35 Million Data Records Exposed in 2008 to Identity Theft

Last year over 35,000,000 personal data records were exposed via 656 separate security breaches representing a 47% increase from 2007. According to a recently released study by the ITRC , the overwhelming majority of those exposed records also did not include encryption nor password protection to minimize unauthorized access: "...only 2.4% of all breaches had encryption or other strong protection methods in use. Only 8.5% of reported breaches had password protection." But, even more alarming of this very large number of Americans who were unnecessarily exposed to potential identity theft, the unreported number of records exposed could be much higher as not every state has laws requiring businesses requiring consumer disclosure. And of those states which do, the laws vary greatly which renders a great many Americans vulnerable to the often times hidden potential identity theft has already been perpetrated against their financial safety but goes unreported solely due to some company avoiding embarassment: "Some 15.7 percent of all breaches were attributed to insider theft , a figure that more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, ITRC said." So, our tip for today is one New Year's resolution you can easily achieve. Get protected by following these simple steps: 1) Get a copy of your free credit report to check for any fraudulent credit accounts listed in your name. 2) Enroll in automatic credit monitoring available through your bank or credit institutions you currently have accounts with. 3) Get your public information profile (PIP) checked out to really catch the often times hidden identity theft which can lurk in any of the over 400 data sources containing your name that are not covered by your credit report . * Criminal identity theft here can get your arrested or lose your job without you even knowing why, when, or who accessed your file. Finally, make sure to let your friends and family members know about these alarming growth trends in identity theft which can be minimized by taking advantage of these free, anonymous tips for identity theft. This article may be published in it's entirety on your site. Article courtesy of

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35 Million Data Records Exposed in 2008 to Identity Theft is an episode from Identity Theft Secrets.

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This episode was published on Jan 4, 2009.

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