Monday Morning News Kick Off: Red Flags Around the Corner; Medical Groups Challenge ‘Red Flags’ Rule; and ID Thieves Buy Marijuana with Senator’s Credit Card

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from the ITAC blog.  We had quite a busy week last week — with Todd Davis of Lifelock providing us with soo much fodder and great content. So, for our Monday Morning News Kick Off post, we thought we would (briefly) get back to providing a summary of key identity theft, data breach and cyber security news.

U.S. is Requiring Companies to Defend Against Identity Theft
With identity fraud on the increase, the federal government is stepping up efforts to make sure businesses are on the alert — especially financial institutions and other companies that issue credit cards. The government says that businesses have the responsibility of making sure thieves don’t use stolen information to buy goods or open phony accounts. And to that end, the Federal Trade Commission wants businesses that might be targets of identity thieves to develop written plans to spot “red flags” that fraud could be involved and prevent it. Read the full LA Times story here.

Medical Groups Challenge ‘Red Flags’ Rule in U.S. Court
A number of medical groups filed a lawsuit in a Washington D.C. court Friday seeking exemption from the Federal Trade Commission’s rule regarding identity theft regulations. The FCC’s “red flags” rule requires any institution that could be considered a creditor to implement stringent anti-identity theft provisions. Physicians, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities could fall into this category since they routinely provide services for which they are reimbursed at a later date. Late in 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that application of the rule to another professional group, attorneys, is “erroneous” and “inconsistent.” Read the full MDI article here.

Identity Thieves Buy Pot with Sen. Saslaw’s Credit Card
Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-Springfield) said his phone has been ringing off the hook since a report appeared yesterday in California noting that local authorities were alleging Sacramento identity thieves had stolen the senator’s credit card number and used it to buy, among other things, medical marijuana. Saslaw gave an interview to a Sacramento radio station yesterday at the request of California authorities, and since then he’s gotten calls from Fox News and others. Saslaw said he was alerted to a problem with his American Express credit card in March and quickly reported it to Virginia State Police. Virginia authorities reported it to the California State Highway Patrol, which is now searching for two suspects in the Sacramento area in connection with the theft. Saslaw said the suspects reached out to multiple banks and credit card companies in an effort to get new cards in his name. “They were persistent,” he said. Read the full Washington Post blog post here.

BofA Hires Exec for Cybersecurity
Bank of America Corp. has hired the former assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Gregory Garcia has been named partnership executive for cybersecurity and identity management at the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank. It is a newly created position. BofA Chief Technology Officer Marc Gordon says Garcia’s hiring emphasizes the bank’s commitment to a leading role in public and private partnerships. “Cybersecurity and identity management have become global issues that require us to work with private and public partners across industries and borders to help us protect our customers,” Gordon says. Read the full New Mexico Business Weekly article here.

Blair’s Resignation and U.S. Cybersecurity
Dennis Blair, as national intelligence director, was actively involved in helping shape federal IT security policy, but his resignation Friday should have minimal impact on the nation’s efforts to secure its sensitive and top secret information stored on government and military computers. “It won’t have any effect,” said James Lewis, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a public policy group. “The cyber effort is largely run out of DoD and DHS,” a reference to the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Read more of the GovInfoSecurity article here.