2012 Presidential Campaign - Identity Theft Protection We Can Believe In
With the presidential election nearing its end, our candidates have in much detail debated, discussed and rallied for American issues; much of which having to do with typical topics such as economy, healthcare and of course taxes. In four years, when the presidential election comes again, you may hear of a new hot topic on the minds of the American people and politicians…identity theft. The driving force - organizations sensitive information loss and data breaches.
In 2008 alone there have been nearly 600 personal information data breaches that have affected more than 125 million US consumers! The organizations that have lost our information have ranged from educational institutions to the government and military, medical and healthcare facilities to banking and financial institutions and your everyday businesses. Identity theft costs U.S. consumers $50 billion a year and is a living nightmare as it relates to the average time spent restoring a stolen identity, 175-300 personal hours and 1-2 years!!
What is encouraging is that organizations and businesses are becoming more proactive in instituting a solution before they’ve experienced a breach. Many are taking advantage of services such as LifeLock’s Institutional Breach Services (IBS). LifeLock’s IBS will educate and help organizations to better understand identity theft and to get all parties of the organization protected by LifeLock. Most importantly, to show them what to do in a crisis situation:
- Create an Incident Response Team in your organization.
- Develop a Notification Strategy.
- Create Notification Letter(s) to Affected Individuals.
- Designate a Contact Person to Release Information.
Because there are many different ways that sensitive data can be breached, it can be difficult for some organizations to plan for every possible scenario. It may be imperative that laws mandate that organizations have a solution in place; a “break glass in case of emergency” type resolution to address any data loss crisis. So be on the lookout in 2012, we just may hear slogans on the campaign as they relate to identity theft protection. Where do you stand?
