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Personal identity theft has been prevalent since the start of the Information Age ” every year thousands of people report credit cards or bank accounts being accessed by unauthorized people, making fraudulent transactions that cost large sums of money.

This crime has now extended to corporate identity theft. Just as the name suggests, corporate identity theft is the misuse of a companys identity for personal use.

There are several forms of corporate identity theft: setting up an online merchant account under a business name, going through trash to get sensitive information such as employee names or bank statements, hacking into the corporate website to corrupt the data presented, or creating a website with a similar domain name to draw traffic that otherwise would go to the company.

Taking Preventive Measures

Corporate identity theft is preventable through various precautions.

Careful maintenance and security of your website is most critical. Most identity theft takes place online. Have IT staff monitor website access regularly, and include an email address on the home page for end users to report any unusual occurrences. For example, there have been cases in which a company website was hacked and pornographic material distributed through it. This company’s professional image was tarnished by this act. Also, regularly check for domain names that are similar to yours, or be proactive and purchase commonly misspelled variations of your URL.

Another cause of rising corporate identity theft is that of misplaced paper documents. Misplaced hard documents are another cause of rising corporate identity theft. Shred all paper documents to percent sensitive data from being stolen.

Finally, be sure that computer networks are secure. Regularly updated virus protection software, strong firewalls, adware and spyware blockers and secure passwords are good ways of maintaining a secure network. Have a strict policy about Internet use; employees that surf the Internet during work hours not only are being unproductive, they also put the integrity of the company at risk when accessing sites that could potentially deliver spyware or adware.

Consider these guidelines and you will ensure the greatest chance of avoiding corporate identity theft. Criminals are always scheming up ways to infiltrate your organization, no matter how secure you are. Remember that computer software and company policies are fallible. Keep your methods of protecting up to date and be vigilant about protecting sensitive material.

Tags: Privacy

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