“We're so sophisticated that we forget about the reality that there are a lot of desperate people and … many who have a price,” said Ronald Hemphill, author of “Rollin: True Confessions of a Former Identity Thief.”
San Diego County is experiencing an increase in thefts of every kind. This trend will undoubtedly continue as the economy, and job security, falters.
Not coincidently, many burglaries and identity theft cases have a common thread, stolen computers.
Victims are often surprised by the theft of an item they believe is outdated and of very little value. They fail to grasp that the thief is typically after private information.
These thieves are usually not the local junkies or transients. Rather, they are often connected to a network of identity thieves.
Many business owners do not comprehend the risk, cost or scope of identity theft and fraud. According to a recent FBI study, 90 percent of all businesses are vulnerable to identity-related fraud. The majority of these will result in significant expense.
Demand for private information is growing, and pays very well. In Hemphill's case, the source of stolen employee information was usually from industries, such as banking, retail, travel and hospitals, where he was given or sold the personal information of thousands of unknowing victims.
“When I was doing ID theft, I was looking for insiders,” Hemphill said. “Now … insiders are stealing and looking for people to sell it to.”
Yet, businesses often overlook the source of identity theft linked to insiders. Internal theft represents a greater threat than outside hackers.
This potential risk often comes from exiting or disgruntled employees, 40 percent of employees leave with confidential information, or even harder to detect, a dishonest employee. As economic pressures intensify, people become more desperate.
Without some kind of intervention, information theft will spiral out of control.
Additionally, many business owners do not know of, or comply with, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which requires businesses to shred or destroy anything of a sensitive nature. Furthermore, state and federal law requires businesses to secure client/customer personal data that is stored.
According to Data Breach Notification Legislation, if unencrypted information is compromised, you must notify everyone in those files. Thus, costly lawsuits are mounting.
Don't become a victim of not only the thieves, but of the financial obligations you may incur because you didn't know of, or haven't implemented, vital security procedures. It is imperative that you secure and encrypt your data, and conduct a comprehensive background check on all employees and potential employees (following legal guidelines).
For more information, contact Frank Griffin at (760) 522-4779 or [email protected].
San Diego County is experiencing an increase in thefts of every kind. This trend will undoubtedly continue as the economy, and job security, falters.
Not coincidently, many burglaries and identity theft cases have a common thread, stolen computers.
Victims are often surprised by the theft of an item they believe is outdated and of very little value. They fail to grasp that the thief is typically after private information.
These thieves are usually not the local junkies or transients. Rather, they are often connected to a network of identity thieves.
Many business owners do not comprehend the risk, cost or scope of identity theft and fraud. According to a recent FBI study, 90 percent of all businesses are vulnerable to identity-related fraud. The majority of these will result in significant expense.
Demand for private information is growing, and pays very well. In Hemphill's case, the source of stolen employee information was usually from industries, such as banking, retail, travel and hospitals, where he was given or sold the personal information of thousands of unknowing victims.
“When I was doing ID theft, I was looking for insiders,” Hemphill said. “Now … insiders are stealing and looking for people to sell it to.”
Yet, businesses often overlook the source of identity theft linked to insiders. Internal theft represents a greater threat than outside hackers.
This potential risk often comes from exiting or disgruntled employees, 40 percent of employees leave with confidential information, or even harder to detect, a dishonest employee. As economic pressures intensify, people become more desperate.
Without some kind of intervention, information theft will spiral out of control.
Additionally, many business owners do not know of, or comply with, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which requires businesses to shred or destroy anything of a sensitive nature. Furthermore, state and federal law requires businesses to secure client/customer personal data that is stored.
According to Data Breach Notification Legislation, if unencrypted information is compromised, you must notify everyone in those files. Thus, costly lawsuits are mounting.
Don't become a victim of not only the thieves, but of the financial obligations you may incur because you didn't know of, or haven't implemented, vital security procedures. It is imperative that you secure and encrypt your data, and conduct a comprehensive background check on all employees and potential employees (following legal guidelines).
For more information, contact Frank Griffin at (760) 522-4779 or [email protected].