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Identity Theft Supports a Vast Underground Economy

Study Finds Cybercriminals Taking a More Professional Approach

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 20, 2007

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Your personal information -- name, address, Social Security number, and credit card numbers -- could be on sale right now for as little as $14, in secret chat rooms and on bulletin boards that cater to hackers, cybercriminals, and identity thieves, an "underground economy" built on theft and fraud.

That's one of the conclusions made by the Symantec security firm in its new "Internet Security Threat Report," released yesterday (pdf file). The Cupertino, California-based company analyzed multiple trends in security and computer crime, including phishing, data breaches, identity theft and fraud, and Trojan viruses.

"Symantec has observed a fundamental shift in Internet security activity," according to an executive summary of the report's key findings. "The current threat environment is characterized by an increase in data theft and data leakage, and the creation of malicious code that targets specific organizations for information that can be used for financial gain."

Among the report's findings:

The report warned against the "increasing professionalization" and sophistication of identity thieves, who increasingly work in organized groups and approach their criminal activities with business-level acumen, as well as the proliferation of personal information and the ease with which it can be used.

"You can become a brand new American. It's frightening that it could be sold pre-packaged and ready to go like that," said Symantec Security vice-president Alfred Huger.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted several high-profile raids against companies that employed workers using fake identities, detaining them and in some cases separating them from their families, under the pretense of fighting identity theft. Most in the security industry felt the raids were ineffective and a distraction from the continuing proliferation of black market bazaars catering in stolen identities.

The actual levels of identity theft are difficult to categorize, as the term encompasses a number of different types of fraud, much of which can go unnoticed and unreported.

Research firms Javelin and Gartner have released studies claiming that identity theft is both on the decline and increasing. The Gartner study claimed that the selling of personal information led to the creation of "synthetic" identities, which are much harder to detect than typical forms of identity misuse.

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