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Albert Gonzalez, the Miami hacker who creeped into the systems of Heartland Payment Systems, TJ Maxx and 7-Eleven plead guilty last week to the cyber crimes that stole over 130 million debit and credit card records. He previously plead guilty in September in a separate case where he stole 40 million credit and debit card information. In the latest case he could now serve no less than 17, but no more than 25 years for the theft of payment card details from the compromised systems. Not too tough a sentence for someone who stole from over 170 million of us!
Gonzalez’s attorney claimed a mix of Internet Addiction, Asperger’s Syndrome and alcohol abuse for this identity information theft. Although, when he plead guilty in September, Gonzalez admitted he led an international ring that stole credit and debit card records from U.S. retailers including Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. The question still remains if those that worked with him will even be found, let alone prosecuted. The light punishment doesn’t seem to fit the extensive ring of information theft and identity crimes that Gonzales committed.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Heartland, Identity Theft Prevention, information theft, Theft Information
The Privacy Reflex
When I am training corporate executives, managers and employees to detect fraud and social engineering (manipulative information-gathering techniques), I take them through what it feels like to be conned. In other words, I actually socially engineer them several times throughout the presentation so that they begin to reflexively sense when more fraud is coming. There is no substitute for experiencing this first hand.
The Trigger—Requests for Identity
Spies are trained to instantly react when anyone asks for information of any kind, whether it is theirs or someone else’s. The trigger, or what causes you to be on high alert, is actually very simple—it is the appearance of your identity in any form (wallet, credit card, tax form, passport, driver’s license, etc.). Anytime someone requests or has access to any of the names, numbers or attributes that make up your identity, or to the paper, plastic, digital or human data where your identity lives, the trigger should trip and sound an alarm in your head.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Data Breach, Hogwash, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Privacy, social engineering
Identity Theft Expert John Sileo’s Latest Fraud Report
Just as you wouldn’t want to give any personal identity information to someone via email, you want to use the same practices via text message. There is a new wave of fraud that tries to trick you with text messages appearing to be from your bank.
According to Wikipedia, SMiShing uses cell phone text messages to deliver the “bait” which entices you to divulge your personal information. The “hook” (the method used to actually “capture” your information) in the text message may be a web site URL, like it is in phishing schemes. However, it has become more common to received a texted phone number that connects to an automated voice response system. One version of this SMiShing message will look like this:
Notice – this is an automated message from (a local credit union), your ATM card has been suspended. To reactivate call urgent at 866-###-####.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Bank Fraud, cell phone safety, credit card fraud, Fraud Report, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Scams, Smishing
Laptop theft and mobile data theft (tape backups, iPhones, BlackBerries, USB drives) account for nearly half of the cases of serious corporate data breach and workplace identity theft. Your corporation’s data breach protection will be significantly improved by educating your staff on the following mobile data best practices:
Before you save sensitive data to any mobile device, it is your responsibility to:
- Determine if your organization allows you to remove the data in question from the office in the first place. Are you allowed to save that database, Excel file, Word document, customer list, employee record, intellectual capital, etc. on your laptop, thumb drive or other mobile device?
- Decide if it is absolutely necessary to remove it from the more highly-controlled and secure environment of the office. In many of the major cases of reported data breach, the data stored on the mobile device did not actually need to be there in the first place.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Best Practices, Data Breach, Data Breach Protection, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Video, Laptop Protection, laptop theft, Workplace ID Theft
Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo on Traveling Safety.
Traveling Safety has become a study of its own ever since the advent of identity theft. Your biggest concern may no longer be physical in nature (pickpockets, hotel theft, muggings); the value of the personal identity you carry as you travel is worth far more than the cash in your wallet.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Must Read, traveling safety
Are you one of the 9 million Americans who will have their credit damaged or their bank account emptied this year? Or perhaps your medical treatment will be affected. The cost of identity theft to individuals and businesses is staggering; hence, the Red Flag Rule, enforced by the FTC, federal bank regulatory agencies and the National Credit Union Administration.
There are always “red flags” that pop into our heads but too often we ignore them. Call it “intuition” or whatever you want; the vital thing is to pay attention. To that end, many businesses and organizations are now required to implement the “Red Flags” Rule to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program. The goal is to detect warning signs in day-to-day operations, take steps to prevent the crime and limit any damage.
Are you covered by the Red Flags Rule? Read Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: A How-To Guide for Business to:
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, Red Flags Rule
Only in California! A Huntington Beach woman used another woman’s identity to pay for breast implants and liposuction. At first glance, it’s a laughable story. But imagine being the woman who has to prove that she wasn’t the augmentation recipient! Remember, with identity theft, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Medical identity theft will take us to new and embarrassing depths in order to prove that we are innocent. It will give new meaning to the phrase “bearing witness”. And it prompts the question of why we don’t have a set of universal rules that govern our personally identifying information?
On a related note, I recently became involved with the Santa Fe Group which published an excellent white paper informally known as the Identity Theft Bill of Rights. Registering for a download of the paper is well worth your time – it does an excellent job of summarizing the identity theft issues that we, as Americans, face in the coming years. It includes discussions about modifying language in HIPAA to protect against medical identity theft crimes similar to and far more serious than the Huntington Beach case.
As our population grows older on the shoulders of the baby boomers, medical identity theft and its cousins will become ever more prevalent and damaging. Help us fight for our identity rights by getting involved. Start by registering for a webinar put on by the Santa Fe Group called:
Here is the recent press release from the Santa Fe Group announcing the Bill of Rights:
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: breast implants, Identity Theft Prevention, medical identity theft, Sileo
A few weeks ago, Javelin Safety & Research released its comprehensive survey on Identity Theft & Fraud for the fifth consecutive year.
Let me boil it down to the Top 5 Identity Theft Findings that impact you (and my comments and opinions in parentheses):
- Overall Identity Fraud Incidents Increased in the United States (the problem is getting worse as the economy sinks and people turn to crime to pay their bills)
- Costs to Consumers are Down (businesses are being forced to take greater responsibility for the liabilities and costs of identity theft – in other words, the burden is shifting from the consumer to corporate America)
- Fraudsters are Moving Much More Quickly (the crime of identity theft is moving from garden variety criminals into the hands of organized crime)
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: fraud survey, id theft, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, javelin
Technology is not the root cause of identity theft, data breach or cyber crime.
We are.
Too often, technology is our scapegoat, providing a convenient excuse to sit apathetically in our corner offices, unwilling to put our money where our profits are. Unwilling, in this case, to even gaze over at the enormous profit-sucking sound that is mass data theft. The deeper cause of this crisis festers in the boardrooms of corporate America. Like an overflowing river, poor privacy leadership flows inexorably downhill from the CEO, until at last, it undermines the very banks that contain it.
The identity theft and data breach bottom line?
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: ceo, corporate espionage, Cyber Crime, data theft, Financial Speaker, id theft, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Must Read, privacy leadership
