Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Identity Theft and Phishing


Most people today are aware that they need to protect themselves from identity theft, phishing, and other scams that run rampant online. A lot of businesses, however, are unaware how vulnerable they are to these same crimes. Even if you take precautions, your employees – and even the state offices that hold your business information – can increase your vulnerability. Discover some eye-opening information about business identity theft and phishing.

Identity thieves are taking advantage of the fact that so much more business is done online these days. (Item #1) If your employees have access to confidential information that can be used for identity theft they may decide to use this information themselves to make purchases, or obtain other lines of credit – and you could be liable. (Item #2) In many states, the business information held by state governments is no more secure – and as easily edited – as Wikipedia. (Item #3)

Many small and medium-sized business owners feel their businesses are too small to be valuable to identity thieves; that’s not how a criminal sees it. (Item #4) Businesses today should not only be aware of the risks of business identity theft, but should also take steps to try to catch it as early as possible to avoid the damaging consequences. (Item #5) Your Web site could be host to illegal activity right now… or maybe you’ve been hijacked. (Item #6)

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