Bits and Bytes – Blurbs Concerning Information Security

Since February 2005, more than 90 million people have been the object of personal information exposure. The result of 243 data losses involving colleges, government agencies, private companies, investment firms and even auditors, have left one in three Americans potential victims of Identity Theft. Consumers should expect tighter controls from organizations that obtain private personal information in order to conduct business.



Online activities may benefit from a new service which verifies that a actually is who they say they are. The operation uses publicly available web databases such as Google, to confirm identities. This verification technique is also being used by some online stores, but the results may not be totally effective. People with common names may be confused with others unless unique identifiers are used. Better verification resources are background checks which delve into court records, sex offender registries and credit reports.



If you use McAfee Internet Suite, you should go to the McAfee site to make sure you have the latest version. McAfee software is known to have holes that can be compromised by hackers. McAfee has delivered a patch, but it does no good unless consumers put it on their PCs.



Authentium, a new company has developed software to secure transactions (mostly online financial) from hackers and spyware. The product called “VirtualATM” closes all other programs that are running on the user’s computer and creates a virtual private network in which to work.



CS Stars of Amarillo, Texas lost a computer containing records of more than half a million New York state workers. The state notified people whose information was lost by letter. The company handles New York Worker’s Compensation claims. The FBI is involved with the investigation.