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Ron Barrett

Identity Theft …just when you think you’re safe???

By Ron Barrett on Thu, 05/22/08 - 4:01pm.

So the company that is charging people to keep their identities safe is being sued for misleading consumers. A misleading advertisement, boy that's rare. I mean it was just yesterday that my supermodel wife and I were talking about all the money we made while sitting at home. Eating anything we want thanks to the fat-burning pills, and I thought that it was fortunate for us that we drive that expensive car, because now we are so much better looking then we were before.

However, it stands to reason if you are paying for security you should get security. Now a lot of articles are talking about how LifeLock's owner has been the victim of many ID fraud attempts and what can you expect when you post your SS# in your advertisements. But, the much more serious charges are that clients are claiming fraud.

The problem I think is it's a bit early for jumping into the Identity Management game. After all there are limits (as the lawsuit) has highlighted to what kinds of security are offered by the service. There is nothing in place for these services to deal with instances of stolen SS#'s to falsify job applications, medical services or worse arrest.

While these won't appear on your credit report they could cause you a great deal of distress. This just goes to show us that we need to build a better wheel. Technology must provide the answers to make Identity Management better.

Corporate networks have employed ILM technologies for years to improve security in the enterprise. Perhaps the backbone technology should be built of these principles. Or perhaps the people who are being paid to protect identities need to become a bit more paranoid.

Whatever the answer, it just seems that whenever we think were safe we find out we really aren't safe at all. Just ranting on this I guess but it's hard to see something sold as a solid technology and learn that all the bases aren't being covered. For an IT pro leaving a hole open like that would leave you out of a job.

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About A Better Windows World

Ron Barrett has been a technology professional for over a decade, working for several major financial firms and dotcoms. Barrett is a specialist in network infrastructure, security and IT management Ron is also the author of several books including: Office Communications Server 2007 R2: How-To , Windows Server 2008: How-To and The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers. Ron has been a co-author or technical editor for several other books on Windows administration. Along with book writing, Ron has contributed to several industry magazines such as Redmond, Datamation and Windows IT Pro. Beyond writing, Ron has spoken at several technology conferences for CPAmerica, AICPA and TECHMENTOR.

 

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