A group of schools, vendors and government agencies are banding together to fight identity fraud and theft through the creation of a research center at Utica College in New York.

The Center for Identity Management and Information Protection will focus on:

• Causes and early detection;
• The role of organized crime;
• Impact of policy and regulation;
• Technology advances.

An initial project involves the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, working with the center to examine current and emerging cybercrime groups.

Founding partners are IBM, LexisNexis, the Secret Service, the FBI, Carnegie Mellon University, Indiana University, Syracuse University and Utica College. Gary Gordon, a Utica professor and cybercrime expert, will head the center.

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