SARASOTA, Fla. 9/23/2008 2:47:25 AM
Identity Theft Protection Expert and One You Security: Irresponsibility Joins Outright Crime as Catalyst for Identity Theft
(One You Security) In late August, the sale on eBay of a computer belonging to a large European bank placed the banking details of more than one million customers in the hands of a third party. Research reported later, in September, suggested that data breaches attributable to human error are commonplace. Considering the scale of thefts reported on a weekly basis, Robert Siciliano, widely televised and quoted identity theft protection expert and chief security analyst for One You Security, LLC (http://www.OneYou.com), encouraged consumers to enroll in One You Security, a service that transforms Social Security numbers into something functionally useless to financial fraudsters and scours 150 million websites every day, each of them 50 pages deep, for any potentially illegal use of their identifying information.
"With the identifying information on so many consumers evidently out of their hands and the hands of those organizations entrusted with it, a practical solution is imperative," said Siciliano. "In the apparent absence of effective measures to keep information only where it belongs, victims of these incidents need a way to secure their data themselves. And they need a partner in safeguarding their information. One You gives consumers all of this."
Subscribers to One You Security receive newsletters and special alerts from Siciliano (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLylU5xflx8). Through these, they get the latest information on data breaches and learn more about identity theft prevention. Chief security analyst for One You Security and a member of the Bank Fraud & IT Security Report's editorial board, Siciliano regularly discusses data security and consumer protection on CNBC, on NBC's "Today Show," FOX News Network and elsewhere.
The Associated Press reported on Aug. 26 that "a computer containing banking security details of more than one million [Royal Bank of Scotland customers had] been sold on eBay." The computer still had these details on it at the time of sale. A former employee of Graphic Data, the archiving company that owned the computer, had "sold [the machine] 'inappropriately to a third party,'" according to a company statement excerpted in the AP's report. Data on the computer included account numbers, passwords, mobile telephone numbers and signatures.
On Sept. 8, a writer for Computerworld reported his own research on the number of data breaches having occurred thus far in 2008. His findings showed that nearly 40 percent of data breaches are attributable to employee mistakes, also determined that the total has exceeded even the already-high tally thus far in 2008 from Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm#2008
Further research, announced on Aug. 20, supported the notion that employees and third parties in some way cause a large number of data breaches. The number one root cause of data breach incidents, in fact, is employee negligence, according to 50 percent of participants in a survey jointly conducted by the Ponemon Institute and Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company, an insurance and risk management intermediary. The next highest number of survey participants in their study (29 percent) reported third-party negligence as the number one root cause:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hilb-rogal--hobbs-company/story.aspx?guid=%7b197625D7-6743-47CA-A3E4-E3BE55F79DA5%7d&dist=hppr
"To do just about anything financially, consumers must provide their identifying information to organizations whose employees apparently need training in security," said Chris Harris, president and CEO of One You Security. "Given the situation, what's the solution that helps consumers right now who've had to give up their sensitive, identifying information to more organizations than they can probably even remember? It's not industry-wide reform, however necessary that also is. No, the answer is twofold: to scour the Web for consumers, locating any information that's possibly fallen into criminals' hands, and to give them the ability, in the meantime, to transform that information into something functionally useless to thieves."
Consumers who choose One You Security do so in part because the company strives to transform their Social Security numbers into meaningless strings of digits of no use to thieves. The firm backs all its offerings with a 100 percent service guarantee.
YouTube video shows Siciliano on FOX News Network, where he explains how the ubiquity of Social Security numbers as universal identifiers helps thieves online and off-line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqoHSACQ34U
A collection of videos at VideoJug features Siciliano sharing advice on how consumers can protect themselves from identity theft and fraud:
http://www.videojug.com/search?keywords=siciliano
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About One You Security, LLC
Sarasota, Fla.-based One You Security's mission is to eliminate the threat and consequences of identity theft. For just $10 per month, anyone can sign up for One You Security's identity theft protection service, a proactive, preventative approach whereby the company activates and manages its customers' fraud alerts with major credit bureaus. Subscribers also receive full access to ongoing education from identity theft protection expert Robert Siciliano, chief security analyst for One You Security (http://www.OneYou.com), which backs up its promise to protect clients' financial identities with a 100 percent service guarantee. To sign up for One You Security, dial 1-800-434-2010.
About IDTheftSecurity.com
Identity theft affects us all, and Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com (http://www.IDTheftSecurity.com), chief security analyst for One You Security, and member of the Bank Fraud & IT Security Report's editorial board, makes it his mission to provide consumer education solutions on identity theft to Fortune 500 companies and their clients. Author of "The Safety Minute: 01" and leader of personal safety and security seminars nationwide, Siciliano has been featured on "The Today Show," CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, "FOX News," "The Suze Orman Show," "The Montel Williams Show," "Maury Povich," "Sally Jesse Raphael," "The Howard Stern Show," and "Inside Edition." Numerous magazines, print news outlets, and wire services have turned to him, as well, for expert commentary on personal security and identity theft protection. These include Forbes, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Woman's Day, Mademoiselle, Good Housekeeping, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, United Press International, Reuters, and others. For more information, visit Siciliano's Web site (http://www.idtheftsecurity.com/), blog (http://www.realtysecurity.com/blog), and YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/stungundotcom).
The media are encouraged to get in touch with any of the following individuals:
Chris Harris
President & CEO of One You Security
PHONE: 941-342-0500 (x231)
Chris@OneYou.com
http://www.oneyou.com
Robert Siciliano
Chief Security Analyst for One You Security
PHONE: 888-SICILIANO (742-4542)
FAX: 877-2-FAX-NOW (232-9669)
RobertSiciliano@OneYou.com
Brent Skinner
President & CEO of STETrevisions
PHONE: 617-875-4859
FAX: 866-663-6557
BrentSkinner@STETrevisions.com
http://www.STETrevisions.com
http://www.brentskinner.blogspot.com
