A recent study by cybersecurity firm Giact found that 47% of Americans have experienced some type of identity theft.
Personal Identity Theft FYI
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You may not know that you have experienced ID theft immediately
Some common signs to watch out for:
• Unknown bills for items you did not buy
• Debt collection calls for accounts you did not open
• Information on your credit report for unknown accounts
• Denial of a loan application
• Mail stops coming to your mailbox
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Whether it is stealing your wallet or purse to get ID, credit, or bank cards, going through your trash to retrieve bank statements or tax documents, installing skimmers at ATM machines, hacking personal information from your phone or public Wi-Fi or using your social media accounts to find identifying information in posts or photos ….scammers may use a variety of methods to steal your identity!
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Criminals use stolen identities in a variety of ways such as:
• Opening new credit accounts
• Taking over existing retail accounts
• Acquiring health insurance
• Fraudulent passports
• Filing fraudulent tax returns
• Insurance fraud
• Mortgage fraud
• Obtaining government benefits
• Purchasing and renting cars
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•Do not answer phone calls, texts, social media messages, or email from numbers or people you do not know
• Do not share personal information like your bank account number, Social Security number, or date of birth
• Collect your mail every day and place a hold on your mail when you will be on vacation or away from your home
• Review credit card and bank account statements and watch for and report unauthorized or suspicious transactions
• Understand how ATM skimming works and how to protect yourself
• Learn when it is safe to use a public Wi-Fi network
• Store personal information carefully, including your Social Security card, in a safe place
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To report identity theft, contact:
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at IdentityTheft.gov or call 1-877-438-4338
• The three major credit reporting agencies and ask them to place fraud alerts and a credit freeze on your accounts
• The fraud department at your credit card issuers, bank, and other places where you have accounts
How to Protect Your Customers
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• Set Policies and Procedures regarding appropriate use of customer information, technologies and related assets
• Use MFA, Encryption, and delete old information
• Develop data retention policies that describe how the data and information is used, modified, and ultimately destroyed
• Limit access to your systems to those employees that need access
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With the high potential cost of a data breach, prevention is the best strategy.
You can reduce the ways you can be attacked by addressing:
Educating on what Phishing Messages look like
Patching of Vulnerabilities
Securing Remote Access solutions
Restricting access only to those who need access
Using Multi Factor Authentication systems
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If you feel you have been compromised, visit ftc.gov/idtheft, the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims.
The site provides streamlined checklists and sample letters to guide you through the recovery process.
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Many successful ransomware attacks are only detected after data encryption is complete and a ransom note has been displayed on the infected computer’s screen!
At this point, the encrypted files are likely unrecoverable, but some steps should be taken immediately:
Quarantine the infected machine: some ransomware variants will try to spread to connected drives and other machines.
Limit the spread of the malware by removing access to other potential targets.
Leave the computer ON: encryption of files may make a computer unstable, and powering off a computer can result in loss of volatile memory. Keep the computer on to maximize the probability of recovery.
Create a Backup: decryption of files for some ransomware variants is possible without paying the ransom.
Make a copy of encrypted files on removable media in case a solution becomes available in the future or a failed decryption effort damages the files.
Check for Decryptors: the No More Ransom Project may have a free decryptor is available. If so, run it on a copy of the encrypted data to see if it can restore the files.
Ask For Help: computers sometimes store backup copies of files stored on them. A digital forensics expert may be able to recover these copies if they have not been deleted by the malware.
Wipe and Restore: restore the machine from a clean backup or operating system installation. This ensures that the malware is completely removed from the device.
The landscape of identity theft has been thoroughly researched in recent years, with several key findings emerging. According to Javelin Strategy & Research's 2023 Identity Fraud Study, traditional identity fraud losses amounted to $20 billion in 2022, a decrease of nearly 15% from the previous study period, while the number of U.S. adult victims remained nearly identical at about 15.4 million[1].
Overall, total identity fraud losses were $43 billion in 2022, down from $52 billion the year before, which is a decline of 17% [2]. The Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2022 Annual Data Breach Report revealed that there were 1,802 data compromises in 2022, which was only 60 events short of the previous all-time high set in 2021. The report highlighted that the number of victims impacted increased by almost 41.5% from 2021, indicating a growing concern in the field of data security and identity theft [3]. These studies demonstrate the evolving nature of identity theft and the ongoing need for vigilance and improved security measures to protect individuals and businesses alike.
https://javelinstrategy.com/research/2023-identity-fraud-study-butterfly-effect
https://javelinstrategy.com/press-release/identity-fraud-losses-totaled-43-billion-2022-affecting-40-million-us-adults
https://www.idtheftcenter.org/post/2022-annual-data-breach-report-reveals-near-record-number-compromises/