It is hard to believe that IDGuardian launched only four months ago (September 11, 2009 as a matter of fact); and in such a short time, we have brought you sound advice, different perspectives, and forward-thinking opinions on the subjects of Identity Theft, Credit Security, and Online Safety.

If you are new to IDGuardian, thank you for joining us. We have, at the closing of the year, compiled the “Best Of” from 24 blogposts so you can get a feel for what you will find here. For those of you already subscribed to IDGuardian, thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoy this retrospective of a new blog.

Take a look at what we have deemed the “notable bytes” from 2009 and feel free to leave your own favorite blog or podcast entry in the Comments section.

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September

The ironic twist is that the burglars who use your own freely-offered personal life story to target your home when you’re not there are in fact not looking for your new TV or X-Box. What many of them are after is your Social Security number, birth certificate, financial statements and anything else they can use to clone your identity and hijack your life.

— Neal O’Farrell, When a Stranger Comes Calling

A more common method is to launder the money, once again internationally.  Many times this is done through unsuspecting money mules.  A typical scenario involves a mass spam campaign advertising to the recipient that he/she can make hundreds or thousands of dollars a week working from home.  Or then there’s the “you’ve won the Spanish lottery” spam, or the “you can recover this bank account you forgot you had” spam.  In all these cases, the point is to swindle the money mule into sending legitimate funds to the con man.  If it’s a straight on con, then they just keep the money.  If they’re laundering money, then they will actually send back some amount of “dirty” money in exchange for your “clean” money.  Now you’ve not only been cheated, but you’re part of an international identity theft and money laundering scheme.

— Matt Sarrel, Identity Theft: An International Consipracy

October

What [hackers are] usually after is personal information that can be used in identity theft. So just think of the information you may already post and share that hackers could use in identity theft – information like your name, date of birth, home address, work address, current employment, employment history, mother’s maiden name, family, friends, pets, your first school, favorite teacher, vacation plans, likes and dislikes, even photos of you and everyone you know. The list is endless.

— Neal O’Farrell, What Social Networks Really Reveal

But while the hype cycle of social networking risks may be at an all-time high, it’s hard to argue that the emergence of the Web 2.0 sites and applications hasn’t created a complex new set of privacy concerns that end users need to worry about.

The social networks themselves have already become breeding grounds for many different types of electronic attacks and social engineering schemes with most of those threats aimed at somehow stealing your personal data, infecting your computer or using your online reputation to assail those with whom you’re connected.

— Matt Hines, Social Networks Increase Risks to Online Privacy

Identity theft – by whatever name we choose to use – is a real problem, and will continue to be for many years. The world is digital – our transactions, communications, and relationships are tracked by marketers, read by virtual friends, and if not secure, vulnerable to fraudsters.  We can’t change the evolution of technology, nor should we, but we can become smarter about how we use it, who we transact with, the information we divulge, and most importantly, how we secure and monitor our personal information. Education is the first step to understanding the risks. When consumers educate themselves, useful services will dominate the market.

— Michael A. Stanfield, A Reply to Ms. Julia Angwen at the Wall Street Journal

Consider the possibilities for someone to carry out a physical assault, let alone a virtual attack, if they know who you are and where you are at any given time. If I was someone looking to rob your house or a jilted ex-boyfriend planning to stalk your movements, these seemingly innocuous tools would seem to provide a lot of helpful information to do that.

In the computing world, these applications, like other social media tools, unquestionably add another level of risk in terms of allowing someone to create targeted attacks to assail you with in assuming your likeness for identity fraud.

— Matt Hines, Mobile Web Driving New Privacy Issues

November

Many of us have established habits and lifestyles that, quite frankly, we don’t want to change. We like the convenience and benefits associated with loyalty/rewards programs, online shopping, and social media networks. Our information is already in cyberspace in so many different shapes and forms that it’s not likely we can pull it back and start over again. But we don’t need to panic. What we can do is be more vigilant about who we share our information with and ask why it is needed. Does the retailer really need your phone number? (They don’t; it’s for marketing purposes only.) Does your son’s baseball team really need a birth certificate? (Have them verify your son’s age at school.) Ask questions and if you don’t like the answer you get, don’t provide the information.

— Michael A. Stanfield, Lost in Translation

These rules may seem inconvenient or overly cautious to many consumers, but they are designed to help you by keeping the crooks from pretending to be you.  My goal is to make identity theft prevention a part of our learned safety behaviors, like putting on a seatbelt.  You don’t think twice about it.

— Anne Wallace, Be Prepared to Establish Your ID When Red Flag Rules Go into Effect

One of the best gifts scammers will get this year will come from retailers. Shoppers and analysts are already reporting shortages of the hottest Christmas gifts this year, as retailers try to avoid getting stuck with merchandise that they can’t move quickly.  This inventory shortage may force some shoppers to take greater risks than they normally take, and  scammers won’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of busy shoppers who are so determined to get that elusive holiday gift this year that they are willing to do whatever it takes.

— Neal O’ Farrell, Why Black Friday Could Be a Red Carpet for Scammers

Talk to your kids about the importance of their Identity. Teach them not to fill out forms online or offline to win a car, a cruise, or any other freebies in magazines, restaurants, etc.  More often than not, those are marketing ploys and their personal information will be shared across many marketing databases. Parents should carefully monitor all Internet activity and stay actively involved with who their kids are meeting online. They should also keep kids out of Internet chat rooms. Predators are just as real online as they are in public places.  All they need is an unsuspecting child to provide their name and home address, and they could track them down.

— Identity Safety for Your Child

December

Think before you tweet (Twitter), or post anything on Facebook, MySpace, or YouTube. Always assume that what you say, how you say it, and to who you say it will always be only a search away from friends, potential employers, stalkers, Internet predators, etc.

— Identity Safety for Your Teens

— Jerry Thompson, Threats Facing Consumers Online

According to Facebook’s new privacy policy, if you don’t select your own privacy settings Facebook will automatically do it for you, and to a standard that you might not be comfortable with.

For example, under current privacy settings people who are not friends can’t even see your marital status, gender, photo, or location. Under the new default settings, this information will now be open for everyone to see unless you go in and change your personal privacy settings.

— Neal O’Farrell, Saving Facebook

A number of organizations including the National Association of Attorneys General and vendors including Intel, Google and Microsoft recently announced the establishment of “Data Privacy Day” which will be observed on January 28, 2010, and involve a number of promotional events meant to raise consumer privacy awareness.

In more targeted efforts, a group of leading Internet publishers and digital marketing services recently launched an online campaign to educate consumers about how they are tracked and targeted by marketers over the Web. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) unveiled a related “Privacy Matters” Web site and a number of IAB members including Yahoo, Google, Walt Disney Co. and The New York Times Co. have volunteered to support the effort via links featured prominently on their own pages.

— Matt Hines, Searching for Bright Spots

As you can see by the amount of information (and these are the highlights!) here, IDGuardian has delivered valuable insight and information regarding identity protection and personal safety both in the real and virtual world.

This is, also, merely the beginning.

IDGuardian will, in 2010, bring you the voices showcased here along with new contributors and new features geared to start dialogues and get you thinking. Awareness and education are key in protecting yourself, and IDGuardian is here to do both of these and so much more. We hope that we have aided you in making the latter quarter of 2009 a safe one, and assure you that IDGuardian will continue to offer you tips, advice, and guidance in the coming year.

Thank you for commenting, for subscribing, and for taking part in our community. Celebrate safely, and we will see you in 2010.

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