Fed Proposal Takes Hard Line on Insider ID Theft
In Washington, DC, the House Judiciary Committee recently passed the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act. The purpose of the Act is to establish a new crime of 'aggravated identity theft' and increase the penalties already in place for other forms of identity theft. It directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to revise its guidelines to include stronger punishment for those who abuse a position of trust to commit insider identity theft.
The facts that precipitated this Act came from a report called the "Predator Profiles" from Michigan State University's (MSU) identity theft research center. They report at least 50% to 70% of identity thefts originate in the workplace by employees. Their figures are backed up by two other independent studies. According to MSU, at least half of identity theft now results from the theft of personal information stored on business databases.
Of particular interest to the financial industry is that same research also shows the majority of employee-based identity theft comes from two sources - first from health-care-related institutions, and secondly from financial institutions. In a less-than-comforting statement, one security officer, when apprised of the facts, suggested that most data policy violations are the result of ignorance rather than malice or criminal intent.
Copyright © 2004 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 14, No. 2, 5/05
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