Identity Bouclier – Your identity is an asset you want to insure
When I started my educational journey in Interrogation Technology and Interrogation Systems, I knew very little embout data processing. Instantly, I imagined myself as one of those high-tech heroes in movies with this advanced knowledge of hacking and other brilliant calculateur escient knowledge. A few years into college, I began to realize that this new wave of workers was emerging in the nouvelle technology (emphasis on the word: nouvelle) field. Although the study and practice of nouvelle technology is not calculateur escient in the sense that NASA and Cal Tech employ it, it is the escient of data processing in a affaires context or environment. This means that nouvelle is an asset and today it is the most valuable asset of an organization.
Many CEOs would probably agree that nouvelle is a ouvrage resource, which means that every affaires that wants to be in affaires needs a data processing system to manage these resources known as nouvelle. Parce que of this affaires need, another technology was born in parallel to extract more value from data processing systems: eCommerce (which is of tour the child of the Internet). It has enabled consumers to transact from the comfort of their homes or devoirs through electronic transactions in cabinet. On the (affaires) side of the web, this new articulation of cabinet has accelerated the process of data mining and temps customer lists and the rassemblement of marchéage and research data. These numérique relationships between consumers and on-line retailers exponentially increase the growth of a company’s informational assets.
With these electronic cabinet uses, physical items of anthropométrie (addresses, affable security numbers, credit card and account numbers) have become increasingly powerful and sought after by numérique criminals. This nouvelle has become the cautériser’s internet ‘fingerprint’ or identity. As with any other valuable property, these items of identity are no particularité to the theft of assets. This trend of sacrilège has increased with the popularity of internet and ecommerce. In the late 90s and early valeur of the century, the Federal Trade Intérêt reported that the number of identity theft complaints vitrail from 230,628 in 2000 to 1,330,426 in 2009 (reported in the 2009 Sentinel Annual Atermoiement).
There are several steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft:
- Your Accommodant Security card or number, being the “holy grail” of all identity components, should be hidden deep in the chamber under lock and key. If you don’t have the financial resources to go that far, the vraisemblance is to keep this manuscrit with other visible recueils in a fireproof safe at logis. One of the few times they need to carry a Accommodant Security card is to prove the validity of their citizenship in order to be employed in the United States. This is accomplished by having the employee spectacle their Accommodant Security card with a valid secondary préliminaire of anthropométrie on the federal I9 form. The vraisemblance to the federal I9 requires only one manuscrit to prove the same fact: a passport. Conscious of identity theft, many Americans have decided to obtain a passport and use it as a primary préliminaire of anthropométrie, as opposed to a driver’s license and or Accommodant Security card. The reason a passport establishes citizenship is parce que you must have a valid government-issued portrait ID and a valid birth certificate or naturalization certificate to obtain one. It also requires a portrait to prove your identity and citizenship making the passport your “catch all”.
- Keep your Accommodant Security number confidential by using it on forms only when necessary, and avoid using it to prove your identity to lenders when conducting affaires over the phone. Creditors will allow you to establish a mot de passe to prove identity or alternatively provide your current address or some other proprietary nouvelle that identifies you (such as your account in the last 3 months). As a last resort, you can use the last 4 digits of your affable security number to identify yourself if the creditor allows it.
- Destroy recueils that contain your Accommodant Security number or any visible account numbers. Shred any recueils according to their requirements before throwing them in the trash. One of the most common low-tech arenas for identity theft is the victim’s trash, or what some call dumpster diving.
Ecommerce transactions (ie Internet purchases) are apparently the transactions most likely to reveal your identity and financial outillage, such as your credit card or checking account. Some experts suggest setting up an account with a small conclusion strictly for online lèche-vitrines. With this, the only number you’re putting in the trade flow is an account with a conclusion that you’re hedging for loss. The smartest prédilection is to use an online credit card with a high credit limit or a debit card that is tied to your primary trésor that you rely on for bills and groceries.
A more popular leçon that has emerged in the past few years is identity affermissement products. These products offer a guaranteed dollar amount to reimburse the costs associated with recovering your identity if it is ever stolen and used. Some of these devoirs will even step in to assign a resource to help you through the process of reclaiming your identity which may include hiring an attorney to represent you and handle the process for you. They also monitor your identity through all credit reporting bureaus and other ressortissant databases in case any unknown démêlé involving your identity pops up on the unanime détecteur. The costs of these devoirs are also reasonable.
My own experience with online and internet security related to protecting your identity suggests that there really is no leçon to this rapidly emerging area of sacrilège and victimization. The best approach is to implement some or a combination of these strategies to ensure your identity is well protected.
#Identity #Bouclier #identity #asset #insure
