Do you know where your social security number is?
According to Javelin’s newly released “2013 Identity Fraud Report” when your social security number is exposed in a breach, you’re 5x more likely than the average consumer to become a victim of identity fraud. Needless to say, don’t give out your social security number unless it is absolutely necessary. However, there are those organizations that have your social security number on file that you have no control over, such as your bank or mortgage holder. Most likely, you have received at least one letter already at some point within the last few years from an organization stating that your data was exposed and perhaps they offered you free credit and identity theft monitoring.
According to Javelin, “1 in 4” breach victims who receive a breach notification letter will become a victim of identity theft. That’s a fairly significant number. Which is why those breach notices are so important today along with the free credit and identity theft monitoring that’s almost always offered after a breach. There are industry statistics that show only 10% of breach victims typically sign up for the free credit and identity theft monitoring that’s offered to them. And, there’s another study that was conducted that shows when credit and identity theft monitoring is offered to breach victims, they are less likely to file suit against the organization that suffered the data breach.
When victims receive a breach notification letter, it should be a “call for alarm” as one Javelin executive was quoted as saying. While credit and identity theft monitoring is not required by law to be offered to breach victims, it’s become somewhat of a standard offering and is a big step in the right direction. However, that has not helped curb the significant increase in identity theft.
According to the Javelin “2013 Identity Fraud Report”, some other key findings:
– Once every 30 seconds, there’s a new identity fraud victim,
– More than 12 million individuals were victims of identity fraud and suffered more than $21 billion in looses last year alone,
– There was an increase of 1 million identity fraud victims in 2012 over the prior year, and
– New account fraud is up sharply, making it the most damaging form of identity fraud being that its hard to monitor and close accounts breach victims do not know about.
It’s no longer a surprise that cyber crime is a serious threat to all of us, both personally and In our businesses. Just take a look at every major news media’s headlines this past week and you will see that “cyber attacks” are happening more so than ever. Many are already stating that “2013 is the year of the cyber attack.”
What can businesses and organizations do?
Cyber security and cyber insurance can help businesses and organizations protect and mitigate their cyber risks. While no security system is ever one hundred percent secure, cyber insurance offers a great balance and should be explored to mitigate the residual risk that lingers no matter how much security you have in place.
There’s many conversations going on right now about “How do we fight cyber crime?” Cyber insurance just may be one way that can help minimize the impact cyber crime has on identity theft, which in turn can help minimize and curb identity fraud. When a breach happens, cyber insurance has an array of services that are offered to the organization that suffered the breach. Credit and identity theft monitoring services are offered to breach victims and in my opinion, perhaps should be offered on an “opt out” basis forcing victims to call if they don’t want the service. Perhaps if more businesses and organizations purchased cyber insurance to respond to their data breaches and breach victims were automatically enrolled into a credit and identity theft monitoring program we just may see identity fraud go down. Seems pretty simple.
CYBER DATA RISK MANAGERS LLC is an Independent Insurance Agency specializing in Cyber Security and Data Breach response insurance. We offer solutions that help you quickly respond to cyber events and data breaches as well as to plan in advance for their occurrence. Given the ever changing nature of information assurance and compliance, you don’t want to be caught unprepared.
For assistance, call 1-(855) CUT-RISK Toll Free -or- complete the form below.