Madam Speaker, as a longtime member of the House Judiciary Committee, I am deeply concerned about the urgent need to protect Americans from rampant identity theft. During my six years as Chairman of the subcommittee that dealt with…
Madam Speaker, as a longtime member of the House Judiciary Committee, I am deeply concerned about the urgent need to protect Americans from rampant identity theft. During my six years as Chairman of the subcommittee that dealt with intellectual property matters, we often addressed issues affecting this criminal activity.
Identity theft occurs when someone is able to use another person's identifying information, including their name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without that person's permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. It is even a threat to our national security.
The Federal Trade Commission announced on February 26 that identity theft was the most reported complaint in 2008. The FTC estimates that as many as nine million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
Our government has begun a review that puts the focus on protecting the nation's digital infrastructure against cyber-attacks. I commend the Obama Administration for recognizing this major problem and for beginning to take constructive steps to deal with it.
If you are interested in learning more about this important matter, I urge you to read a column that was written by Michael J. Schultz for the Washington Times on February 20.
``President Barack Obama named Melissa Hathaway to lead a
major review of this nation's cybersecurity. Her selection
reflects the administration's desire to protect the
government's information technology systems from security
threats.
``The General Accounting Office characterized the
government's computer system as a ``high risk'' area. This
was underscored when the Federal Aviation Administration
recently admitted its computer system was ``hacked'' and that
the 48 files breached contained the names and Social Security
numbers of more than 45,000 employees.
``While it is critical that the government's information
networks be protected from terrorists and hackers alike, it
is equally important that the administration's review also
focus on ways to better protect every American's digital
identities, especially when they use credit cards or the
Internet.
``Digital identity misuse or theft leaves victims exposed
to fraud that could lead to physical, emotional and financial
harm. People from all walks of life have been victimized with
those least able to absorb the punishment among the hardest
hit.
``A recent survey by Jupiter Research concluded a total of
10 million Americans were victims of identity fraud in 2008,
at an average cost of $496. Of these, 19 percent were
defrauded while conducting online transactions.
``Millions of other Americans have suffered financial
losses when their credit cards have been compromised. In
addition, thousands of merchants have lost merchandise or
funds when credit cards have been misused or stolen cards
presented to make a purchase. Online merchants lost more than
$10 billion in 2007 due to identity fraud.
``The misuse of prepaid cards presents yet another massive
problem. Millions of stored value cards (gift cards, payroll
cards, prepaid cards) have no Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
protection when they are stolen and thus thieves can spend
them as easily as cash, depleting the true owner of their
hard-earned savings.
``Most Americans do not realize that debit cards, which
often carry the insignia of a credit card, do not offer the
same protection as regular credit cards, and may only learn
this when the cards are stolen.
``Unfortunately, the dangers go far beyond potential
financial loses. A recently well-publicized case involved a
14-year-old girl who committed suicide when an adult
pretended to be a boy on MySpace and then dumped her in a
degrading way.
``Another example of the misuse of digital identities
occurs when already overworked 911 call centers get
``swatted'' by prank callers able to imitate another number.
These types of ``pranks'' severely limit first responders'
ability to act in times of crisis, which places the entire
community at risk when real emergencies require responses by
fire or police departments.
``The upcoming review by the Obama administration should
also address the sad truth that many of the so-called
protections are inadequate to the dangers. For example, PINs
or passwords often offer relatively little identity
validation or protection. And most people have so many
different passwords they frequently write them down and keep
them with their cards, so when one is stolen the protection
is often gone with it.
``Professional hackers can easily steal credit card
information from individuals as well as from larger systems.
More than 100 million credit card accounts were exposed when
Heartland Payment Systems had its data centers breached in
December 2008, enabling the thieves to subvert any current
anti-fraud technology present. TJX Corp. had millions of
credit card accounts exposed when they had their data centers
breached.
``RBS WorldPay, one of the largest payment processors in
the world, also had millions of accounts stolen when their
data centers were breached.
``Clearly the old methods of automated protection are no
longer adequate. Thus, we must implement systems that better
validate digital identities to protect us as individuals and
companies.
``Just as the government was wrong in allowing loose self-
regulation of the financial, automotive and mortgage
industries, it also has been far too lax in ensuring
protection for consumers and companies that use payments
cards of any type on the Internet.
``As a direct result of these conditions, we have seen a
precipitous increase in reported credit card and Internet
fraud. All users are at risk, but it is our children who are
most vulnerable.
``The upcoming review of cybersecurity has the immediate
responsibility to provide broadly defined protection. In
addition to improving how to better protect our
infrastructure from potential homeland security breaches from
those with ill intent toward the United States, the
administration should address how to use validated digital
identities to prevent the abuses that have caused significant
harm to individuals and businesses.''