Lost in Transaction

According to cyber security experts, the compromise of your identity is not a question of if it will happen, but more a case of when. Over the last decade the number of victims to internet hacking and identity fraud has climbed at an astonishingly troubling leap. Identity thieves have cashed-in on a lucrative scheme where property theft can be committed with nothing short of impunity. Investigators have such a hard time pin-pointing criminals that victims are left trying to recoup from their losses and rebuild their tarnished credit scores for often months if not entire years. Internet fraud makes up some of the most elusive and destructive criminal activity law enforcement has had to face in years, as an intricate, complex, and almost unidentifiable network serves as the data-driven landscape for the innumerable data-hungry thieves scouring the web for potential unsuspecting identities.

Taking preventative measures is the first step towards tightening the grip on your online identity. An extreme vulnerability we all share in our ongoing transaction of data is through our e-mail accounts, which is essentially an inanimate skeleton key towards our own personal information. If you log in and all of your contacts have disappeared; you cannot log in at all; or a friend asks why you sent her an e-mail for free tickets to Jamaica, your e-mail account has probably been hacked. The good news, however, is that most identity thieves have found that infiltrating the systems of major retail outlets and merchant stores is far more lucrative than attacking individuals one by one. The bad news, however, is that if you swipe that card too often around town, your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft are subsequently increased.

Amidst all of these rather grim developments, a resolute new sector of professionals has emerged to investigate cybercriminal activity and identify perpetrators behind these crimes. A number of different companies and organizations – both private and public – have taken considerable strides to alleviate online vulnerabilities of your average web surfer. Educational institutions staffed by trained and experienced experts in fields of information security are passing their own knowledge onto representatives of multi-million dollar corporations, as well as government institutions overseeing safe and ethical practices online. Measures are being taken as prevention becomes a much more appreciated component in the current cyber currency.

For more on how cyber security is becoming an integral component of our economy and society, visit the home page of InfoSec Institute and see who many of the most respected cyber security experts turn to for knowledge on how they can put a stop to their most cunning of foes.