Here’s the gist of it. When Dan Wheeler’s wallet got stolen from his truck 15 years ago, he had no idea that a simple theft would lead to a lifetime of costly and embarrassing misunderstandings. But because the man who took his I.D. and credit cards happened to be a sex offender, and because of a strange quirk in the law, Wheeler will most likely be forever haunted by something out of his control. That is right Dan Wheeler will be labeled a “sex offender” for the rest of his life.

Check out this video interview with Mr. Wheeler:

Please help spread the word for Mr. Wheeler. Hopefully, our efforts will help him clear his good name.

According to Computerworld, among those expected at the meeting are Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce and several industry representatives, including some from electric utility companies and the vendor community. President Obama is expected to “briefly” attend the meeting.

Well, it seems that the timing is right for such a meeting. They should have had this meeting several months ago? Why? The GAO recently slammed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for failing to live up to its responsibility to coordinate a national cybersecurity R&D agenda. As a result (according to the GAO Report), the U.S risks falling behind other countries on cybersecurity matters, and being unable to adequately protect its interests in cyberspace.

The esteemed winner of the “Worst Person” moniker is Julia Robinson, a 30-year old elderly caregiver, who was arraigned on two felony counts: one count of false statement of identity to obtain a financial transaction device, a four-year felony, and a second count of possession of personal information with intent to commit identify theft, a five-year felony.

The definition of a caregiver is simply someone who provides care to those who need it. While this is a most commendable profession, Robinson has sunk to a new low. Hurting the elderly, children and animals is a big “no-no” in our book. Also, in case you missed it, check out our podcast about financial services companies taking steps to protect the elderly from fraud. ITAC was also featured in a Washington Post story on this very topic as well.

So, Julia Robinson, congratulations. You are officially the “Worst Person of the Week.”

But, alas, we did not find any stories about tips for keeping your personal data safe over the holiday weekend. So, we decided to fill this editorial void. We have pulled some key information from the Protect Your Identity Now web site from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling that focuses on travel tips. This is also the site for the Protect Your Identity Week happening this fall. Here are the tips:

- Leave Your Check Books at Home
- Watch Out for ATM Scams and Fake ATM Machines on the Road
- Leave Your Bills at Home
- Lock Up Your Stuff in the Hotel Safe
- Watch out for Pick Pockets
- Clear Your Wallet of Anything that Has Your Social Security Number on It
- Watch Out for Shoulder Surfers
- Put Your Mail on “Postal Hold”
- Don’t Leave Your Purse Unguarded in a Public Restroom

The editorial team of the ITAC blog wishes you a happy and safe holiday weekend!

So, we have to admit that we were pretty shocked when we stumbled upon a story of a Trenton, NJ-based credit counselor who actually stole the identities of those he counseled. Wayne Bessant, former operator of BNB Credit Counseling is now being charged with identity theft, attempted theft by deception, wrongful impersonation, fraudulent use of credit cards and computer theft via accessing and disclosing data. So what did he buy with his ill-gained access to his clients’ credit? He bought a 2009 Cadillac Escolade and a 2007 Mercedes Benz, and he changed mortgage account mailings to Trenton addresses.

According to the Trentonian newspaper, Bessant is also under indictment for two counts of theft by unlawful taking from a prosecutor’s office’s ECU investigation during the fall of 2008 where he allegedly stole $200,000 from Commerce (Now TD) Bank through fraudulent fund transfers. He is on supervised release for a 2001 drug conviction, and is currently in jail on $300,000 bail on those alleged crimes.

So, congratulations Wayne Bessant. You get the dubious honor of being the “Worst Person of the Week.”

Anthem Blue Cross Cops to Massive Data Breach
A sloppy website upgrade is being blamed this week for a data breach that left the most sensitive personal information of more than 230,000 Anthem Blue Cross members exposed for more than five months. Anthem officials said its corporate website had been revamped in October by a third-party vendor that, according to the health insurer, failed to secure sections of the site to ensure visitors couldn’t access members’ medical records and Social Security numbers. “We were told by a third-party vendor that all security measures were in place,” Cynthia Sanders, an Anthem spokeswoman, said in a statement. As it turns out, visitors were able to access the personal information of the more than 230,000 people who had pending insurance applications in the Anthem system. Read the full eSecurity Planet article here.

700-Plus Credit Cards Stolen from Hotel
Computer hackers targeting travelers at luxury hotels across the country made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars during the past three months by breaking into the computer system of a national hotel chain and stealing the guests’ credit card information, Texas police officials told ABC News today. Destination Hotels & Resorts had its computer system hacked and the credit card data of more than 700 guests across the country was stolen, according to Austin, Texas, police. The Englewood, Colo., company manages more than 30 upscale hotels, resorts and conference centers in places such as Washington, D.C., Denver , San Diego, Santa Fe, Aspen, Colo., Los Angeles , Palm Springs, Calif., Houston and Lake Tahoe. Read the full ABC News story here.

FTC Says Current Privacy Laws Aren’t Working
A U.S. Federal Trade Commission representative delivered a stern indictment of current privacy laws last week, saying they fail to protect American consumers and instead place too much of a “burden” on them. The existing constellation of privacy laws, which relies heavily on disclosure of data collection and use practices and on informed consumer choice, “in some very basic sense isn’t working,” said Kathryn Ratte, a senior attorney in the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. “We’ve put too much burden on the consumers to understand these policies,” Ratte said here at an event organized by Canada’s privacy commissioner. “To compare the privacy policies of two companies is an almost impossible task.” Read the full CNET article here.

Twitter Settles F.T.C. Privacy Case
Twitter has settled a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the security and privacy protections it offers users, Brad Stone reports in The New York Times. For the last 11 months, the F.T.C. has been looking into two security breaches at Twitter in 2009 in which a hacker got access to the accounts of several prominent members, including Barack Obama, then the president-elect, and was able to read their private Twitter messages and send out fake messages from their accounts. The F.T.C.’s punishment was not severe. Twitter, based in San Francisco, agreed to set up a security program that will be audited by an outside company, and, according to the F.T.C.’s news release on the case, “will be barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it maintains and protects the security, privacy and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information.” Read the full NY Times post here.

Puerto Ricans Targeted in Massive ID Theft Schemes
Born in a U.S. territory where he has lived all his life, Jose Marrero Rivera didn’t know his name and social security number were racking up thousands of dollars in unpaid charges in Chicago and Miami. The snack bar worker is one of thousands of Puerto Ricans caught up in a lucrative document-fraud scheme to hide illegal immigrants in the United States. They’re American citizens with Hispanic surnames. And their records — kept loosely in schools or church rectories, where they are easy to steal — draw as much as $6,000 on the black market. Only when police showed up at Marrero’s San Juan airport food stand to arrest him for car theft did he realize that identity thieves were upending his life. Read the full AP story here.

They say that sins against our children are the worst. And, Michelle Gurule, age 21, is experiencing a deeply profound deception when she found out that her mother used her Social Security number to open five credit cards in her name. As a result, Gurule can’t get a credit card, rent an apartment, obtain a car loan or even get a job. Every so often, a new bill comes in the mail for a credit card she’s never heard of, or a letter demanding payment arrives from a creditor she never knew she had, she says told the Denver Post. She has even been summoned to court once to answer for an unpaid tab that bore her name and Social Security number.

So, Michelle Gurele’s mom (her name is never provided by the Denver Post) you are this week’s “Worst Person.”

So, what does this mean? According to eWeek, if a new security bill makes it through Congress, CIOs could be answering to a higher level of management than the CEO, chairman or board of directors. The new bill allows for emergency powers to be granted to the president of the United States when critical infrastructure is threatened.

This top-down collaborative approach is not sitting well with many in the technology industry. “The notion that the government has a better idea than the owners and operators about how to manage risk is not even reasonable,” Robert Dix, vice president of Government Affairs and Critical Infrastructure Protection at Juniper Networks, told Nextgov.com. “The paradigm needs to change from this kind of top-down push to a collaborative approach.”

What do you think? What happens if a BP oil spill-like cyber attack occurs? Wouldn’t you want the president to have more authority and step in to fix the situation. If this did happen, perhaps it could be an opportunity to show that President Obama and government can do better in crisis situations — unlike what is happening now with the BP debacle. We welcome all thoughts and feedback.