Identity Snatchers On The Prowl

Hank and Roma Gerbus got a strange telephone call in February. In 2006, the Cincinnati pair had the hard disk of their PC changed at a neighborhood Best Buy shop and were promised that the previous drive would be destructed. However in February 2007, the duo learned from a Chicago resident that he had purchased their earlier hard disk at a flea market and that their Social Security numbers were still safe, as per Buffalonews' 16th April 2007 issue.

The largest identified danger so far has been the theft of a Department of Veterans Affairs laptop, endangering 28.6 million present and ex-military staff to possible risk of identity theft.

"Majority of the violations could be averted," stated Linda Foley, the mastermind behind Identity Theft Resource Center. "The trouble is that appropriate security isn't being introduced or upheld," as released by Sfgate's April 15, 2007s edition.

Her corporation has tallied 69 security violations this year, exposing over 51 million files. An individual count by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a different regulatory group, alleges that files of over 150 million U.S. citizens have been threatened by infringement since January 2005.

Security malfunction in the corporate and government sector initiating identity theft have become a regular affair nowadays. Ever since the previous year, confidential data has been endangered by 138 security violations in private corporations and government offices, as indicated by the San Diego based noncommercial group, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Several other companies are also taking the initiative, strengthening resources for computer security and engaging external experts to check exactly the safety of their systems, averred Avivah Litan, Stamford, Conn. based Gartner Research's computer security analyst. "Companies are in complete terror. It's a PR ordeal." Litan reported in Sfgate's April 15, 2007 release.

Though it's not mandatory for corporations to divulge violations to the Federal Trade Commission, but federal proceedings can follow against companies that have breached users' secrecy rights, alleged spokesperson Claudia Bourne Farrell. The FTC was itself exploited after two laptops holding classified details on almost 110 people were burgled from a worker's vehicle, as reported by Buffalonews on April 16, 2007.

Related article: Identity Fraud Looming on Users of Facebook

» SPAMfighter News - 4/23/2007