February 7th, 2007
Identity fraud is down
Despite the hype, identity fraud is decreasing, according to an article by Eric Sinrod. Not only that, but the Identity Fraud Survey Report says that most fraud happens in physical channels.
The reason for the drop seems to be consumer awareness and better design of online financial sites. Still there's a long way to go. A recent study ranked banks for ID theft measures. Basic things like two factor authentication are missing in most bank's consumer-facing systems.
Interestingly, one group that's more at risk than ever are young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. They're less likely to do things like shred financial documents or install anti-virus software. This won't surprise anyone with children that age.
Phil Windley is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
