Personal Information and Identity Theft
A good brief post by Bruce Schneier.
"Fraud due to impersonation -- commonly called 'identity theft' -- works for two reasons. One, identity information is easy to obtain. And two, identity information is easy to use to commit fraud. Studies like this show why attacking the first reason is futile; there are just too many ways to get the information. If we want to reduce the risks associated with identity theft, we have to make identity information less valuable. Too much of our security is based on identity, and it's not working."
"Fraud due to impersonation -- commonly called 'identity theft' -- works for two reasons. One, identity information is easy to obtain. And two, identity information is easy to use to commit fraud. Studies like this show why attacking the first reason is futile; there are just too many ways to get the information. If we want to reduce the risks associated with identity theft, we have to make identity information less valuable. Too much of our security is based on identity, and it's not working."
posted by Jim Horning at 3:22 PM
1 Comments:
See also an excellent summary article in The Register:
"Many people innocently believe that they're safe from credit card fraud and identity theft in the brick and mortar world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The vast majority of incidents can be traced to skimming, dumpster diving, and just plain stupidity among those who 'own' our personal data."
"It's literally impossible for an individual to prevent identity theft and credit card fraud, and it will remain impossible until Congress sees fit to regulate the privacy invasion industry."
Post a Comment
<< NIASAWHIWB Home