Companies Could be Leaking Confidential Information
McAfee, Jamie

Companies have possibly exposed important personal information such as Social Security numbers through Webmail, Instant Messaging (IM) and email, said Reconnex, Mountain View, Calif.

According to Reconnex's Insider Threat Index, 78 percent of companies assessed in 2005 exposed social security numbers and 52 percent leaked confidential data during a 48-hour period through three methods: Webmail, IM and e-mail. The Reconnex iGuard content monitoring appliance, sampled the data during 100 48-hour e-Risk Rapid Assessments conducted from January to December 2005.

After analyzing more than four billion content objects of data collected in 2005, Reconnex identified trends that allowed it to detect the seven indicators of risk.
Of those risks, the majority of the corporations assessed had banned the use of Webmail on the corporate network. Nevertheless, 83 percent of companies assessed had Webmail running over their networks and 28 percent of Webmail transmissions included attachments.

Seventy-eight percent of companies leaked Social Security numbers. Meanwhile, 40 percent of all companies monitored sent unencrypted employee or customer credit card information outside their networks. In addition, a number of corporate networks, 68 percent, contained adult content and nearly 66 percent of companies assessed had IM running.
 
Identity Theft Plays No Favorites
McAfee, Jamie
Everyone seems to struggle equally when dealing with identity theft, according to a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Columbus, Ohio.

The survey examined how the crime affects both African Americans and Hispanics, confirming that no minority group in the U.S. is safe and that all struggle equally to recover when their identity is stolen. In a crime where time is of the essence to prevent further loss of assets, the survey found it took minorities on average one and a half months longer than the general population to discover they were a victim.

"Educating the entire population is key to early detection and ultimately prevention of the crime in the first place," said Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer and associate general counsel for Nationwide. "In addition, providing support in the identity recovery phase can speed response time, protect assets and preserve an individual's integrity."

The survey results show African-American and Hispanic victims were more likely than victims from the random sample to have the crime target their checking or savings account. There also were other slight differences. African-American victims spent an average of 54 hours trying to resolve their case. Hispanic victims averaged 42 hours and victims from the random sample averaged 53 hours. Thieves racked up an average of $2,914 in charges using an African-American victim's identity and $2,406 using a Hispanic victim's identity. The general population averaged $3,240 in fraudulent charges, the survey found.

"While there are interesting differences among the various ethnicities, the survey shows identity theft is a crime with the potential to impact anyone," Herath said.

Identity theft levels the playing field among victims. One in four African-American and Hispanic financial identity theft victims has not been able to restore their identities despite averaging nearly a year trying, according to the survey. These findings correlate to a survey of the general population conducted by Nationwide last July.

In addition, the survey, found 95 percent of all victims-regardless of ethnic background-said they were frustrated or had difficulty trying to restore their identity.

"You need to take all these steps to protect yourself, but you also need a safety net," Herath said. "The survey clearly illustrates that most victims had to find out about the crime themselves and are on their own when dealing with it. Most recognize that recovery can be hard work, and very time consuming and that is why it is helpful for victims to have someone working on their behalf that will treat the crime like an emergency."

Among African-Americans, the victim profile is a 38-year-old woman, a college graduate with some college education. The typical Hispanic victim is a 36-year-old married woman and a college graduate. The most common general population victim is a 46-year-old white male, who is married and a college graduate or has some college education. Victims in each group had an average household income between $50,000 and $75,000.

The survey of 600 adult identity theft victims was conducted in December MarketTool's ZoomPanel, an online consumer panel. The survey has a margin of error of plus- or minus- 5 percentage points.

Source: MBA