T-Mobile Experian Hack

"Hackers took T-Mobile customer names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birthdays, and even sensitive identification numbers (like a driver's license, military ID or passport number.)"

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/01/technology/tmobile-experian-data-breach/

Identity Theft Surpasses Drug Crime, Maybe

I have read conflicting information about Identity Theft being more lucrative than the criminal drug trade so I'll post some articles here as I come across them.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/cybercrime-costs-338bn-to-global-economy-more-lucrative-than-drugs-trade/

Norton reports that cybercrime is costing the global economy $338 billion a year, overtaking a still a lucrative trade in the underground drugs market.

Foster Children at High Risk for Child Identity Theft

Foster Children are unfortunately at a high risk for Identity Theft. As you can imagine with them moving around so much and so many people having temporary access to their SSN and insurance credentials, Foster Children are often in for an ugly surprise when they find themselves on their own as 18 year old adults.

Here are some articles on the topic

NBC News
http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/preying-vulnerable-foster-youth-face-high-risk-identity-theft-n157641

Children in foster care are at greater risk of becoming victims of identity theft and entering adulthood with their credit already in shambles, experts say.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/guide-protecting-foster-kids-credit

Every year, more than 26,000 kids in the United States age out of foster care. Remember how difficult it was to navigate through the world when you were 18? Now imagine you had to do it with nearly no support system – and with a mountain of debt in your name, thanks to identity theft.

A resource (report) from the Annie E. Casey Foundation
http://www.aecf.org/resources/youth-and-credit/

KEY TAKEAWAY
Young people in foster care are at heightened risk of identity theft
The federal credit check requirement is intended to help young people leave foster care with clear credit histories.

Hackerville

I have not yet watched all of this but it looks good.

I don't endorse Norton officially but this is good info and a good explanation on what is going on as hacking.

https://youtu.be/un_XI4MM6QI

Identity Theft Scams and Tactics

I also thought I had a post about common ID Theft Scams. I'll fill this one out soon but here are some for starters, numbered but in no particular order

1. Dumpster Diving
2. Stealing wallets and purses
3. Stealing mail even by change of address form
4. Stealing records from their employer
5. Shoulder Surfing
6. Hacking
7. Skimming
8. Phishing
9. Spear Phishing
10. Vishing
11. Smsishing
12. Spoofing

I've cited Jake Stroup before as an online resource so I'll to one of his pages here again and I will be back to fill out this article in the next few days.
http://idtheft.about.com/od/theftmethods/

Identity Theft and The $1B Bank Heist

In my professional opinion this is a very good example of the type of threat posed by Identity Theft, because, like most Identity Theft victims, the crime was not discovered until well after the fact.

I heard a story very much like this around 1991. A large multinational corporation was robbed by multiple wire transfers that occurred in a few seconds or less. The theft was something like $300 Million. I had happened years before the story went out. I remember it shocked me to learn that the theft was not reported because the company did not want to startle its shareholders.

So they lost $300 Million back in the late 80s and didn't want to say anything.

Now several banks have collectively lost $1 Billion and could not say anything, not because they didn't want you to know, but because they themselves did not know.

If you saw Superman III you understand the idea behind this. If you have been a victim of Identity Theft, particularly non-financial Identity Theft, then you know what can happen.

Now the two have been combined. If you saw the reboot of Battlestar Galactica you can appreciate why Commander Adama ordered "There will be no networked computers on this ship."

If you argued with your Grandparents that you had to lock your door or your car, you need to understand now that you must have an Identity Theft Restoration service. Just like you pay for water, which again used to be free from a well.

This is the 21st Century. Times are changing. Rapidly. Be aware.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p79VXtktIJo#t=114

Malicious Spyware infects firmware

Your information is on more than one network and if someone wants it bad enough, like from Anthem or your Bank for example, they can get it. And they don't need it because they are trying to do you any favors.

Be aware that anything on a network is vulnerable and there is an arms race to protect it whether you are participating in it or not.

"Kaspersky Lab says the malicious spyware ... implants are different from other cyberattacks in that they directly infect a computer’s firmware — the software that links directly to the hard drive.
This means that it is beyond the reach of most antivirus and security products, and is immune to efforts to wipe clean or even replace hard drives since it can be recalled at will."

http://time.com/3711462/u-s-cyber-warfare-equation-group-kaspersky-lab/