According to the Anti Phishing Working Group’s 2009 report, cyber crime has increased a staggering 600% in 2009. But according to a recent article from Bank Info Security, federal and international law enforcement agencies are successfully fighting back.

In 2004, the data broker ChoicePoint was the target of a security breach that affected 160,000 consumers and resulted in 800 cases of identity theft. In addition to fines and consumer compensation payments, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) required ChoicePoint to implement a stronger security program to prevent the breach from happening again.

Hacker tactics extend further than most Internet users realize. Contrary to the widespread belief that most malicious programs and hoaxes can be avoided by simple means, such as installing the proper fraud prevention service software and pushing suspicious e-mails directly to the “spam” folder, many hackers actively exploit trustworthy sources to dupe victims. Now, curious tabloid followers may be at risk.

A “red flag” is the Federal Trade Commission’s term for suspicious activities or signs that should alert a business to possible security breaches or identity fraud . It is the basis for the Red Flags Rule , the nationwide standard of fraud prevention service that will be enforced on November 1, 2009.

Identity fraud breaches happen every day. The targets vary in size from individuals to entire companies. Now, according to the Chicago Tribune, nearly every doctor in America is at risk

A phishing scam that resulted in the public posting of thousands of Hotmail passwords to a third party website has now impacted Gmail, AOL Mail and Yahoo Mail users as well.

Website security takes many forms. Depending on the nature of the content available, security levels vary from simple customer identification processes to complex identity authentication procedures that dig deep into the customer’s background.

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Red Flags Rule deadline is rapidly closing in, and after November 1, businesses subject to the rule may be heavily fined if compliance has not been met.

The Red Flags Rule, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new mandatory standard of business security for combating identity fraud, has had its deadline for compliance extended twice since its introduction.