Information Security and You: What You Can Do to

Prevent Identity TheftGovernment Agency’s Name

April 2013

At the end of this course, the learner will be able to:◦ Define personally identifiable information◦ List examples of personally identifiable

information ◦ Define identity theft◦ Explain how identity theft impacts individuals and

businesses◦ List ways to prevent identity theft

Objectives

Personally Identifiable Information includes:◦ Social security number◦ Date of birth◦ Driver’s license number◦ Passport◦ Student ID number◦ Account numbers◦ Address◦ Access codes

Personally Identifiable Information

Identity Theft is when someone steals your personal information and uses it as their own, usually for some financial gain

What is Identity Theft?

Every 28 minutes someone in the U.S falls victim to identity theft

Every 79 seconds a thief steals personal data to open false accounts

Over 11.1 million reports of identity theft in 2009

Over $22 billion lost by businesses

*This information reported by Identity Theft Protection, http://www.identitytheftprotection.net/45-stories-about-recovering-from-identity-theft/

Identity Theft

As a HR rep, you can access and handle sensitive information on a daily basis

Protect information by ◦ Recognizing and protecting personally

identifiable information (PII)◦ Locking hard copy information

away in desk and cabinets◦ Using encryption when sending

emails containing sensitive information

Your Role

PII can be in electronic or hard copy format and both need to be protected equally

◦ Put away hard copies or conceal hard copies when others are in your work area

◦ Lock away PII when you are away from your desk

◦ Use a shredder when destroying hard copy files

Hard copy

If you handle PII in electronic format be sure to protect PII by:◦ Use strong password to ensure that your account

is securely locked◦ Always lock your computer when you step away

from your desk◦ Keep your computer screen concealed

when others are in your work area◦ Always use encryption when

transmitting PII electronically

Electronic copy

Create strong passwords that have at least 16 characters, including numbers and special characters

Use encryption when sending emails containing PII

Do not take sensitive information out of the office

Keep hard copy information locked in cabinets or drawers

Only share information with others on a need to know basis

Information Protection Tips

Ponemon studies show that data breaches cost organizations $5.5 million dollars last

39% of organizations say negligence was the root cause of the data breaches

Businesses lost $3.01 million due to reputational damage because of data breaches

*Information provided by Ponemon Institute www.ponemon.org/local/upload/file/2011_US_CODB_FINAL_5.pdf

Damages

A Victim’s Testimony

Listen to this victim testimony at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vMwKyb8XDg