Identity theft is growing, and its growing fast. With the
amount of business that is conducted online, there is no wonder why identity
theft has become such a big business yes, a business. Identity
theft has become so easy to conduct that it has become a business all on
its own. Monica Hamilton of McAfee, stated that millions of credit card numbers
are being put up for sale, anywhere from $10-$50. Hamilton estimated that the
number of programs written to steal personal information is around 130 million.
Thats 130 million plus ways a hacker can take personal information and use it
for fraudulent reasons. And consumers are not the only ones to lose here;
businesses can lose big as well. Even if the business itself does not incur any
losses, there can be lose in lawsuits and resources used to reconcile the
issue. One of reasons why finding resources to help prevent online
fraud is so difficult is because online fraud is still a fairly new
practice and traditional security is/was not trained to protect against it.
Online fraud and identity theft are prevented very differently than traditional
security and deserve separate precautions.
Online identity theft, and all online
fraud for that matter, is often more difficult to detect than other forms
of fraud. And when companies do experience online fraud, they sometimes find it
pricey and time consuming to investigate and sweep the issue under the rug.
Companies will compensate appropriately and go about business per usual, and
this then leaves the window open for the fraud to occur again. This is not
completely an act of negligence; its more often an act of being under
educated. Online fraud can range from a simple social
media hacking to total identity theft that is used to get a new job and
file for a mortgage. Because this range it so great, its hard to be fully
educated on the risks and preventative measures. Companies need to take the
time and use the resources needed to learn about online fraud prevention, a
solution may be more affordable and feasible than a business may think. Taking
the first step to learn more about online
fraud prevention can save a company a lot of money and their reputation.
[Contributed by EVS marketing]
