Security: Identity Theft: Costs More, Tech Less; average loss - $30K+

Identity Theft: Costs More, Tech Less
Network Computing (10/23/07) Claburn, Thomas

A study by Utica College's Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP) revealed that the median actual dollar loss for victims of identity theft is $31,356, a much higher figure than suggested by past studies. However, earlier studies primarily concentrated on consumer losses, whereas Utica's study reviewed 517 cases investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, which tend to be major incidents, not minor scams. Indeed, the CIMIP study is the first to review the Secret Services' closed case files, and as such aims to provide empirical data. The report proved that companies as well as individuals are affected by identity theft. The study also discovered that the Internet is not always an essential tool for identity thieves. Of the 517 cases reviewed, 102 cases involved Internet use and 106 involved non-technological means, such as mail rerouting. In other instances, criminals used mail theft to access sensitive information and then used Internet-related tools to create fake documents. Another unanticipated finding was that in the 274 cases with identifiable points of compromise, businesses were the starting point for half of the breaches. Moreover, one-third of the identity theft cases reviewed implicated insiders. Finally, the study's results challenged the belief that most identity thieves are white males, as roughly 50 percent of the offenders were black and roughly 40 percent were white. CIMIP works with corporate, government, and academic institutions to research identity management, information sharing, and data protection, including the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, and Syracuse University's CASE Center.
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