Identity theft

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

The Effect of State Data Breach Notification Laws on Medical Identity Theft

Abstract: As the number of data breaches in the United States grows each year, cyber-security has become an increasingly important policy area. The primary mechanism for regulating and deterring data breaches is the "data breach notification law." Every U.S. state now has such a law that mandates that certain organizations disclose data breaches to their data subjects. Despite the popularity of these laws, there is relatively little evidence about their effectiveness at deterring breaches, and therefore reducing identity theft. Using medical identity theft panel data collected from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), this study implements an augmented synthetic control approach to analyze the effect of certain data breach notification standards on medical identity theft.

Authentication Without Identification using Anonymous Credential System

Abstract: Privacy and security are often intertwined For example, identity theft is rampant because we have become accustomed to authentication by identification To obtain some service, we provide enough information about our identity for an unscrupulous person to steal it (for example, we give our credit card number to Amazoncom) One of the consequences is that many people avoid e-commerce entirely due to privacy and security concerns The solution is to perform authentication without identification In fact, all on-line actions should be as anonymous as possible, for this is the only way to guarantee security for the overall system A credential system is a system in which users can obtain credentials from organizations and demonstrate possession of these credentials Such a system is anonymous when transactions carried out by the same user cannot be linked An anonymous credential system is of significant practical relevance because it is the best means of providing privacy for users

Identity theft risk quantification for social media users

Abstract: The information era has made it difficult to protect and secure one’s personal information. One such struggle is that of identity theft, a crime that has caused great suffering to its victims. Offenders guilty of the crime use the identities of their victims for the purpose of entertainment or fraud. Social media has extended the capability of people to interact and share information, but without the appropriate guidelines to protect individuals from becoming victims of identity theft. There is a lack of studies on identity theft and its determinants. The purpose of the research is therefore to assist with the prevention of identity theft by determining the effect that information-sharing on social media has on the risk of individuals becoming identity theft victims. The details of reported identity theft victims were collected from the South African Fraud Prevention Services. Data on individuals’ information-sharing habits on social media networks, like Facebook and LinkedIn, was collected via surveys that were sent to a relevant group at the Stellenbosch University. It was found that the two variables, Age and Gender, were the greatest predictors of identity theft victims. A prediction model was developed that serves as a tool to score individuals as high-risk or low-risk victims according to their attributes and social media information-sharing habits. The findings benefit research on the prevention of identity theft, by raising awareness of the potential risks the sharing of sensitive data on social media has. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za