A representative in the West Memphis, Arkansas office allegedly passed personally identifiable information (PII) on to another person who then used it to commit identity theft. Christopher R. Thyer, US Attorney, Eastern District of Arkansas, stunned by the incident, says ”Identity theft is a serious crime. Government employees with access to personal identification information have a duty to the citizens of this Country to protect that information.” The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris is prosecuting the case for the United States.
Unauthorized access to personally identifiable information is a major concern nowadays and Cymtec Scout is often able to detect, alert and report on this type of malicious activity. Enforcement of regulatory policies such as PII and PCI DSS is becoming an increasingly larger issue for organizations. Unlike traditional IDS products, Cymtec Scout’s cloud-enabled delivery model dramatically reduces time-to-protection, simplifies deployment and reduces both annual costs and the requirement for needing a security expert to configure and maintain protection.
Data breaches have a significant impact on business. For example, Sony Corporation’s recent breach represented a 12 percent loss in Sony’s share price, which is the equivalent of $3.6 billion in market capitalization, according to Cloud Times. Beyond the impact on stock value, regulatory and other potential legal implications can increase organizational costs even more. According to Money-Rates.com, a leading source of information on bank rates, personal finance and investing, ”thieves who steal credit card numbers and other personal identification information have started targeting small and medium-sized businesses in an effort to find out more about you, your bank credit card or other financial information.”
Although once an issue only for enterprises, data breaches are now a problem for organizations of all sizes.
Learn more about Cymtec Scout at: http://www.cymtec.com/products/cymtec-scout/
Read more about the security breaches at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/are/news/2011/July/Morgan_complaint_idtheft_072011.html
