July 22, 2009
These NewsBriefs are produced and delivered weekly by
Attainium to keep our friends and clients
current on topics relating to Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery and Crisis Management.
Much of the information on how to prevent identity theft is directed at individuals, but organizations
must take steps as well. Experts in identity theft report that an increasing number of cases can be traced
back to dishonest employees in the workplace who obtain the sensitive personal information of employees and
customers and disclose it to identity thieves. One of the keys to preventing identity theft, therefore, is
to safeguard personal information within the workplace, whether it's a business, government agency, or nonprofit.
The articles below can help you figure out what steps to take to protect your organization from identity theft
itself and from having your clients' or customers' identities stolen.
This checklist provides an overview of key points to consider when preparing information-handling policies
and conducting privacy audits within your organization.
(Item #1)
The first thing to do to help prevent business identity theft is to secure individual identities.
(Item #2)
Create your own identity theft program with this guided 4-step process.
(Item #3)
If you're in business, your email address is going to be forged; what can you do?
(Item #4)
Sensitive information is unknowingly given out in some cases by the users themselves.
(Item #5)
Providing identity theft services cuts down on lost productivity and gives employees peace of mind.
(Item #6)
As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns
with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic
you'd like to see covered, please email me at
[email protected]
Best Regards,
Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp
Quote of the Week
"Ultimately, you cannot prevent identity theft from happening to you ...
You can only reduce your chances."
- Beth Givens -
Articles
1. A Checklist of Responsible Information-Handling Practices
Many privacy abuses are the result of errors and carelessness by those who handle personal information.
Some are caused by inadequate security. Responsible information-handling practices begin with the development
of privacy policies in the workplace and the implementation of regular training programs.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs12-ih2.htm
2. Seven Tips to Prevent Business Identity Theft
Robert Siciliano, a business identity theft expert and CEO of Boston-based IDTheftSecurity.com, said there
are tips that solution providers -- and any company -- can follow to help prevent identity theft, which now
accounts for $50 billion in losses for businesses each year.
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/202201630;jsessionid=SSH1VHHRDHJLMQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?pgno=1
3. Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: A How-to Guide for Business
The Red Flags Rule requires many businesses and organizations to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention
Program to detect the warning signs - or "red flags" - of identity theft. By identifying red flags, you'll be in a
better position to spot an imposter trying to defraud you by using someone else's identity to get products and services.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/idtheft/bus23.pdf
4. Email Identity Theft
One company had its website shutdown by its hosting provider because somebody forged email that appeared
to be coming from one of the company's accounts. Spammers use forged email addresses because they do not want
to receive complaints (or complaints to their ISP). Unfortunately email forgery is simple and commonplace.
http://www.riskythinking.com/articles/article25.php
5. Identity Theft Goes Corporate
Do you know where your personal and corporate identity information resides or may be lurking? According
to two Canadian security experts, personal and corporate identity theft is quickly becoming commonplace in
the market and more vigilance and formal corporate policies are needed in order to help combat this issue.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145164/identity_theft_goes_corporate.html
6. ID theft services emerge as new employee benefit
Some businesses offer identity theft services as a 100 percent company-paid benefit; others provide a component
as a paid company benefit and offer other elements, such as education and insurance, as discounted benefits.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_10_50/ai_n15760183/
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