carbonite, you’ll want to right-click and deselect the file first.
It’s no secret that identity theft can cause a consumer a lot of problems. He has to contact creditors to report the crime and change his or her account information, she has to try to get the money back that the thief has spent, and he has to work with the authorities to try to catch the criminal.
All of these things cost the victim time, and invariably money too. But there is another cost that the victim has to bear. That is an emotional one. When people think of identity theft, their thoughts often turn to the money lost, but it is not the only thing they worry about.
A Harris interactive poll came out with the following results, which you may find surprising: *Over 50 percent of respondents said they would be more concerned with the emotional impact of ID theft than with the time and money issues. *Approximately 75 percent said they would worry about who had access to their information.
Q: I have a portable hard drive attached to my computer to store photos and other information as my computer hard drive has limited space. Will Carbonite back up my portable hard drive as long as it is attached to my computer?
A: Unfortunately, Carbonite does not backup external drives, however Mozy does. You will probably have to select that drive for backup when you configure Mozy, but this is a very easy process. The two products are comparably priced. In fact, we’re currently reviewing Mozy’s most recent product changes, including improvements to its remote file access options and we’re pretty pleased.
Give Mozy a try, we think you’ll like it.
Ohio State University says unauthorized individuals accessed a computer server containing personal information for approximately 760,000 individuals, including current and former faculty, staff, and students, as well as applicants and other individuals affiliated with the university such as consultants and contractors.
The university discovered the breach in late October and said there is no indication information was taken and it does not believe there is a risk of identity theft. The server includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses.
Experts did find evidence that the purpose of the unauthorized access was to launch cyber attacks. All individuals whose information was in the system have been offered 12 months of free credit protection to help safeguard against harm from misuse of personal information
“We are committed to maintaining the privacy of sensitive information and continually work to enhance our systems and practices to reduce the likelihood of such events occurring,” said Joseph A.
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