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Mass Identity Theft - an inside or outside job…

By DanB | January 11, 2006

I found an article titled “IDs of 50,000 Bahamas resort guests stolen”. How does this happen and could you be affected? You can read the article here:

http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6025591.html

The article says “The information appears to have gone missing from the hotel’s computer database and was the work of either an insider or outside hacker.” Later it says they are contacting everyone to let them know of the breach.

I commend the hotel for contacting customers. I also understand the information they would release may not include all the details pending investigations.

This really points to a larger issue of massive databases of personal information. The security of these databases is a tricky business indeed. How do you balance the need to access the information with the need to secure the information at the same time? There is the balance.

How easy is it to gain access to your personal information? Here is an interesting experiment. If you use online banking go in and act like you forgot your password. How easy would it be to reset your password? Don’t try this if you need access to your online data immediately! You may get locked out for a day or two. Besides the online methods look for a phone number you can call. Call the number, be friendly, and see how easy it is to get the password changed. Make a note of what information they ask you for. You may be shocked at how easy it is. The harder to change that password the better. It may be a pain but it is a protection for you. Be sure to call from a phone other than your own so Caller I.D. doesn’t enter the equation.

Look at the list of information the bank asked you for. Assume that you are somebody trying to steal your identity. How easy or difficult would it be to gather that information about you? Try the same with your credit card company.

You may want to take some steps to make some of your information a bit harder to get.

In the “cracker” world - commonly called hackers but more properly noted as “crackers” this technique of gaining information via the phone is called “social engineering”. It is often the weakest link in the chain. Before you feel comfortable with the security of your information give it the phone call test.

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Topics: privacy/security |

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