Is your private information secure?

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For the last few days the news media has been all abuzz about an alleged cyber-attack on either one or all of the “Big three” credit bureaus that involved the publicizing of private financial information belonging to several celebrities including the First Lady, Michele Obama. According the AP news wire, a Russian based website called “exposed” is responsible for releasing the information. And the list of celebrities who’s information is now public is growing. No one is sure if the information is correct, but I don’t think it would be smart for any curious onlookers to somehow try to confirm the information as the White House has “released the hounds” to investigate who the owners of the website are and how they were able to hack their way into the three largest credit reporting agencies in the US.

Have you ever heard the saying, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it really make any noise? I use that analogy to say that there is an estimated 42 million credit reports held by Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion and in recent years, all three companies have experienced a massive increase in identity theft cases, some due to data security breaches at the agencies themselves, and other types because some guy decides to go through his neighbors garbage looking for bank statements. Apparently, it doesn’t really make the news until it happens to a celebrity. Believe me, my paltry $589.00 in my Bank of America checking account is just as important to me as Oprah Winfrey’s $589 million.

“We should not be surprised that if you’ve got hackers who want to dig in and devote a lot of resources, that they can access people’s private information,” Obama told ABC News in an interview aired Wednesday. “It is a big problem.”
Obama added: “It would not shock me if some information among people who presumably have pretty good safeguards against it, still gets out. Even though President Obama is not the one person whom I would assume has the last word on this country’s cyber security situation, it’s a pretty good bet that he is privy to some high-level information that informed his statements.

That alone is just scary.

The United States Department of Justice stated that in 2010, 7% of all United States households had at least one member of the family at or over the age of 12 who has been a victim of some sort of identity theft. Identify theft comes in various forms: medical information fraud, stealing the identity of persons deceased, credit card fraud, and check fraud. It is estimated that there 34,520 cases of various forms of identity theft per day, up from 22, 000+ in 2011.

Back in October of 2012, South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley announced a massive security breach in the State’s Department of Revenue that resulted in the theft of 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit/debit card numbers (only 16,000 of which, it is believed, were unencrypted). These kinds of cyber-attacks are becoming more numerous as hackers are becoming more sophisticated.

I found a some good information on this subject at a site called Quizzle.com. They suggest some ways to protect yourself from cyber-attacks and identify-theft:

 

Don’t save credit card information on-line. I know that Google has an auto-fill plug -in that auto fill forms and job applications, etc. That same plug-in can save your credit card information as well. Don’t do it. Many hackers can figure out passwords by simply typing in multiple common passwords with different numeric combinations. If they get into an account that has stored your credit card number, they can easily charge items to your card without you knowing. The best way to avoid this is to use sophisticated password and not save your credit card number on any online store account

Keep your credit card pin number to yourself. Keep your credit/ debit card and the pin in completely separate places. And I don’t mean separately on your person, I mean if you have your credit card with you, your pin number should be at home. You should never write your PIN number on your credit card, according to experts at Identitytheft.com. Doing so makes it easy for thieves to access your account, if they get hold of your actual credit card. It’s also smart to shred all mail that you don’t want. This includes credit card offers and other mail that asks for financial information or social security number.

Be weary of Wi-Fi

Wi-fi has introduced a new opportunity for hackers to steal your identity, according to Hacked Info, a website devoted to cyber security. Most wi-fi networks are not covered by security software, thus making them a goldmine for hackers hoping to steal your identity. And computers typically have standard default settings that are common knowledge to most hackers, making it easy to get into your personal information.

To avoid having your computer overtaken through wi-fi networks, change the password on your wireless router. Passwords are often standard on routers, so replacing that password with your own is a great way to protect your computer from cyber attacks.

Think about what you’re posting on social networks

Cyber thieves stole above $25 million from businesses in the first quarter of 2009, and that number is consistently rising, according to Krebsonsecurity.com. And cyber theft has yet another target – social networking sites. People share information about themselves so freely that it is easy for criminals to pose as someone else and find your personal information.

The cyber theft process is easy for those with experience in programming, but many are buying software to steal information as well. Firewalls were once thought to protect your computer, but even they are not enough anymore.

Cyber security is all about being careful. If you engage in on-line shopping, slow down and ask yourself few questions before you enter that credit card number, “am I doing the most secure thing with my credit card information, or, am I sure this website is secure?” Be thoughtful about what you say and do while on the Internet and even on your home computer. A little common sense will go a long way to keeping your personal information safe from hackers and would-be identity thieves. And remember if you want to keep financial records like credit card numbers, and pin numbers or passwords more secure, place them on a thumb drive so the information is not just sitting online or on your computer waiting for some sophisticated hacker to get at it.

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My thanks to Shannon Dickinson at Quizzle for her article, “Combating Identity Theft: How to protect yourself from cyber crime” http://www.quizzle.com/blog/2010/10/combating-identity-theft-how-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-crime/

• Chase Bank fends off cyber attack (heraldtimesonline.com)
• How To Prevent Identity Theft and Protect Your Credit Score (creditrepair.com)
• Senior US Official Says China Must Stop Cyber-Attacks (theepochtimes.com)
• Michelle Obama Victim of Hacking, Obama Does Not Confirm Amidst Meetings on Cyber Security (+Video) (theepochtimes.com)
• What To Do About Identity Theft (nationaldebtrelief.com)
• Pursuit of hackers who took credit reports expands (news.yahoo.com)
• Hackers Attack Bank Minutes After NSA Chief Warns Senate About Hackers Attacking Banks (theatlanticwire.com)
• Identity Theft in America by The Numbers (creditloan.com)