Coalition to fight on-line identity theft

The Coalition on Online Identity Theft will address four primary areas:

• Expand public education campaigns against on-line identity theft to protect consumers;
• Help promote technology and self-help approaches for preventing and dealing with on-line identity theft;
• Document and share non-personal information about emerging on-line fraudulent activity to stay ahead of criminals and new forms of on-line fraud;
• Work with government to cultivate an environment that protects consumers and businesses, and ensures effective enforcement and criminal penalties against cyber thieves.

Harris Miller, president of The Information Technology Association of America, which is acting as Secretariat for the coalition, said:

"Most identity theft comes from off-line sources, such as personal information and documents thrown away by the trusting consumer in their usual trash disposal. While a small percentage of the problems come from on-line sources, recent email frauds have involved notifying a consumer about a fictitious account problem and asking the individual to supply a user-ID and password, social security number, credit card information or other sensitive data.

"Scam artists then use the information to operate phoney auctions, purchase merchandise under an assumed name, apply for loans, or conduct other illegal activity. Ultimately, the solution is a shared responsibility among industry, government and consumers to advance education and awareness, stronger penalties, cooperation within industry and law enforcement, and work together to prevent the spread of this problem into e-commerce."

Other founding members of the coalition include the Business Software Alliance, Cyveillance, McAfee Security, RSA Security, TechNet, Verisign, WholeSecurity and Zone Labs.