Identity theft

About: Identity theft is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2284 publications have been published within this topic receiving 31700 citations.

Privacy on the Internet

Abstract: In recent years, large-scale computer networks have become an essential aspect of our daily computing environment. We often rely on a global information infrastructure for ebusiness activities such as home banking, ATM transactions, or shopping online. One of the main scientific and technological challenges in this setting has been to provide security to individuals who operate in possibly untrusted and unknown environments. However, beside threats directly related to computer intrusions, epidemic diffusion of malwares, and outright frauds conducted online, a more subtle though increasing erosion of individuals’ privacy has progressed and multiplied. Such an escalating violation of privacy has some direct harmful consequences—for example, identity theft has spread in recent years—and negative effects on the general perception of insecurity that many individuals now experience when dealing with online services. Nevertheless, protecting personal privacy from the many parties—business, government, social, or even criminal—that examine the value of personal information is an old concern of modern society, now increased by the features of the digital infrastructure. In this chapter, we address these privacy issues in the digital society from different points of view, investigating: The various aspects of the notion of privacy and the debate that the intricate essence of privacy has stimulated; the most common privacy threats and the possible economic aspects that may influence the way privacy is (and especially is not, in its current status) managed in most firms; the efforts in the computer science community to face privacy threats, especially in the context of distributed networks; and, the network-based technologies available to date to provide anonymity in user communications over a private network.

Personal control of personal information

Abstract: A personal information server provides personal information about an individual to a third-party only when authorized by the individual through use of a previously authenticated computing device. The personal information server authenticates both the computing device used by the third-party to access the personal data and the device used by the individual to grant or deny such access using highly secure digital fingerprints of each. The individual can allow the third-party multiple instances of access to the personal information within restrictions specified by the individual. Other advantages also arise from large-scale tracking of which devices access and control personal information of many people—particularly with respect to identifying and preventing fraud and identity theft.

Transformative or Not? How Privacy Violation Experiences Influence Online Privacy Concerns and Online Information Disclosure

Abstract: Previous research has shown that people seldom experience privacy violations while using the Internet, such as unwanted and unknown sharing of personal information, credit card fraud, or identity theft. With this study, we ask whether individuals’ online privacy concerns increase and online information disclosure decreases if they experience such a worst-case scenario. Using representative data from a five-wave panel study (n = 745), we found that people who generally experience more privacy violations also have stronger privacy concerns (between-person differences). However, people who experienced more privacy violations than usual in the last 6 months were only slightly more concerned afterward and did not change their disclosure behavior afterward (within-person effects). The need for privacy moderated these processes. We untangle under which circumstances such experiences may be transformative, and discuss practical and conceptual consequences of how experiences translate into concerns, but not necessarily behaviors.

User input authentication and identity protection

Abstract: A method and system for user authentication and identity theft protection. A typing typeprint is used to validate users for access to a computer system. The typeprint may also include a watermark, a timestamp, or voice stamp for further security. The method and system provide multi-modal biometric protection by supplementing keystroke-scan methods and systems with fingerprint, voice-scan, signature-scan and mouse-scan verification. The authentication program may be built into a keyboard.

Protection or privacy? data mining and personal data

Abstract: In order to run countries and economies effectively, governments and governmental institutions need to collect and analyse vast amounts of personal data. Similarly, health service providers, security services, transport planners, and education authorities need to know a great deal about their clients. And, of course, commercial operations run more efficiently and can meet the needs of their customers more effectively the more they know about them. In general then, the more data these organisation have, the better. On the other hand, the more private data which is collated and disseminated, the more individuals are at risk of crimes such as identity theft and financial fraud, not to mention the simple invasion of privacy that such data collection represents. Most work in data mining has concentrated on the positive aspects of extracting useful information from large data sets. But as the technology and its use advances so more awareness of the potential downside is needed. In this paper I look at some of these issues. I examine how data mining tools and techniques are being used by governments and commercial operations to gain insight into individual behaviour. And I look at the concerns that such advances are bringing.