Residents in the East of England (UK) appear most worried about the risk of fraud with 62% saying their fear of becoming a victim had grown over the last year.
(Callcredit Research, October 2008)
About 80 percent of the breaches in the US involved digital records, while the remainder stemmed from the loss, theft or exposure of paper-based records.
US Approves New ID Theft bill 04.08.2008 IDENTITY THEFT and IDENTITY FRAUD News and views - This daily news service searches the web to bring you relevant news to your desktop
According to SC Magazine (Aug 1st 2008), the US Senate passed an amended bill that will place harsher restrictions on cyberattacks and allow identity theft victims to recoup costs in federal court.
The legislation, known as the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act, had unanimously passed the Senate in November but was stalled in the House. It allows identity theft victims to recoup costs associated with the loss of time and money spent restoring their credit standing. It also lowers the bar for what is prosecutable as a felony by eliminating the requirement that sensitive information must have been stolen using a computer through interstate or foreign communications. This means criminals can be more easily prosecuted if they hack a computer in the same state.
The bill also would make it a felony to use spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers, regardless of the amount of destruction caused. In addition, the definition of cybercrime also would be expanded to include cyberextortion cases, where malware is removed or DDoS attacks halted in return for a ransom.
ID Theft Protect says that the US is several years ahead with attempting to deal with the fastest growing crime in the world - identity fraud. The number of new companies being started in the US "anti-identity fraud" sector is incredible.
Non-US companies are several years behind in providing anti-identity fraud services to consumers. Also important to remember is the lack of understanding of the issues surrounding identity fraud in Non-US countries, in particular the UK and Europe. Many people still associate identity fraud with 'credit cards and banking' which is not correct.
US Approves New ID Theft bill
