Increase Risk of Identity Theft Due to Higher Levels of Internet Use

¶ … identity theft due to an increase in Internet usage

Identity theft is on the rise. This research paper will explore how the increased use of the Internet has made identity theft (once a relatively rare crime) extremely common. It will hypothesize that the use of online technology by a wider pool of individuals has contributed to the explosion of identity theft and also that the integration of social networking websites has facilitated identity theft. In the most recent comprehensive study conducted by the federal government on the crime: "federal identity theft convictions increased 26% in 2007 from the year prior...According to the 'Identity Theft Task Force Report,' as many as 1,534 people were convicted in 2006, and a year later, 1,943 were convicted nationwide on various identity theft violations" (Kravets 2008).

The use of the Internet has become integral to the functioning of daily life, spanning from connecting with work for telecommuters, doing online banking, making payments, shopping, as well as basic communication with friends and family. The opportunity to gain access to personal data has likewise exploded. The interlinked nature of online accounts facilitates such theft. One much-talked about article by Mat Honan, writer for Wired magazine recently revealed how the author became a victim. "In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook" (Honan 2012). Critical security flaws and carelessness create a perfect storm for users. Honan blames himself to some degree for the hacking: "My accounts were daisy-chained together. Getting into Amazon let my hackers get into my Apple ID account, which helped them get into Gmail, which gave them access to Twitter" (Honan 2012). However, if a writer for Wired magazine is easily 'hacked,' this begs the question: what hope is there for far less technologically-savvy Internet users? Moreover, identity theft is growing increasingly sophisticated. While some identity thieves are petty criminals or persons who merely want to use identity theft for 'lol' as in the case of Honan, "the profiles, purposes, and methods of the perpetrators are continually changing. Identity theft today can be the product of organized crime rings here and abroad using increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as installing malicious software, phishing, spoofing, and a database hacking, to tap into repositories of consumer data" (Kravets 2008).

The President's Identity Theft Task Force Report of 2006 will be used as a means of beginning to assess the characteristics of the victims of identity theft: their demographics and patterns of Internet usage. The report provides recommendations for curtailing identity theft which can also provide indications as to how and where thieves gain access to such data. The paper will use data accumulated by entities such as the credit rating agency Experian which recently found that: "wealthy consumers who enjoy leisure activities such as tennis, skiing and international vacations are top targets for identity thieves," and tended to be located in major metropolitan areas (Simon 2010). Characteristics of victims will be used to explore patterns of Internet use and how this can leave one vulnerable to exposure to identity theft.