UK consumers very vulnerable to id theft

Posted in 'Identity Theft' by Richard Catlin

08 August 2008

Despite prosecutors bringing charges against 11 people in the USA over the theft of millions of credit card details from retailer TK Maxx, it’s thought that thousands of people still might not know they were targeted and that the UK as a whole is still extremely vulnerable to future attacks.

Thieves hacked into servers in the US with worrying ease in 2007, and managed to steal details of 45 million credit cards – including a number relating to UK consumers who had shopped at the store from as long ago as 2002. Much of the potentially stolen data relating to UK consumers has been found to relate to transactions after 2006, after the roll-out of chip & pin technology. Although this reduces the chances of successful fraud, the uncertainty remains.

Details of the theft were kept secret until now, but it is thought that the hackers simply drove around until they found an unsecured Wi-Fi network, before secretly installing software that captured customers details and sent them back to the criminals.

Described as ‘the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted’, it has also led to claims that most UK retailers are severely under-protected against such attacks.

Steps are being taken to improve the security of such information, and the UK payments association APACS is working with retailers – although it has also reiterated the threat of huge fines for those organisations who don’t have adequate levels of protection in place.

Together with the number of cases where UK organisations simply ‘lose’ personal data, this news is far from reassuring.

You can check how much your lifestyle puts you at risk of identity theft with our free Identity Theft Expert System, and find out what basic steps you can take to reduce your chances of falling victim.