Florida has enacted an Information Protection Act that aims to ward off identity theft by requiring organizations to protect personal data and report data breaches in a shorter period.
Credit and debit card fraud tops Americans' security concerns in 2014, against a recent backdrop of major retail and banking security breaches, according to the 2014 Unisys Security Index.
Twenty-five percent of U.S. parents report “frequently” worrying about their child being harmed at school
March 1, 2014
Twenty-five percent of U.S. parents report “frequently” worrying about their child being harmed at school, and that concern is up from 2009-2011, according to Gallup’s annual Crime poll, conducted Oct. 3-6, 2013.
More than 300,000 personal records for faculty, staff and students who have received identification cards at the University of Maryland were compromised in a cybersecurity breach this week, according to school officials.
Illinois residents are increasingly worried about how businesses protect their personal and financial information in the wake of widespread data breaches in 2013. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office saw a 1,600-percent increase in data breach complaints compared to 2012. The office received more than 20,500 complaints in 2013, and identity theft complaints recorded the largest increase – from 2,544 complaints in 2012 to 3,009 in 2013. Within this category, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office reported a significant increase in complaints about data breaches specifically – from 33 complaints in 2012 to 576 in 2013.
While American shoppers say they are very concerned about the safety of their personal information following the massive security breach at Target, many aren’t taking steps to ensure their data is secure. Just 37 percent of surveyed consumers have tried to use cash for purchases rather than pay with plastic, and only 41 percent have checked their credit reports. Even fewer have changed their online passwords at retailers’ websites, requested new credit or debit card numbers, or signed up for a credit monitoring service.
Identity theft is already a serious problem—the No. 1 complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, and tax-related identity theft is a growing part of this crime spree.
The identity theft rate for children is 51 times higher than the rate for adults, according to new research. These long-term frauds can be devastating to a child's future, as a preexisting bad credit score can make it difficult to secure student loans, housing or a job.