| An everyday scenario: A man on a business trip | | | | can develop and "Identity Theft Risk Scorecard." |
| stops at an Airport ATM and takes out $100.00 | | | | This is a simple risk assessment exercise. |
| before catching his connecting flight. When he | | | | Individuals can do a comprehensive inventory of |
| arrives at his hotel to check in not just one but all | | | | their vulnerabilities. Know how many credit cards |
| of his credit cards are declined. He has just | | | | you have and what the limits are on them. Check |
| become one of millions of victims of Identity | | | | bank statements regularly, not just at the end of |
| Theft. One of the problems in combating this | | | | the month but also online for unidentified charges. |
| increasingly common crime is that there is a very | | | | Protect passwords and change them regularly. |
| good chance that this theft will never be reported. | | | | Keep unused cards in a safe location. Treat ATM |
| The business man will call the the credit card | | | | cards the same way as credit cards. An individual |
| company who will realize that he and they have | | | | should also regularly check on his/her credit rating |
| been a victim of "skimming" which is where | | | | with Equifax or a similar service. Look for unusual |
| thieves insert a device into an ATM designed to | | | | activity and address it immediately. Keep Social |
| steal personal information. They will cancel the | | | | Security Numbers, Driver's License numbers, |
| man's credit cards, courier replacement cards to | | | | Passport numbers and other major identifiers |
| him and write off the losses as the cost of doing | | | | secure and limit dissemination to only necessary |
| business. They will want to keep the matter as | | | | parties. Be certain to obtain copies of credit card |
| confidential as possible both to protect the man's | | | | receipts from restaurants, hotels, gas stations and |
| interest and to protect their own reputation. | | | | other retailers and shred any that have a full |
| Everyone knows the importance of doing the | | | | credit card number on them. By following these |
| basic things to protect against Identity Theft. | | | | and other basic protective practices the individual |
| Cover your hands when entering PIN numbers. | | | | is actually developing a personal Identity Theft |
| Change your passwords frequently and don't use | | | | Metrics, a comprehensive accounting of how and |
| obvious ones. Don't write your passwords down | | | | where one's Identity information is disseminated. |
| where they can be discovered. Use different | | | | As with corporations this Metrics will have built in |
| passwords for different applications etc. But | | | | KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Individuals, like |
| further steps can be taken too. Devising a | | | | corporations, have the ability to monitor, protect |
| comprehensive empirically accurate means of | | | | against and put in place proactive |
| measuring the extent of Identity Theft so that | | | | countermeasures against Identity Theft. |
| countermeasures can be developed is as | | | | If you are interested in identity theft metrics, |
| important for individuals as it is for corporations. In | | | | check this web-site to learn more about |
| order to do that, it is necessary to measure the | | | | measuring identity theft risks. |
| extent of Identity Theft Risks. Every individual | | | | |