ARE YOU A VICTIM?

Businesses are often on the front lines in the battle against identity theft and they face significant challenges in protecting sensitive information from identity thieves. Businesses who fail to adequately protect against identity theft may see their customers leave, may lose money, and may become targets of lawsuits.

Businesses have access to personally identifying information from their customers, employees, and vendors, including names and addresses, social security numbers, credit card numbers, or other account numbers. It is critical that businesses protect this information from identity thieves.

Learn how to protect your business from cybercrime. The effects of cybercrimes on businesses are measured in terms of monetary loss and system downtime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the monetary loss to businesses due to cybercrime is $867 million. Learn more about computer viruses most prevalent among businesses and how anti-virus software may protect your business from these dangers. "Cybercrime Against Businesses" was issued in September 2008, and includes survey responses from more than 7,000 businesses across the United States.

Shred documents before disposing of them. Arizona law requires certain documents be disposed of properly. When in doubt, shred.

If you don't need it, don't ask for it. Criminals can't steal customer information from you if you don't have it. Businesses should only collect personal information that is necessary. If you collect personal information and don't use it, stop collecting it.

Don't use an employee's social security number as an employee's identification number. If you need to assign a number to an employee, generate a random number. Don't expose your employees to unnecessary risk by using their social security number.

Take advantage of the Social Security Administration's social security number identification program.The United State's Social Security Administration offers a free program that allows employers to verify a social security number provided by an employee. This service can also by accessed via telephone at 1-800-772-6270 - weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

Work with law enforcement. Local law enforcement agencies offer valuable programs to combat identity theft. Take advantage of the help offered by the experts in this area.

Take advantage of existing technology to safeguard electronic information. Use firewalls, adware/spyware detection software, virus protection software and other tools to prevent hackers and criminals from getting into your internal computer system. You can be hacked both internally or externally, so use passwords to protect access to your computer system. When employees leave, end their access promptly. Be careful sending information in emails and use encryption when necessary.

Select contractors and business partners who adhere to acceptable ethical standards in sharing customer information. If you know a contractor or vendor is going to sell your customer's information, find another vendor or business partner. Steer clear of businesses that fail to use technology to safeguard information.

Develop a privacy policy. Develop and disseminate a privacy policy so that employees of your business know exactly what is expected of them with regards to personal information, and your customers know up front how their personal information will be treated. Redistribute this policy often and train your employees. Keep sensitive customer information in locked offices, desks and cabinets.

Do not neglect to properly discard electronic data. This is often overlooked by businesses. It is every bit as important to properly dispose of electronic documents as paper copies. Hitting the "delete" button usually is not sufficient for disposing of an electronic file. When you dispose of hard drives, the sensitive information on them will remain and can be retrieved.

Consider requiring employees to sign confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements. Remind employees that if they steal someone's identity or actively assist someone else, they will be prosecuted.

Eliminate potential problems by screening new employees. Consider conducting background checks on all employees. If you hire temporary workers, ask the agency about what they do to ensure that they are providing you with law-abiding employees.

Consider a drug testing program. The link between identity theft and illegal drug use is well established. Many identity thieves steal identities to support drug habits. When you have identified a drug user, you have also identified a prime candidate to commit identity theft. There are drug testing resources available from the Department of Labor.

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