Category: Thought Leadership

The State of Tax Identity Theft in 2014

In 2012 the Internal Revenue Service paid out $4 billion in fraudulent returns due to identity theft. As tax season is upon us, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) wants to help arm consumers with the tools to prevent Tax Identity Theft, the second highest case the ITRC manages, especially during this time of year. Read on to discover the state of Tax Identity Theft in 2014.

LifeLock and the ITRC: Identity Theft is Increasing Even as Other Crime Decreases

LifeLock, Inc. and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) have collaborated on a white paper in response to two reports that are leaving Americans in the dark about identity theft trends.

Challenging the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the FBI’s notion that non-violent crimes are decreasing, Lifelock and the ITRC report that when identity theft is included in non-violent crime statistics, this type of crime is not declining; rather, it is steadily, and ominously, rising.

TED Talks, Part 3: Understanding Smart Device Hacking (Pacemakers, Phones, Fridges, Even Toilets)

TED is a non-profit organization which organizes and hosts a variety of speakers from all walks of life. Recently, TED hosted a series of talks called “The Dark Side of Data.” In Part 1 of our series we reviewed online privacy, and in Part 2, we reviewed three types of online attacks.

Today’s final installment of our 3-part series investigates Avi Rubin’s talk about smart device hacking — phones, refrigerators, and even pacemakers can be hacked. Rubin is a professor of computer science and director of Health and Medical Security at Johns Hopkins. He works on computer and information security, with a focus on electronic medical records.

TED Talks, Part 2: Understanding the Three Types of Online Attacks

TED is a non-profit organization which organizes and hosts a variety of speakers from all walks of life. Recently, TED hosted a series of talks called “The Dark Side of Data.” In Monday’s Part 1 of our series about these talks, we discussed Big Data. Today in Part 2, we review the talk by Mikko Hypponen on the three types of online attacks. Mikko is the chief research officer at F-Secure Corporation in Finland, and is an expert in computer viruses. He’s also an expert on how to protect digital privacy in the age of government surveillance.

Data Breach Checklist: Lessons to be Learned from Target

The Target data breach that became news on Thursday December 19th had a significant impact on the Identity Theft Resource Center’s call center. The question most frequently asked: I know that I am only one of millions of affected, but what does this really MEAN to me personally? The ITRC gives some pointers of how consumers can handle the Target breach and other data breaches in the future.

TED Talks, Part 1: The Dark Side of Data and Why Online Privacy Is Important

TED Talks are a very large collection of 15-minute presentations from various experts around the world on just about any topic you can think of — and many that you could not. TED is a non-profit which organizes and hosts a variety of speakers from all walks of life.Recently, TED hosted a series of talks called “The Dark Side of Data” in which different speakers explained how Big Data can be a force for good, and how it can be abused.

Alessandro Acquisti, who studies the economics of privacy and information security in social networks, gave a talk called “Why Privacy Matters.” You can watch his talk here.

Information Aggregator Websites: Truth, Trust, and Privacy

How do you discern how truthful something is when it is online? This is something to consider when thinking about individual background checks using data aggregator websites. The information is all taken from the public records, and therefore readily available to anyone who wants it.

But what is the true value and accuracy of the data they are reporting? And how can these sites impact your privacy?

Mobile Matters: Silent Threats and Where the Mobile Frontier Is Headed

Just a couple days ago, our team here was rehashing some of our biggest privacy and security topics — but the question we should be asking ourselves is not what’s the big story of 2013 – but what are the silent threats of 2014? Keep reading to learn where millions of silent security threats are lurking and what you can do to stay safe in the new year.

The Convenience Factor: Easy For You Means Easy for Hackers

Consumers like convenience and technology thrives on their desire to make life easier. When a task is seamless and simple, the rewards tend to outweigh the risk in the eyes of the consumer. Keep reading to learn why security should never take a back seat just because it might seem inconvenient!

3 Tips for Talking to Your Child About Identity Theft

As an adult, you’re aware that even though your identity isn’t a tangible thing,  it can be stolen. But do your kids understand these complex topics? As we move further into the digital age, the lessons we must teach our children are changing.

Click to learn three tips from the Identity Theft Resource Center – simple, easy ways you and your children can protect against identity theft and cybercrime.

 

Data Brokers, Transparency, and the Future of our Private Identities: Part 2 of 2

Acxiom, one of the top data brokers in the country, is in business to research publicly held information, compile data on you, and then sell this to advertisers. And business is booming: Acxiom made well over a billion dollars in profits last year. So I was curious as to what exactly Acxiom would reveal about the information they had collected on me.