Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Colleges Struggle to Combat Identity Theft

A Reuters newswire article, via eWeek, reports that:

Despite their image as leafy enclaves of higher learning shielded from the real world, universities across the United States are finding themselves on the front lines of the battle against identity theft.

With their huge databases, universities may rival financial institutions as attractive targets for the crime, estimated to affect over 9 million Americans a year at the total cost of more than $50 billion, experts said.

Nearly half of the publicized incidents of data breach since January occurred at universities, according to the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center.

The focus on campus computer security comes as pending legislation in Congress seeks to address on a national level the growing problem of identity theft, in which criminals steal personal information so they can impersonate the victim to obtain credit and drain money from financial accounts.

posted by Fergie @ 8/17/2005 09:15:00 AM