Identity Theft 911 Archives - Latest News from Backup Technology

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has confirmed that an investigation has started to see whether they have suffered a data breach of its credit card processing services. The DMV has confirmed that none of their internal computer systems have been compromised.

Armando Botello who is a spokesman for the DMV confirmed that an investigation in currently underway after they were made aware that a possible data breach may have occurred.

Botello stated, �The Department of Motor Vehicles has been alerted by law enforcement authorities to a potential security issue within its credit card processing services.�

Botello added, �In its investigation, the department is performing a forensic review of its systems and seeking information regarding any potential breach from both the external vendor that processes the DMV’s credit card transactions and the credit card companies themselves.�

The potential breach has occurred as the DMV allow customers to pay by credit card at self-service terminals and in online transactions for things such as renewal of driver�s licenses and vehicle registration.

So far, no other details have been released about the potential data breach such as how many customers may have been affected and a time frame rom when the data may have been compromised.

Adam Levin who is the chairman and co-founder of Credit.com and Identity Theft 911 has stated that as long as only credit card information was stolen and not personal data, the overall impact is very limited but can be very annoying for those affected.

Levin stated, �It�s not dangerous, it�s just annoying. It�s going to require you to change your credit card number yet again.�

Other organisations have already started similar investigations such as the reported investigation by Sears and by those who�suffered a similar data breach such as White Lodging.

Hackers are developing more sophisticated methods of attack to obtain data for financial gains as the rewards become greater. Therefore, it is now vital that companies ensure that they have the best security plan in place and regularly test it to help protect themselves against the ever increasing threat of cyber hackers and cyber thieves.

This should be supported with a robust backup solution to ensure that data can always be recovered no matter what action a hacker or cyber thieves takes such as modifying or deleting the data.

The number of identity theft victims in the USA increased to 13.1million in 2013 from 12.6 million in 2012. This is an increase of 500,000 cases and shows that thieve are becoming more sophisticated with their methods to illegally obtain confidential data.

The statistic have been gathered and presented by Javelin Strategy & Research who conduct an annual survey. The results for 2013 are the second highest since the start of the survey in 2004 with the greatest number of identity theft victims being 13.9 million in 2009. However, something to keep in mind is that this survey was completed in October 2013, before the retail company Target was successfully attacked by cyber thieves.

The study by Javelin Strategy & Research concluded that data breaches were one of the main sources of fraud in 2013. In total, one in three people who received notification of a data breach resulted in their identity being used for fraudulent activities.

Alphonse Pascual who is a senior analyst of security, risk and fraud at Javelin believes that there has been a shift in method of attacks where large organisations are being targeted more frequently.

Pascual stated, �Rather than a large number of smaller breaches as was more common in the past … we are now seeing larger retailers being targeted on a much more consistent basis.�

Pascual was also very critical of the larger organisations who are keeping confidential data belonging to thousands of people and their security measures which seem to be getting successfully bypassed on a more regular basis.

Pascual claimed, �This data clearly exposes just how ineffective current security practices have become. The businesses we trust with our personal information have become easy targets.�

As the number of victims of identity theft has increased in 2013, the amount of money that was stolen actually decreased. A total of $18 billion was stolen in 2013 which is a reduction of $3 billion in 2012 which totalled $21 billion. This reduction has been largely credited to financial institutions as they are now detecting fraudulent activities at a much quicker rate and are therefore closing down accounts much sooner.

Adam Levin who is the chairman of Identity Theft 911 believes that despite the reduction of money being stolen, the number of identity theft victims is very worrying due to the consequences that it can have on the victim.

Levin stated, �It’s not just about dollars and cents; it’s about the victims. ID theft disrupts your life. It creates real havoc and sometimes the consequences are horrendous. We need to keep these criminals from breaking and entering databases in the first place.�

By following a few simple steps, you can significantly reduce the possibility of becoming another victim of identity theft and identity fraud.

By ensuring that security software is installed on all computers and mobile phones and keeping them up to date by ensuring the latest security updates have been downloaded and applied helps significantly. These devices should be protected by strong passwords which should be changed on a regular basis. Monitoring bank account and credit card statements regularly and ensuring that all personal documents that are no longer needed are shredded and disposed of appropriately will also go a long way to ensuring that you don�t become a victim of identity theft and identity fraud.