Monday Morning News Kick Off: Feds Announce Charges in Airline Ticket Scam, and Video Gamers Up in Arms About Identity Theft

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post on the ITAC blog. We hope everyone enjoyed the relatively cooler weather, as well as all the World Cup excitement. Now that we have all shifted gears back into the working world (it happens), we wanted to pull together all the key identity theft, cyber security and data breach news you need to start the week on the right foot.

Intersections Inc. Offers Advice For Travelers To Avoid Identity Theft When Traveling For Business Or Pleasure
Intersections Inc., a leading provider of consumer and corporate identity theft risk management services, and ITAC, the Identity Theft Assistance Center, a national advocate for recognized identity theft prevention and recovery, advises leisure and business travelers to be aware of their increased exposure on the road and to learn how to protect themselves from becoming the next victim of identity theft. According to the U.S. Travel Association, 2.3 percent more vacation travel is expected this year than in 2009. Read the full press release here.

Feds Announce Charges In Airline Ticket Scam
Federal prosecutors said a scam has cost the major airlines at least $20 million in lost airfares. In a complicated conspiracy, black market travel agents bought stolen credit card numbers and used them to buy airline tickets for other people, selling the tickets at a deep discount, prosecutors said. “Any advertising was minimal,” said Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for Western Missouri. “The majority of the times, the scheme was communicated by word of mouth.” Phillips announced charges against 38 people on Friday in an identity theft scam that crossed the nation. It was a scam that she said was first discovered in the Kansas City area. Read more here.

Identity Theft Protection Impossible With Blizzard’s New Policy?
Gamer Worldwide are up in arms with Activision Blizzard Inc’s. new policy which will make identity theft protection a mere fantasy. Blizzard, publisher of well known RPGs (Role Playing Games) “World of Warcraft”, “Diablo” and “Starcraft”, announced that forum posters will be required to reveal their real identities immediately after the launch of their newest Starcraft series on July 27. They rationalized that this policy is necessary to limit the amount of trolling and other forms of cyber harassment in their forums. They also argued that the Real ID system is widely used in such social networking sites as Facebook and Twitter. This move will also allow gamers to better interact with their friends. Since their own staff who will serve as forum moderators will also use their real names, better customer service will be provided and complaints will be easily addressed. Read the full All247 News post here.

NSA “Perfect Citizen” Program is Only One Piece of Cyber Security Puzzle
It is the job of the National Security Agency (NSA) to protect US national security systems, which includes the critical infrastructure–whether public or private sector–that forms the backbone of national defense and commerce for the country. The NSA “Perfect Citizen” initiative is only one step, though, in a larger cyber security process that must involve private sector information security professionals to be effective. Read more from PC World here.

GAO Slams White House for Failing to Lead on Cybersecurity
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has so far failed to live up to its responsibility to coordinate a national cybersecurity R&D agenda, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released this week. As a result, the U.S risks falling behind other countries on cybersecurity matters, and being unable to adequately protect its interests in cyberspace, the 36-page report warned. The GAO report was prepared at the behest of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and called on the OSTP to show more leadership in pulling together a focused and prioritized short, medium- and long-term R&D strategy for cybersecurity. Read the full ComputerWorld article here.

Biometric Solutions to Identity Theft Crimes
Many experts believe the future of preventing identity theft lies with biometrics. Biometric technologies can include, but aren’t limited to: iris scans, as well as those for fingerprints, palm, skin, voice and face patterns. While biometric technology itself is still in its fundamental stages compared to what its potential could hold, some businesses are already beginning to use the technology. For example, Albertson’s, which is the number two supermarket chain, is one of numerous retailers testing biometric payment systems. These systems allow customers to pay for purchases with a simple swipe of their finger. The way the system works is that customers register their fingerprints and link that information with their bank account to pay for their purchases. The transactions are then processed through service providers, with the main ones being Pay By Touch and BioPay. Read the full Helium blog post here.

IT Protects the Network, But Who Protects the Network from IT?
Businesses have gigabytes upon gigabytes of sensitive and confidential data archived on servers, storage arrays, or backup media. Those companies rely on the expertise of information security professionals to protect that data and prevent unauthorized access. The question, though, is “who is protecting the sensitive and confidential data from the information security professionals?” Cyber-Ark Software has compiled its fourth annual “Trust, Security and Passwords” survey and has uncovered unsettling statistics that companies may find concerning. The survey–conducted with 400 IT administrators and information security professionals at Infosecurity Europe 2010 and RSA USA 2010–found that those entrusted to protect the data may be one of the bigger threats to it. Read the full PC World article here.