Identity Theft

The SANS Institute, as part of its regular series of Wednesday Webcasts, departed from its normal focus on IT-oriented Information Security to focus on personal Information Security, or Ten Ways to Hack Proof Your Identity. Identity theft is an increasingly important topic that EVERYONE needs to be aware of, lest you end up fighting thousands of dollars in bad credit rung up by someone who swiped your credit history for their own purposes. While you generally aren't liable for the charges on a credit account (debit cards have different rules), the average cost to fix such a problem is 600+ hours over several years, and over $1000 in personal expenses. Don't buy the hype from your credit card company or the credit agencies who offer you 'protection' for a few extra dollars a month. There is no way for them to protect you from ID theft that doesn't involve you being more vigilant. At this point, no one can protect you but you. It's also important to realize that this is not an online-only problem. I would wager that most ID theft takes place via stolen mail left in mailboxes. Take the time to at least glance over the slides, and take the "Identity Quotient Test". Simple behavior changes such as buying - and using - a shredder, removing your name from pre-approved credit lists issued to credit companies by the credit agencies, and more secure handling of documents could save you a lot of headaches.

The webcast does require you to register with SANS - something anyone interested in Infosec should already have done - but you can always sign up and ask them not to send you any of their newsletters if you aren't interested in the topics they cover.