Identifying, Preventing and Repairing ID Theft – False Sense Of Security

It’s just a matter of time if you’ve never been the victim of ID theft. No really, this is not a scare tactic by any stretch of the imagination. Fact is ID theft affects more businesses and people than those who actually reported ID theft. Because many businesses and people who are affected ID theft are not even aware until it’s too late. Reported statistics are much lower than the actual number of incidents. You must be asking what are hackers doing with all of the data they steal on a regular basis? Sure, they could go public, as they did with the Ashley Madison and Sony, or they could sell it and make some quick cash.

Credentials like passwords, usernames, Social Security numbers, and more, can be sold for big money in illegal and underground markets, but you’re probably discounting the value of all this stolen personal and private information. Like most people, you’re probably thinking, that your identity can’t be worth much on the “Hack Market”. But do you really know how much your Identity can be sold for?

Basically, when your accounts are hacked, criminals will often attempt to sell this information on the Dark Web; a place where only those on the anonymity network, Tor, can access. Most information that’s stolen consists of personally identifiable information and financial data, but hackers will often be content with taking off with anything they possibly can. The most common industries targeted by these hackers are healthcare, education, government, and retail, but it should be mentioned that all businesses are susceptible to data theft of any kind.

The True Cost Of ID Theft – How Much Is An ID Profile Worth On The Dark Web

The last thing you want is a hacker stealing your organization’s financial information or your employees’ personal information. Your organization’s information is much more valuable than you might think it is, especially to hackers.

• Mobile accounts in the United States can be sold for as little as $14 a piece.
• PayPal and eBay accounts that have a significant amount of transaction history can be sold for around $300 each.
• Supposedly, Uber accounts are in high demand.
• Bank account credentials can sell for anywhere between $200 and $500 a piece, depending on available bank balances and running balances.

As you might guess, credit card information is in high demand. Most credit card information is sold in bulk to reduce the unit price. Personally identifiable information is sold at $1 per line of information; in other words, someone could purchase your full legal name, Social Security number, address, date of birth, and more, for the price of a meal at a fast-food joint. This is more than enough info to commit identity fraud.

Full credit reports can be purchased for $25 apiece. Other documents, like passports and driver’s licenses, can be sold for anywhere between $10 and $35 per document.

Repair ID Theft – Not Only Painful, But Costy

There is also another side to all this doom and gloom and it does not get any better. Once your ID has been compromised, there is the cleanup process, and often times this is more painful than the root cause of the cleanup. Many victims are left devastated with debts they did not incur, and extensive legal fees to fix the mess for those that can afford legal representation.

It’s not all doom and gloom, For those that are proactive, can minimize the impact of ID theft by subscribing to ID theft recovery services such as legal shield and ID shield. Please be aware that life-lock is purely monitoring, it does nothing for you if your identity is stolen.

So, as you can see, data theft is no joke to hackers, and it shouldn’t be for you or your business either. The legal ramifications of allowing a large-scale data breach, including the theft of your business’s, employees’, and clients’ information, could result in extremely privacy fines, a loss of credibility, and in the worst-case scenario, the end for your organization.

Preventing Business ID Theft – Firewalls Are Not Enough

While one individual’s personal information might not have a big price tag, your contact database is a treasure trove to hackers. The best way to avoid a full-scale hack that results in the theft of a significant amount of personal information is to implement a comprehensive security solution designed to keep threats out and eliminate suspicious activity on your network. A Unified Threat Management (UTMs) solution is capable of providing a firewall, antivirus, spam blocking, and content filtering solution that’s designed with the safety of your organization in mind.