Fed Stiffens ID Theft Penalties, Schwarzenegger Kills California Breach BillIdentity thieves, if a new federal ID theft law is enforced, will now face stiffer federal penalties for their crimes. Federal prosecutors will also have increased leeway to pursue more ID theft cases. Also, for the second time in 12 months, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a new California Data Breach Bill. Was that a good idea?
As anyone who has been following data security is aware, in July 2003 the California Data Breach Disclosure Law (known in those days as SB 1386) went into effect. This law had a profound impact in raising public and policymaker awareness on just how many data breaches were occurring across the country. Before SB 1386, while many security professionals knew there were far more breaches occurring than being reported, it was difficult to find much evidence to prove it. Today, every time a hacker, or anyone without authorization for that matter, could have obtained unencrypted account information from a lost notebook, hacked server, or backup tape: customers are told.
One of the most important aspects of SB 1386 was that it didn’t force technological standards, or best practices, on companies. If certain types of data were accessed by someone who was not authorized to see it and that data was not encrypted, a mandatory breech notification to those affected is triggered.
..Now, the prosecution of data thieves, brings us to the bill President Bush signed last week into law, the The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008. No more will federal prosecutors need to show $5,000 in damages to bring charges. ...(Full text at www.informationweek.com)
To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".
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