Physical Theft Essay

Physical theft of the device or information may occur in many forms. As the technology is advancing very fast, the chances of getting the identity stolen are also increasing. Physical theft involves stealing the information in any form such as laptops and credit card information or credit card itself directly. The main intention of the physical theft is enjoying the benefits of stolen information or device from concerned party. In the high scale the physical theft would be stealing valuable information from a company which is considered as the asset of that particular company.

Earlier in 1980 storing the information was not a big concern where there was less number of resources for stealing information. The attackers mostly depended upon the dumpster diving for bank transactions and account numbers. Even the universities used to post the grades of the students in hallway by their social security numbers. But later on, personal information like social security numbers and date of birth has gained more prominence which was used to trace the information of the person like bank account number, money transactions, physical address, phone number and history. The attackers started to focus mostly in stealing the social security numbers and date of births to gain the advantage by hacking the individual information. As the internet came into existence everything has become online to make things easy for the people. Hence the prominence of the social security numbers increased which were used for people identification.

It is reported that in 2008 multiple laptops were stolen from RIT. These laptops contained the information about the student social security numbers, birthdates and their respective profiles. Almost 1000 students were affect...

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...nent into rooted or jail-broken devices.

Here are some ways to avoid vulnerabilities:

1- Turn of the NFC function when not in use

2- Make that the user has to accept the proposed action

3- Download and use applications from a trusted source

4- Avoid bypassing the manufacture security features

5- Keep the mobile device updated in order to get security patches

6- Lock the mobile device with a security code when not in use

7- Watch out for people trying to get too close to you in lines

Near Field Communication technology have a huge potential, and with more mobile device manufacturers adopting the technology and retailers adopting the technology at their check out terminals; it is essential to avoid and protect against known and possible vulnerabilities. If used correctly NFC can be used securely to properly identify a person, better than physical credit cards and IDs.