ID Theft Is Set To Rise On The Heels Of The Recession

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Jay McDonald from Creditcards.com does a great job of summarizing Identity Theft Predictions for 2010.

“Like wolves to injured prey, identity thieves are out to turn the recession struggles of average Americans to their own advantage.

“In my adult life, I’ve never seen more varations of old scams and the degree of sophistication in newer scams,” says Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com.

The Identity Theft Resource Center predicts an increase in the number of identity theft crimes and victims during the next two years.

Particularly vulnerable are jobseekers whose desperate search for employment makes them easy targets for fake job listings and work-from-home scams.

“If the job description is not one that you would see printed on a business card, or you are asked to front money, it’s a scam,” says Siciliano.

Also on the rise are the misuse of social media and phony ads on Craigslist and other Web sites for the purposes of obtaining credit card numbers or cash.

Most disturbing has been the growing problem of child identity theft, sometimes by the child’s own family.

“The ITRC has noted that nearly 10 percent of its case load for the past six months involved child identity theft issues,” says founder Linda Foley. “It’s as if people have finally realized that a child’s Social Security number can be used for more than just opening a line of credit.”

Visit the ITRC Web site to learn how to protect your personal data from thieves and hackers.”

Protect your identity. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing credit card fraud on CNBC

Holiday Safety: Post Holiday Home Security

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Most people know the holidays are prime time for burglars to enter your home and steal from you while you are at a friend or family member’s party. They go after unwrapped and new high end items that they can re-sell or “fence” on the “black market”.  It’s pretty obvious who’s home and who is not at home when the lights are off and there is no car in the driveway.

All a burglar has to do is ring a door bell to see of you are actually home. If no one answers they then jiggle the door knob to see if it’s locked or not.  If it’s locked they will head to the back door and jiggle that. Many times they will walk right in because people are often irresponsible and leave the doors unlocked because they believe “it can’t happen to me”. If the doors are locked they may try a few street level or basement windows. Brazen burglars will not waste any time and may break glass or use a crowbar and forcibly enter the residence.

Trash day is coming and they may case a neighborhood looking for boxes where electronics such as computers, flat panel TVs, game consoles and other re-saleable items may be.

For holiday safety, use these holiday home security suggestions:

  1. Lock your doors and windows
  2. Install a monitored alarm system
  3. Give your home the lived in look
  4. Leave the TV on LOUD while you are gone
  5. Install timers on your lights both indoor and outdoor
  6. Close the shades to prevent peeping inside
  7. Use defensive signage
  8. Store item boxes for at least 90 days because if you have a defective product you will need the box for a return
  9. After 90 days tear up the box so it’s undistinguishable then recycle or put it in a black trash bag

See Robert discussing personal and home security on NBC Boston

Robert Siciliano is a personal security and identity theft expert for Home Security Source. (Disclosures)

PC Worlds Top 10 Security Nightmares of the Decade

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The last decade we have seen technological breakthroughs unlike any other. In response we have seen a tremendous rise in fraud.  The reason? The speed of the conveniences technology have far outpaced the security of technology.

PC World puts out their list:

Cyberwar: In February 2000, a Canadian teenager named Mafiaboy used automated floods of incomplete Internet traffic to cause several sites–including Amazon, CNN, Dell, eBay, and Yahoo–to grind to a halt, in what is called a distributed denial of attack.

Malware: Viruses and worms have always been around, but in the summer of 2001 one aggressive worm threatened to shut down the official White House Website.

MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter Attacks: At the beginning of the decade, security experts at businesses had to struggle with employees’ use of instant messaging from AOL, Webmail from Yahoo, and peer-to-peer networks. These applications poked holes in corporate firewalls, opening various ports that created new vectors for malware.

Organized Viruses and Organized Crime: After the Melissa virus struck in 1999, e-mail-borne viruses peaked the following year with ILOVEYOU, which clogged e-mail servers worldwide within 5 hours. (See “The World’s Worst Viruses” for more about a clutch of the decade’s early offenders.)

Botnets: With the financial backing of organized crime syndicates came widespread and clever innovations in malware.

Albert Gonzalez: It wasn’t organized crime but rather a confederacy of criminals that caused some of the largest data breaches over the last few years–attacks that victimized Dave & Busters, Hannaford Brothers, Heartland Payment Systems, and TJX, to name just a few.

Gone Phishing: More effective than spam, yet short of a full-blown data breach, is phishing. The idea here is that a creatively designed e-mail can lure you into visiting a believable-looking site designed solely to steal your personal information.

Old Protocol, New Problem: Behind the Internet are protocols, some of which today perform functions far beyond what they were originally designed to do. Perhaps the most well-known of the overextended protocols is the Domain Name System (DNS), which, as IOActive researcher Dan Kaminisky explained in 2008, could be vulnerable to various forms of attack, including DNS cache poisoning.

Microsoft Patch Tuesdays: A decade ago, Microsoft released its patches only as needed. Sometimes that was late on a Friday afternoon, which meant that bad guys had all weekend to reverse-engineer the patch and exploit the vulnerability before system administrators showed up for work on Monday.

Paid Vulnerability Disclosure: Independent researchers have debated for years whether to go public with a newly found flaw or to stay with the vendor until a patch is created.

Protect your identity. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing credit card fraud on CNBC

Attempted Bombing of Airplane Highlights “Security Illusion”

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The attempted bombing of a US airplane is alarming but no major surprise in a post 9/11 world. The terrorist had a device containing a high explosive attached to his body in both a liquid and powder form. The government says that as the flight neared Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Friday, Christmas Day, he set off the device, but it sparked a fire instead of an explosion.

The TSA’s 3-1-1 rule is 3.4 ounce (100ml) bottle or less (by volume); 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3.4 ounce (100ml) container size is a security measure. However anyone who travels with any frequency will tell you that liquids and powders of all kinds are often mistakenly and sometime purposefully taken through security.

The Christmas’ days attempt reminds many of the case of Richard Reid, who was arrested after he tried to ignite an explosive device hidden in his shoe while on an American Airlines Paris-to-Miami flight in 2001. Security is one guy trying to use his shoes to blow up a plane and millions have to remove them every day as a result.

Helen Keller once said that “security is an illusion; life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” I’ve always been fond of that quote but do not fully agree with it. “Security theater,” a relatively new term, consists of security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve security.

It is important to understand that security is more than, but in part illusion and theater. The illusion, like a magic act, looks very real and in many cases believable. Theater, is the show that is put on to give the illusion impact. Both play a role in deterring a criminal but neither add up to 100% security, as 100% security is unattainable.

But imagine if there were no security checkpoints, no metal detectors, no cameras, no alarms, no restrictions on liquids, no pat downs, no removing of shoes. Imagine if the TSA and all citizens took the “throw your hands in the air and give up” approach and elected for convenience over security. Tragedy would have certainly come, and come much sooner.

Home security isn’t completely an illusion. It is elusive, but it is attainable. Home security requires persistence, due-diligence and an investment of time, energy and a little money. Criminals often seek the path of least resistance. They will continue to wiggle doorknobs until they find one unlocked. Home security is layers of protection. The more layers in place, the more difficult you make it for the bad guy to do his job.

  1. Form a neighborhood watch
  2. Call a locksmith
  3. Install alarm systems
  4. Install security cameras
  5. Install exterior lighting
  6. Apply stickers and signage alerting protective measures
  7. Give your home the lived in look
  8. Put a big dog bowl on your porch that says “Killer” creating an “illusion”

See Robert discussing terrorists in your back yard on CNN

Robert Siciliano is a personal security and identity theft expert for Home Security Source. (Disclosures)

5 Tips to Credit Card Identity Theft Prevention

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

In a recent article in Computer World, Tom Patterson CSO of Magtek, with his Glamor Shot photo, provides “5 counter-fraud tips you’ve never been told”. Anything a consumer can do to reduce their risk for account takeover, they should exercise. While in most cases the consumer isn’t responsible for the losses, as long as you refute the fraud in a specified time frame, and it’s your duty as a citizen to do so. Studies show much of the terrorists funding is coming from card fraud. Card fraud is a breach of national security.

Tip#1 Stare down your waiter, waitress, gas station attendant or anyone who you hand your card. Or at least stare at the card in process. You want to see where that card is going and how it’s being used. The idea here is to make sure the card isn’t being “skimmed” with a skimmer. This is good advice when it’s possible. Most waiters, gas station attendants walk away with the card. This really only works at a POS where the clerk never leaves the terminal. What you should see is the clerk swiping the card through a PC/register based fixed keyboard or terminal. If you see them swipe the card in a handheld skimmer or something on their body, like attached to a  belt or ankle that’s a redflag.

Tip#2 Shield your pin. This is absolutely necessary at any POS or ATM. The public nature of these devices makes it very easy for someone to shoulder surf and grab your pin. A cell phone video cam over your shoulder, a video camera from 50 feet away, binoculars or even a hidden camera attached the to face of the ATM can all compromise your pin. See here as explained in this video I did on ExtraTV demonstrating how I bought an ATM off Craigslist and rolled it all over Boston.

Tip#3 Change your card number. With millions of card numbers hacked over the last few years, chances are yours was compromised. I for one have had 3 changes of credit cards due to card issuers being proactive and sending me a new card whether I liked it or not. Tom suggests voluntarily changing your credit card number every few months. While this is an extra layer of protection, it’s not at all practical and I doubt even Tom does it. I have numerous EFT’s set up with my cards and changing the number means changing them as well. It’s enough of a burden to change it all when the banks issue a new card. But a nice idea if you have the time.

Tip#4 Check your credit card statements every day. This is an extra layer of protection that requires savant like attention. You check your email every day so checking your credit card statements every day is do-able right? Every week is sufficient. Even every 2 weeks is OK. Just make sure to check with your bank to determine what their cutoff date is to refute unauthorized withdrawals. For most credit cards it’s 60 days. For most banks it can be under 30 days. This is the most important tip of all.

Tip#5 Authenticate the card. Or the card holder. Today this is out of the hands of the consumer. There are a number of new technologies that if banks/retailers/industry adopt to identify the actual card/user at the POS or even online then most, if not all of the card fraud problems will be solved. There is a race going on right now to see who gets there first. In the next 1-5 years we may see new cards being issued such as “chip and pin” which are standard in Europe. Or no new cards at all but changes in the system that the card holder is unaware of, or a 2 card system that requires a second swipe of another authenticating card the hacker doesn’t have access to. There are also readily available technologies that will allow the turning on/off of your card with your own preset spend limits too. We will see how this all plays out.

 

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing credit card fraud on CNBC

Pope Attack Brings Security Home

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, holidays or not, security needs to be top of mind. On Christmas Eve the Pope was knocked to the ground in a terrifying security scare just hours before his traditional Christmas Day message. The perpetrator jumped over security barriers and dived on top of 82-year-old Benedict XVI, dragging him to the floor.

The woman, who is said to have a history of mental problems, was involved in a similar incident last Christmas Eve. Both incidents were captured on video surveillance highlighting the importance or recorded video. Each time the Pope’s security guards apprehended the offender, but this time a few seconds too late.

Some may remember back in 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot. Shortly after, the “Pope Mobile” became a required form of transportation for him that allowed the Pope to be viewed publicly.

Generally, when a security incident occurs the video footage is viewed and officials determine what should be done in the future to prevent such acts.

In my own view, it seems not much was done since last year to prevent this year’s assault on the Pope. It’s obvious to me that the limited 4 foot high fence/barrier between the Pope and his congregation isn’t sufficient to prevent another attack. I would bet you will see a 6-8 foot barrier next year, possibly made of a bullet proof plastic preventing a tragedy.

For your own safety, develop a personal security mindset. This means thinking proactively by asking “what if” questions and visualizing possibilities. By predicting and then preventing bad things from happening, you are actively involved in your personal security and that of your families.

See Robert discussing personal and home security on Fox Boston

Robert Siciliano is a personal security and identity theft expert for Home Security Source. (Disclosures)

*Content expressed in Home Security Source does not represent the thoughts and opinions of ADT Security Services, Inc. unless explicitly indicated.

Police, DA Investigators Conduct Fake ID Sting

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Do an online search for “fake ids” and you’ll be amazed to discover how easy it can be to obtain an ID allowing you to pose as someone else. Or how easy it can be for someone else to obtain an ID that will allow him or her to pose as you. Some websites peddle poor quality cards, others offer excellent quality, and many websites are simply scams.

The fact is, our existing identification systems are insufficiently secure, and our identifying documents are easily copied. Anyone with a computer, scanner and printer can recreate an ID. Outdated systems exasperate the problem by making it too easy to obtain a real ID at the DMV, with either legitimate or falsified information.

“In Houston, Authorities have arrested three people accused of producing fake documents apparently destined for use in identity theft and fraud in Houston.

Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos said Monday that the suspects ran four fraudulent document businesses, including two operated out of a flea market.

Houston police and officials from the identity theft section of the district attorney’s office conducted the two-week operation. Undercover officers posing as customers were able to obtain IDs using real and fictitious names.

They confiscated Social Security cards and ID cards from Texas and other states.”

OMG! “including two operated out of a flea market” a FLEA MARKET!! The extent of the security of our nations identities is OPERATED OUT OF A FLEA MARKET!!!!!!!!!

USA Today reports that in the four years since Congress enacted the Real ID Act, which was intended to make it more difficult to obtain a fraudulent driver’s license, the act has languished due to opposition from several states. Real ID supporters say it will not only deter terrorism but also reduce identity theft, curb illegal immigration and reduce underage drinking, all by making the nation’s identification-of-choice more secure. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is proposing the repeal of the Real ID Act.

However “The May 10, 2011, deadline for full compliance remains in effect, and the department will continue to work closely with states to meet this deadline,” said Matt Chandler, deputy press secretary for the department. “However, Congress must act to address systemic problems with the REAL ID Act to advance our security interests over the long term.”

The fact is, identity theft is a big problem due to a systematic lack of effective identification and is going to continue to be a problem until further notice. In the meantime it is up to you to protect yourself. The best defense from new account fraud is identity theft protection.

1. Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name.

2. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses criminal hackers and identity theft on Fox News

Profile of a “REAL (Bad) HACKER HERE”

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The wild, wild web never ceases to amaze me. My daily routine includes a tremendous amount of research, keeping me on top of what’s new in information and personal security. Every day, I spend about three hours simply “consuming” information via news alerts, feeds, and subscriptions, then breaking it down for others.

Recently, I was shocked to come across a website created by a self-declared “real hacker,” advertising his services.

“I SELL CCV2,tracks+ ATM PIN,FULLZ, BANK LOGIN, BANK TRANSFER… PRICE FOR CCV us (visa or master)= 2$ us (amex or dis)= 3$ uk (visa or master)= 4$ uk (amex or dis )= 6$ US Amex 3 $ UK master/visa 6$ … All Our PayPa Acc Have Full Info And With Email Access and With All Security Answer . And With Orginal Ip And A Program For Fake Your System Ip To Orgina Ip For Full Access To PayPal Acc. Ebay Login : Fresh And Verified And Unlimited Ebay Account”

This guy is a “black hat hacker,” a carder selling stolen credit card data, referred to as “fullz” and “dumps.” His website includes live examples of his wares, including names, address, phone numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, CCV2 numbers, Paypal account logins, you name it.

On his “Rates and Services” page, he states:

“We are a group of Ethical Hackers based in the Turkey but our staff comprises of Experienced hackers around the world, we have over the years strategically recruited the best hackers from the UK,USA,Russia,India,Philippians,Vietnam and Egypt.

Our policy is simple “making the world a better place by creating an equal balance” in other words, hack the rich and give to the poor, Robin Hood style :-)

The way we do this is to sell Carding Stuff and hacking softwares and tools at really cheap prices so that everyone can afford it and also be able to hack.You can definitely be a hacker with our new approach tutorial. We can offer you pre-written tutorials but we will also allocate you your own specialist hacker, who you can add to your yahoo messenger and will give you a more hands on approach by teaching you everything you want to know over instant messenging.

We are ethical hackers and here to help not make money, we only charge because of the cost,time and effort involved in the services and products we offer.

Enjoy your stay and we hope we can help. Thank you!! :-”

And on his “About Us“:

“GOOD HACKER WITH GOOD PRODUCE HIEN_HACK IS A GOOD HACKER WITH FRESH PRODUCE…ALL STUFFS HAVE THEIR PRICE AND ALL STUFFS GOT GOOD LIMIT AND GOOD BALANCE..WE HAVE MANY SOFTWARE FOR HACKING STUFFS…HE IS A GOOD HACKER AND NEVER RIPP HATE RIPPERS IN IS LIST…HE DO GOOD DEAL FOR LONG ….WITH GOOD CUSTOMER WHO IS READY TO HAVE GOOD DEAL…ANY THING U NEED CONTACT HIM AND HE WILL HELP GET ANY STUFFS…HE DO BANK TRANSFER FOR REAL AND WESTERN UNION TRANSFER,GOT FRESH CC ETC…TRY HIM AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY OF HIM….IF U NEED HIM JUST GO TO IS CONTACT AND GET IS YAHOO ID OR EMAIL ADDRESS ALSO HE HAVE IS NUMBER THERE CONTACT HIM AND CALL HIM FOR GOOD DEAL OKAY..BE FAST SO THAT STUFFS WILL NOT GET FINISHED…..”

He and his band of delusional criminals have convinced themselves they are good and their victims are bad. Unfortunately, this is what we have to contend with. Hackers have been selling raw, stolen data to one another for a while now. But the fact that this type of underground activity is so prevalent that it’s begun showing up in my Google News Alerts is alarming, and indicates that it isn’t getting any better any time soon.

Most of the raw data being sold online is used for account takeover, but can also lead to new account fraud. In many cases, it’s your own computer that’s compromised, while other hacks target retailers or banks. Either way, you are ultimately responsible for the charges made in your name, unless you do something about it.

  1. Check your credit card statements often. Refute unauthorized charged within 60 days to be made whole by the issuing bank.
  2. Anytime you ever receive a phish email asking for personal information, credit information, banking etc, do not enter it. Just hit delete. Often victims will receive and email from what looks like a trusted source but is actually a phish.
  3. Install and update antivirus protection.If your PC is infected with a virus that allows the remote control of your PC, a criminal can get all your important files
  4. Check out my spyware killer. Even if your PC has spyware that logs your account information while you are typing in your browser, this software scrambles the data making it useless to the thief.
  5. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
  6. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing credit card and debit card fraud on CNBC

Expanding Internet Capabilities Makes U.S. IT More Vulnerable

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The FBI considers the cyber threat against our nation to be one of the greatest concerns of the 21st century.

Steven R. Chabinsky is deputy assistant director of the cyber division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This article is sourced from GovInfoSecurity.com and was adapted from written testimony he delivered earlier this month to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security.

“Despite the enormous advantages of the Internet, our networked systems have a gaping and widening hole in the security posture of both our private sector and government systems. An increasing array of sophisticated state and non-state actors have the capability to steal, alter or destroy our sensitive data and, in the worst of cases, to manipulate from afar the process control systems that are meant to ensure the proper functioning of portions of our critical infrastructure. Moreover, the number of actors with the ability to utilize computers for illegal, harmful, and possibly devastating purposes continues to rise.

When assessing the extent of the cyber threat, the FBI considers both the sophistication and the intent of our adversaries. The most sophisticated actors have the ability to alter our hardware and software along the global supply chain route, conduct remote intrusions into our networks, establish the physical and technical presence necessary to re-route and monitor our wireless communications, and plant dangerous insiders within our private sector and government organizations. The actors that currently have all of these capabilities – which is a finding that is distinct from whether and when they are using them – include multiple nation states and likely include some organized crime groups.

In the cyber realm, the technical positioning an adversary requires to steal data typically provides them with the very same access and systems administrator rights that could be used for destructive purposes. As a result, computer network exploitation – the ability of foreign spies to monitor our networks and steal our secrets – might simultaneously provide our enemies with pre-positioned capabilities to conduct computer network attack – the ability to deny, disrupt, degrade, or destroy our information, our networks, and the infrastructure services that rely upon them.

With respect to organized crime groups, financially motivated cyber crime typically does not involve acts of violence or network destruction. The exception to this generality however is extortion. Cyber criminals can threaten to hold entire networks, or more simply the data on them, hostage to their demands. Often, cyber criminals have the technical sophistication and access to make good on their threats, especially if an insider is involved.

The FBI has not yet seen a high level of end-to-end cyber sophistication within terrorist organizations. Still, the FBI is aware of and investigating individuals who are affiliated with or sympathetic to al-Qaeda who have recognized and discussed the vulnerabilities of the U.S. infrastructure to cyber attack, who have demonstrated an interest in elevating their computer hacking skills, and who are seeking more sophisticated capabilities from outside of their close-knit circles. Should terrorists obtain such capabilities, they will be matched with destructive and deadly intent.

In addition, it is always worth remaining mindful that terrorists do not require long term, persistent network access to accomplish some or all of their goals. Rather, a compelling act of terror in cyberspace could take advantage of a limited window of opportunity to access and then destroy portions of our networked infrastructure. The likelihood that such an opportunity will present itself to terrorists is increased by the fact that we, as a nation, continue to deploy new technologies without having in place sufficient hardware or software assurance schemes, or sufficient security processes that extend through the entire lifecycle of our networks.”

Take control. Protect your identity. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses criminal hackers and identity theft on Fox News

U.S. Cyber Challenge to Defeat Criminal Identity Theft

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

President Obama has chimed in with a directive to review the nations cyber security as it relates to security and our critical infrastructures.

CNN recently reported about the “U.S. Cyber Challenge” to find and develop 10,000 cybersecurity specialists to help the U.S. regain the lead in cyberspace. In its simplest form, the U.S. Cyber Challenge participants are white-hats in training who play a game called NetWars, which is an online version of Capture the Flag, with competitors vying to penetrate and take control of target computer systems and then protect them from other intruders.

Hackers in this contest range from as young as 17 to 21 with perhaps little formal computer education who, nonetheless, could contribute to the defense of the nation’s cyber-networks. In many cases, organizers of the U.S. Cyber Challenge say, hackers’ skills go unrecognized or unappreciated by those around them and sometimes even by themselves.

“Organizers say the competition is aimed at identifying young people with exceptional computer skills and inspiring them to join the country’s woefully understaffed ranks of cybersecurity specialists needed to protect systems used by the military, industry and everyday people.”

Unfortunately your security, or lack thereof, is in the hands of others. Take control. Protect your identity. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses criminal hackers and identity theft on Fox News