Society has become ever-increasingly dependent upon technology, more specifically, computers to conduct personal and business transactions and communications. Consequently, criminals have targeted these systems to conduct information and cyber warfare, which can include politically motivated attacks and to profit through ill-gotten means. In an article written by Koblentz and Mazanec (2013), cyber warfare is the act of disabling an enemy’s ability to use or obtain information, degrade its ability to make decisions, and to command its military forces. Additionally, information warfare is composed of cyber warfare and related to the protection, disruption, destruction, denial, or manipulation of information in order to gain a benefit through the technologies (Taddeo, 2012). Accordingly, as technology becomes readily available to various entities, the ability to conduct or perform warfare through technological means is multiplying. The ability to conduct warfare through technological methods has increased information security awareness and the need to protect an entities infrastructure. Subsequently, cyber warfare produces increased risk to security practitioners that employ technology and other methods to mitigate risks to information and the various systems that hold or transmit data. A significant risk to information lies in the conduct of electronic commerce, hereinafter called e-commerce. E-commerce is the purchasing or selling of goods and/or services through the internet or other electronic means (Liu, Chen, Huang, & Yang, 2013). In this article, the researcher will discuss cyber warfare risks, present an evaluation on established security measures, identify potential victims of identity theft, and present an examina... ... middle of paper ... ...ld. TRAMES: A Journal of the Humanities & Social Sciences, 16(2), 157-176. doi:10.3176/tr.2012.2.04 Saleh, Z. (2013). The impact of identity theft on perceived. Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce, 18(2), 1-11. Retrieved from http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/ Sullivan, C. (2009). Is identity theft really theft? International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 23(1/2), 77-87. doi:10.1080/13600860902742596 Taddeo, M. (2012). Information warfare: A philosophical perspective. Philosophy & Technology, 25(1), 105-120. doi:10.1007/s13347-011-0040-9 Vacca, W. A. (2012). Military culture and cyber security. Survival, 53(6), 159-176. doi:10.1080/00396338.2011.636520 Zhao, J. J., & Zhao, S. Y. (2012). Retail e-commerce security status among fortune 500 corporations. Journal of Education for Business, 87(3), 136-144. doi:10.1080/08832323.2011.582191
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Show MoreWhile there are several competing if loosely defined definitions of cyberterrorism, Hua and Bapta have clearly broken down the core elements to illuminate the nuances between traditional terrorism and an ordinary hacker. As Hua and Bapta aptly state, "modern economies are heavily dependent upon Information Technology (IT) based information systems for survival" (Hua & Bapna 2013). Given our dependence on Information Systems, some effort of consideration must be given to securing them.
In modern days, there is a type of crime that is growing very fast. It has become a very popular crime because it’s easily done, and it doesn’t leave a big trace, whether the crime is successful or not. The crime in question is Identity theft. Identity theft is a crime that involves a person or group pretending to be someone else for their own personal wants. The criminals use personal financial information such as social security number, bank and card information, your address and other personal information. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 15.4 million U.S. consumers have been victim to this crime, amounting to a loss of $16 billion, making it the most growing crime
Today Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission, identity theft victim complaint database currently contains more than three hundred thousand complaints. American consumers reported losing over one billion dollars to fraud overall in 2014, according to the Federal Trader Commissions annual report on consumer complaints released earlier this year, with the average cost ranging between five hundred dollars to two thousand dollars per victim (Federal Trade Commission, 2014). According to the 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report, approximately eight million adults in the United States were victims of identity theft with the total cost of thirty seven billion dollars (Britz, 2013). The Federal Trade commission strongly urges people to take action in protecting themselves from Identity Theft because everyone is at risk of this rapidly growing crime no matter your age, race, gender or current financial situation. Identity Theft when a illegitimate person gains access to your personal information, such as your Social Security number, credit card account information, your mother's maiden name, your driver's license number, and other important information to impersonate someone. When the criminal has gained the information they need, they have the ability opens credit accounts, cellphone accounts, and other types of credit based accounts in your name. In addition once a person’s information is stolen the criminal then has the ability to access current accounts that is possessed, leading to even further damage to personal finance and credit.
Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in both the US and abroad. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that identity theft costs consumers as much as $50 billion annually and that this number will likely keep growing (Finklea, 2010, p. 1). Additionally, the FTC receives in excess 250,000 consumer complaints of identity theft each year and this is believed to be only a fraction of the total number of victims (Finklea, 2010, p. 9). There are several types and methods of identity theft and these methods continue to increase as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated. Understanding the types and methods of identity theft can reduce potential victimization.
Identity theft is the stealing and use of someone’s personal information and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005). According to Federal Trade Commission estimates, identity thieves victimize approximately 10 million Americans every year at a cost of an astonishing $50 billion (2005). Identity theft has been going on for years now and is easily done with the help of today’s technology. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are six common ways that identity thieves get a hold of personal information. The varieties of methods that are used are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing the victim’s address, stealing, and pretexting (Federal Trade Commission). Once someone’s identity is stolen, accounts can be opened in the victim’s name such as credit cards, loan, and utilities; money can be withdrawn from the victim’s bank accounts and cause financial difficulties or the victim’s personal information may be used for other reasons. While consumers blame credit card companies and credit bureaus for lack of security, credit card companies blame consumers for being too gullible and forthcoming with private information (Shelly, 2010). While the two disagree who is at fault, they both share a deep concern over identity theft. Credit card companies’ refusal to accept that technology is moving too fast for them to keep up and their lack of security with existing accounts provides evidence that it is not the consumer’s fault that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005).
Identity theft is a serious growing issue in the United States. Why can’t identity theft be stopped? Too many crimes are being committed and it’s difficult to catch criminals. It would be difficult to handle cases, and over the past 5 years identity theft has increased. Most identity thefts happen over the phone or the Internet, which decreases the likeliness of the criminal being caught.
I’ve decided to write my research paper on the issue of identity theft. Identity theft has occurred all throughout history in various ways and forms. Today, it is one of the fastest growing crimes occurring all over the world. Data suggests that identity theft accounts for roughly $50 billion stolen each year from citizens and businesses in the U.S. I believe that more attention should be targeted towards identity theft because of the detrimental effects it can have on a single victim and on our nation’s economy. Topics I will discuss include statistics about the crime, laws that protect the victims of the crimes, and what we are doing to prevent future attacks from happening.
The Internet plays the biggest role in identity theft. On the Internet, a thief can hide from detection while stealing peoples’ identities from their homes, being able to steal peoples’ information one by one “then disappearing into another identity,” (Vacca 60). Internet fraud consists of two phases. The first being spoofing where a fake site is set up made to look like the real thing. Once that is completed the second phase, phishing, begins. This usually starts with an email that uses the
Identity theft is a term used for describing criminal that uses individual’s identity without consent. A common crime of identity theft would be identity fraud. Many of the crimes are regularly connected with money-related issues (Reyns, 2013). With technology being commonly used nowadays we are getting more dependent on it for business, financial, medical, and other forms. As a result this became a target for identity thieves as well. The Internet provides us information and accessibility, but information being stored on the Internet eas...
To perform our research study, we attempted to get answers to these questions: How do North Carolina bank policies reduce the spread of identity theft? To what extenet are the policies of one bank better than the policies in the others in reducing identity theft occurrence? What role can N.C. bank consumers play in reducing the risk of becoming identity theft victims? We hoped that the responses would prove our hypoithesis: the banks that have tight security policies in place have less consumer complaints than those that do not.
This shows that identity theft is a growing problem that needs to be addressed (VanderPal). The United States Department of Justice, a branch of the United States government, defines identity theft as “terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.” Identitytheft.info, a website edited by Rob Douglas, an identity theft expert, states, “…every individual or business is vulnerable to attack when it comes to personal or corporate information, products and services.” They also state, “As the methods used to perform identity theft expand, so do the types of accounts and services being stolen by identity thieves” (“Identity Theft Statistics”). As shown above, millions of people are being affected by identity theft in the United States, and it is only
III. Thesis Statement: Identity Theft is rapidly becoming a national issue because anyone of us could be a victim of identity theft. How we protect our self, keep our information private, identify any signs of identity theft, and report and repair our credit is up to each one of us. We have to be vigilant about our protecting ourselves from criminals.
In a 2006 Federal Trade Commission survey, over 50% of victims of identity theft lost 1,000 dollars or more to attackers stated by Glotfelty, a cyber threat analyst who works to examine organizations on potential internal and open-source threats (cited in Glotfelty). In an article published by USAGov, identity theft can be unnoticed for days or even weeks (“Identity Theft”). Also, victims of identity theft not only lost money but lost countless hours trying to resolve the issue. For example, in another Federal Trade Commission survey, 60% of victims spent over 10 plus hours and half of that number lost 40 or more hours trying to resolve the issue of identity theft (cited in Glotfelty). Identity theft can also make victims lose their wages and have legal fees. At worse scenarios, attackers can ultimately open a new credit card account using your name and social security number. This is significant because they can use this credit card to buy merchandise without paying the bills and as a result, these actions are reported on your credit report. Another incident an attacker can do is open a new bank account in your name and write bad checks affecting your credit report. Other bad scenarios are that an attacker can take out loans and buy cars, houses, or other expensive merchandise (cited in Tiller). In one situation, Lara Love and David Jackson were a couple who lived in a quiet neighborhood and lived a simple life. However, what next door neighbors didn’t know was that they allegedly obtained 30 personal identity accounts in which they used new credit cards for online gambling (cited in Kiesbye). Before these two thieves were eventually caught, they acquired more than 15,000 dollars in which they used on illegal drugs and daily bills (cited in Kiesbye). However, businesses suffer greatly to identity theft. Businesses result in similar consequences, but at a greater cost. For
Fraud was the main problem that arose when identity theft happened to an individual. The common identity theft frauds were credit card frauds, utility frauds, and frauds that usually involved banks. According to the article Identity Theft (2014), it mentioned that “Credit card fraud is one of the most common means of identity theft, accounting for about two-thirds of U.S. cases” (Para. 5). Credit card frauds usually occurred at online stores websites requesting for credit card information or devices utilized by retail store employers acquired information from the magnetic strip on the credit card. Utility frauds transpired through the access of an unsecured or unlocked mailboxes. Many utility statements had account numbers and provided online access to thefts to order unwanted products or services. Individuals had to be careful where and when to use credit cards and what time to present their personal information.
Identity theft impacts our society and people’s businesses. Identity thieves will use business owner’s personal information to open up new lines of credit, new accounts, and make large purchases. Unjustifiable accounts and unpaid purchases will result in collectors holding you personally accountable for the business debt until you can p...