Ubiquitous Technology, Bad Practices Drive Up Data Theft

By Jonathan Krim, Washington Post

Call 2005 the year of the data breach.

One day, tapes with the Social Security numbers of 1.2 million federal workers are reported missing. Another day it’s hackers gaining access to private information on 120,000 alumni at Boston College. Then, last Friday, comes word that 40 million credit card numbers fell prey to computer criminals.

Collectively, nearly 50 million accounts have been exposed to the possibility of identity fraud since the beginning of the year, a significant increase from last year.

Security experts, law enforcement officials and privacy advocates agree that while computer crime is on the rise, it is hardly new.

So why the apparent escalation?

In part, organizations are telling their customers or employees about incidents more than they used to, many complying with a California notification law that is being considered as the basis of possible federal legislation.

For this complete story, please visit Ubiquitous Technology, Bad Practices Drive Up Data Theft.