Preventing Identity Theft in Your Business
Book

Preventing Identity Theft in Your Business

How to Protect Your Business, Customers, and Employees

Judith M. Collins
Wiley, 2005
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Recommendation

Based on research conducted at Michigan State University, this step-by-step, practitioner’s guide shows you how to implement an identity-theft protection program. Author Judith M. Collins includes useful background information about the types and frequency of identity thefts and identity crimes. She emphasizes the steps your company can take to prevent and remediate identity theft. She also provides a chapter on "best practices" for customers and advises companies to include these best practices in their marketing materials. If your company is serious about dealing with identity theft, getAbstract recommends this book as an extremely useful guide.

Summary

Identity Theft and Identity Crime

Most identity thefts occur in the workplace. Relatively few involve dumpster diving or burglary. Although personal identity theft has made headlines, businesses can be victims of identity theft - they can also be unwitting accomplices. However, identity theft is preventable. Federal legislation now mandates that all businesses adopt security measures to protect their customers’ personal information, although it does not tell them how to do it.

Identity theft and identity crime are not synonymous. Identity theft is the misappropriation of someone else’s personal or business information, such as name, residential address, workplace location, identification number (such as Social Security number), bank account numbers and mother’s maiden name.

Identity theft is often the precursor to identity crime - the use of misappropriated information to purchase goods and services, apply for credit or commit other crimes.

Identity crimes have ripple effects on their victims. If the "primary" fraud involves buying things on credit, a "secondary" fraud may involve renting post office boxes in the victim’s name to receive delivery of the...

About the Author

Judith M. Collins is associate professor of industrial and organizational psychology in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She teaches information security management and directs the University Identity Theft Partnership in Prevention.

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