Punishment for cyber crime

Cyber crime never entered the minds of the founding fathers, yet its prevalence has far outpaced the laws that govern it. Virtual crime is not provable under most criminal statutes. So what should be done?

Crimes of theft are punishable according to the value of the items stolen and the violence of the manner in which they were stolen. Theft of information presents the cyber criminal with the perfect loophole. The defense argues that words have no value and sitting in front of a keyboard typing is not violent. The veracity of those statements can be disproved easily.

If the information had no value, why did the hacker take money for the information? If the act was not violent, why are the ramifications of the action devastating to the victims?

Intellectual property laws protect only work product such as research and creative endeavors. An address is not considered work product, and is not protected. So what of the hacker who steals addresses from jewelry stores and sells them to jewel thieves? They are guilty of the facilitation of a crime, should one be committed, yet their actions are not criminal in and of themselves.

To sew this loophole closed would not require the drafting of years' worth of new legislation, but instead the adaptation of existing laws in minute ways. Consider the addition of the verbiage "or any personal, medical, corporate or financial information" to the standard property theft laws. This would encompass nearly all current cyber theft crime.

Take away the water that the phisherman bait with enticing emails. Phishing is the same crime as attempted robbery, larceny or burglary. Dropping a few phisherman behind bars, with payment of restitution and fines required, would reduce the number of retirees and barely-computer-literates parting with pensions and savings. Current mail fraud statutes should be expanded with the inclusion of "or electronic means". Another seam in place.

Defense will argue then that the crime was not committed in the jurisdiction of the Court prosecuting the defendant. With the simple addition of the verbiage "against any person, persons or corporate entity within the jurisdiction" to the standard theft laws. Another hole disappears.

Extradition will be the last stumbling block left to the global community. Should not the contract of all whose access the Internet include a clause whereby the user agrees that such access will not be against the laws of the jurisdiction of the sites to which the user visits? These laws are beginning to look less like a net.

With the addition of cyber crime to the existing laws, hackers who would never dream of robbing a store will not dream of robbing a database. Punishments would be equal for cyber crime as they are for flesh and blood crime.

What of the victims? The United States has laws governing the dissemination of pornography to minors and laws that protect the victims that are lured off of the Internet into flesh and blood crime. What about the victims whose credit has been thrashed? Restoration of their credit is the least that can be done for these victims, but the restoration of their reputation cannot be accomplished. What of their hardship while they had not the credit to conduct their lives?

Interpol's adoption of these laws would enable jurisdictions to successfully prosecute the civil actions under these laws. NATO's endorsement of these laws would add more venom to the punishments. As a global community, it is high time that we act as one to protect our citizenry, regardless of location.

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Identity Theft: Protect yourself at Home

Much of what is thrown in the trash can point an identity thief's telescope into our lives. But you have the power to blacken the lens.

Junk mail, prescription bottles, receipts and packaging to products allow identity thieves a chance to pretend to be us. These are the primary steps to protecting your personal identity from thieves.

1. Shred or tear up junk mail. Credit card offers are the number one way that identity thieves pick their victims. Before tossing that offer into the trash, make it unusable to a thief. Dispose of half in the main trash can and half in the bathroom trash. This way it cannot be reassembled easily to use the telephone options.

2. Follow the Federal law when disposing of prescription bottles. Remove all labels from the bottles, destroy the labels and dispose of labels and bottles in different receptacles. This keeps the thieves from being able to access your medical records and commit fraud.

3. If not keeping receipts from the stores or the bank, shred them. The best practice to keeping thieves from gaining access to your identity is to keep receipts and file them. If throwing them away, shred them first.

4. Voided checks must have portions removed to prevent identity theft. Remove the name plate and shred. Remove bank name, security identifier (located above the date line), amount box, a portion of both the routing number and the account number, signature line and payee. Dispose of the pieces in separate locations so that the check may not be reassembled.

5. Expired credit cards should be cut into no less than four pieces. As with checks, dispose of the pieces separately.

6. If receiving narcotics or insulin from a mail order service, destroy the packing slip completely. Dispose of the shipping carton separately from the inner packing after removing and destroying the labels from both.

7. Detailed usage of telephone bills should be kept at least three years. When disposing of them before then, shred the bills into small enough pieces that they cannot be reassembled.

8. All receipts and bills from loans should be kept for at least three years and destroyed before disposal.

9. All explanations of benefits (EOB) should not be disposed in trash intact. Separate identifying information from the body of the EOB prior to placing in trash.

10. Credit reports should be shredded when no longer of use.

If you feel you have not been able to sufficiently destroy or shred papers before their disposal, pour ammonia into the trash. Ammonia will react with most all vegetable inks and make them unreadable and unusable.

Don't let your trash can be a treasure chest for identity thieves.

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Identity Theft: Protect your Children

Protecting your child from identity theft is even simpler than protecting yourself. With a few basic precautions, your child can be assured that at 18, a clean credit slate will await.

1. Do not have the child's full name printed in the birth announcement. Make sure that the hospital announcement also does not include the middle names of the parents or the birthplace of either parent.

Identity thieves will often trawl newspapers for names of infants. Within three months of getting the name, they will apply for a replacement social security card for the child. Once they receive it, thieves are off to the proverbial races racking up debt in the child's name. Although this method proves more often than not difficult for the thieves, one success in fifty tries makes it worthwhile.

2. Do not copy your child's social security card or birth certificate. Never scan either of these documents and store them on your computer's hard drive. Worm thieves can get these documents while you surf the Internet.

If someone needs to see the card or the certificate, bring it in person. Do not allow them to copy the documents either. Most states have laws prohibiting the unauthorized copying of birth records. If an agency needs a copy, procure and present a certified copy from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in your state.

Federal law prohibits the copying of a Social Security card under any circumstance. Inform whomever believes that they need a copy that they may not have one.

3. Do not carry your child's identification in your wallet. Purse snatchers and pick pockets sell the identification to identity thieves. If you are going to a place where you will need your child's identification, transport it in the glove compartment and walk it inside in an envelope.

4. Store all of your child's identification in a fireproof box in your home. Home invasion theft of fireboxes is on a decline in the United States. To lower your risk, place the box in a kitchen or utility room cabinet where a thief is unlike to look for anything of value to steal.

5. Do not give out your child's Social Security number without knowing in advance: A. Why you must supply the number. B. How will the number be protected. C. When will the record of the number be destroyed. D. How many people will have access to the number. E. How will you be notified in the event of an information breach. If you feel that this is a legitimate need, and that they have answered your questions sufficiently, you may transmit the information verbally.

Be aware that health insurance companies prefer to have the social security number of the patient. Doctor's offices will ask for the information as well. Doctors collect this information to report non-payment only. You do not have to give your child's number to either. As the responsible party for the transaction, they may use yours to record any payment issues.

Most medical non-payment reporting is done on a patient basis. If the doctor's office has your child's Social Security number, the likelihood that your child's credit may suffer for any late payment you may make is more than tripled.

You have the ability to help secure your child from identity theft. Don't be afraid to exercise your rights.

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Prevent Online Identity Theft: The Basics

From phishing to pharming, the Internet is a hotbed rife with cyber-crime that nets more than drug trafficking: US$105,000,000,000. Try these easy steps to protect yourself from identity theft.

Personal Information
Never give your personal identity information online except to actual (flesh and blood, not virtual) friends.

If you trust your vendor, you may choose to share. Always opt out of optional mailings when you do, though. This information could pass to a third party without the vendor's knowledge or your consent.

Separate Email
Use separate email addresses for personal exchanges (like correspondence with actual friends) and shopping. Always use your non-personal email to sign up for services.

Public Sites
Avoid posting on news groups, social networks or other public sites. A public site is one with 100% free access and generally has no moderation.

Email Attachments
Do not open or run email attachments you did not expect to get or were not sent by a person you actually know.

Password Strength
Increase password security by using more than six characters, never using real words or common abbreviations and incorporating capital letters, numbers and allowable punctuation. A good password example is "R5jm2&Wq67g".

Never give your password to anyone or write it down.

Financial Information
Never give financial information in pop-up windows, instant messages or emails. Never click links inside them. Instead, go directly to the site with your browser to sign in or call the customer service telephone number provided by the legitimate site, not the missives, to verify any requests for information.

Payment Services
Use a third party payment service. The most popular and trusted are PayPal, Google Checkout and Amazon Payments. These companies hide financial information from vendors.

Secure Websites
Use secure websites with "https:" at the beginning of the URL. They will display a padlock icon in your web browser's frame. Be warned: The lock can be counterfeited.

Receiving Email
Know your sender's email address. Be very suspicious of generically addressed email and dubious addresses. Legitimate emails will contain your user name and the appropriate website identification. They will come from only one email address, which will be supplied to you by the website.

Save It
Back up all important files. Never store copies of identifying documents or personal identification on your hard drive.

Security Software
Install an anti-virus, anti-spyware program and network firewall for added protection, especially for all computers with operating systems prior to Microsoft Windows XP service pack 2. Update these programs regularly. This means every 25 times you access the Internet.

The best defense is a good offense. Keep your guard up. With cyber-crime, there is no such thing as "too careful". Parents may be the "anti-drug", but you are your own "anti-electronic identity theft device".

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Homeowner's Insurance and Identity Theft

Homeowner's insurance does not cover identity theft until you add coverage, an endorsement or rider to your policy.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nearly nine million Americans fall prey to identity theft each year. The average victim must spend $1,200 and 175 hours to undo the damage. The FTC promotes a program called "Deter. Detect. Defend." You must deter and detect, but you can use your homeowner's insurance to defend.

Identify theft homeowner's insurance can help if your identity is stolen by reimbursing you for costs you incur repairing the damage. Costs can include long distance telephone bills, mailing costs, pre-approved legal fees and lost wages. Most policies, however, do not cover against financial loss and only reimburse you for money you have already spent.

At $25 to $99, identity theft homeowner's insurance is not particularly expensive. Each policy varies by company. Read the exclusions to understand precisely what the policy will cover.

What do identity theft homeowner's insurance policies usually cover?

Reimbursable expenses: Policies will routinely cover expenses to repair the damage to your credit if your identity is stolen. It will reimburse for reapplication fees for denied loans, credit report fees, notary fees, document replacement costs, mailing costs and long distance telephone calls to credit bureaus, financial institutions and credit bureaus.

Attorneys fees: When it becomes necessary to hire an attorney, most policies require the legal fees to be pre-approved and provided by a contracted attorney. Know in advance if your policy covers attorney's fees. Some policies will not cover an attorney.

Lost wages: To recover from identity theft takes time. The agencies and companies you will contact will likely need to speak to you when you would normally be at work. Employers do not pay for you to take care of personal business. When possible, get a identity theft homeowner's insurance policy which will reimburse you for lost wages.

What does identity theft homeowner's insurance not cover?

Financial loss: Insurance companies expect the financial institutions and credit card companies to recover the financial losses when identity thieves incur fraudulent charges.

Late and over limit fees: Credit card companies are expected to remove these fees when presented with evidence of identity theft.

NSF charges: Banks are expected to remove non-sufficient funds charges from accounts which have been fraudulently opened or emptied.

Upfront expenses: You have to pay and provide receipts for your expenses without reimbursement until after your deductible is met. Insurance will not pay upfront for expenses.

What do I need to know?

Deductible: Choose a low deductible. The FTC reports in the majority of cases individuals spend less than $500 in covered expenses. Make sure the deductible is low.

Coverage: Find out what you will need to restore your credit. Make sure you have enough coverage for your expenses.

Overlap: Find out what losses are not covered. Your credit card provider and bank have coverages for certain thefts. You will not be reimbursed for your expenses if their insurance overs the loss.

Do I need identity theft homeowner's insurance?

While everyone is a potential identity theft victim, some are at higher risk. Those who make more than $150,000 per year, who make less than $15,000 and between 18 and 29 suffer the greatest losses from identity theft and are at the greatest risk.

High income earners have and use more credit, giving more opportunities to identity thieves. Low income earners are not able to afford to repair their credit, which prolongs the financial suffering. College students and young adults are least likely to take appropriate measures to protect their identities, such as shredding personal information and maintaining adequate online safeguards to protect their identities.

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