Identity Theft to Cyber Security -Looking at the whole Elephant

In late 2017, Rep Will Hurd, Chairman of Information Technology was interviewed on TV on the subject of Cyber security wherein he made a clear point that "we as a nation have to fight this crime collectively. The United States needs to work with other countries to help prevent future cyber-attacks by way of beefing up criminal laws"

During an appearance on "The Joe Pags Show," Hurd talked about "Cybersecurity Awareness Month," an October (2017) effort to generate more discussion about cyberattacks.

Regarding the August 2017 theft of 143 millions of Americans' (one in each household) digital information from Equifax, Hurd said, "there was no violation of the law by the company. Yes, the attackers that were stealing it were violating the law and guess what? I guarantee you that attacker started their attack from one of these countries that doesn't have criminal laws when it comes to cyber-attacks".

It is interesting to note that in 2003, when FACTA was signed into Law, businesses were advised to take certain steps at worksite to protect information of, not only their employees and their families, but also of vendors, and consumer. Federal Trade Commission also developed very rich consumer educational tools which can empower American family and business consumer with knowledge to become proactive to address this issue by taking some preventive measures to minimize the risk, as well as use FREE tools to have something tangible in place to mitigate the risk with, if ever there is a breach.

Since FTC do not have a dedicated field force to go out and educate american consumer (both families and businesses), it is upto us, the advisors / entrepreneurs, to learn all aspects of Identity Theft (The WHOLE ELEPHANT) and not just trunk and the tail (Credit monitoring, Credit Cards, and Financials) so that we all can benefit from having culture of security around us at grassroots level.

Here is the FTC website: www.ftc.gov where there is tons of information video as well as in print available to be shipped FREE. Here are some of the topics to look information on:-

1. Criminal and Character Identity Theft,
2. Medical Identity Theft,
3. Drivers' License Id theft,
4. Business Scams,
5. Medical Identity theft booklet for Medical Professionals,
6. Free Credit Report,
7. Child ID Theft,
8. Seniors ID Theft & scams
9. Immigration ID Theft

10. Social Security ID Theft

11. Sex Offender, registering at neighboring homes when come out of prisons

12. Payday Loans,

13. Liens against property

Since there are far too many companies adding Cyber Security and ID Theft into their offerings, it gets confusing for consumer. I came across an interview of one of the nation's forensic authority, Mr Morgan Wright which in a nutshell gives great pointers as to what to look for in a robust protection so not to leave a chance. I have placed it on my website abcbenefits.org

We have assisted many Benefit Brokers, Business Advisors and Entrepreneurs in getting them orientated to bring information to consumer at worksite via employee training and voluntary benefit sessions nationwide, without losing focus from their current business / offerings. This is win win for all and is noble work too.