E-Commerce Blog

In this age of phishing, hacking, identity fraud, and other forms of cybercrime, answering two simple questions — “Who are you?” and “How can you prove it?” — is fast becoming a critical requirement for all online business activities. Moreover, solving this “identity management” challenge has become quite complex as the increasing need for cross-organization collaboration, concerns about security, and the problem of user password management suggest that the traditional company-issued username and password approach is no longer adequate.

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The Legal Thicket of Federated Identity Management

While recent reports don’t predict a major recovery for retailers this holiday season, the outlook for e-commerce sites is slightly more optimistic: 2009 will post an 18 percent increase in online holiday shopping over last year. For many consumers, though, the convenience of online shopping comes with a hefty price: their identity. Holidays are when the majority of online identity theft problems occur. The number of identity theft victims is likely to rise this year. There is little doubt that fraudsters can — and will — prey on online shoppers.

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‘Tis the Season for Safe Holiday Shopping

Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have entered the mainstream — and fraudsters are taking notice. In recent months, Fox News Network, CNN Anchor Rick Sanchez, and even President Obama have suffered high-profile hacks of their Twitter accounts. Public figures like Bill Gates and Economist Paul Krugman have seen impersonators create Twitter accounts in their name. Identity thieves have taken over Facebook user accounts and used them as launching pads for fraud scams and phishing attacks. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

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Protecting Your Identity From Social Networking Shysters

Massive credit card payment processor Heartland Payment Systems disclosed Tuesday that a security breach within its processing system some time in 2008 resulted in the potential exposure of millions of credit card and debit card numbers. No cardholder Social Security numbers, addresses or telephone numbers have been compromised, and the intrusion is believed to have been contained, according to the company. The sort of data exposed by the breach could be used to carry out unauthorized purchases using victims’ existing credit and debit cards.

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Heartland Bleeds Data, Potential Victims Could Number Millions

Identity theft has had a crippling effect on more than 9 million Americans, according to the Federal Trade Commission, and businesses that collect or hold identifying information report millions of dollars in annual losses as a result of these crimes. New identity theft regulations for creditors — which can include technology retailers, Internet service providers and telecommunications equipment/service companies, among others — come into effect on May 1, 2009.

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Prepare Now for New ‘Red Flag’ Credit Rules