October 20, 2005
Professor's assessment helps protect personal information online
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – As identity theft and online fraud become more and more common, constant vigilance and personal assessment are the keys to protecting yourself from becoming a victim, a Purdue professor said.
Beverly J. Davis, an associate professor of organizational leadership and supervision, has developed an assessment individuals can use to determine their levels of vigilance in protecting their identity while online.
The PREPARE assessment helps people evaluate their practices as well as helping them to then develop strategies to better protect themselves in the future. Users are asked to look for "preventative measures," engage in "retrospection," participate in "protection investment," "anticipate" future activity and "re-evaluate yearly," said Davis, who teaches at the College of Technology's South Bend campus.
"There isn't one thing a person can do to protect themselves," she said. "A person must be continually vigilant about their personal information. Frequent credit report checks, research about online companies and frequent re-evaluation are all essential pieces to protecting your information and making yourself a less likely victim of fraud and identity theft."
In the assessment, people are asked to rate themselves in 15 different categories relating to online behavior, including the number of online purchases, knowledge of hacker practices and willingness to provide personal information online. The assessment then gives them a score indicating their general preparedness, but it also goes a step further and asks them to use their answers to specific questions to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
The PREPARE assessment was originally developed for businesses to evaluate their protection. Davis then adapted it for individual use.
As personal information has become more and more common online through advances in technology, it has also become more and more of a target, Davis said. In 2004, there were more than 635,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints nationwide, with losses reported at more than $547 million. Internet-related complaints accounted for more than half of those.
Reports of complaints of theft related to electronic fund transfers more than doubled between 2002 and 2004.
"This is a major concern for anyone who uses the Internet," Davis said. "Every indication is that this type of fraud will continue to grow. As technology continues to advance and more transactions are completed online and more information is kept digitally, the dangers to people's privacy and personal information will also continue to increase. It is up to each individual to do everything they can to protect themselves.
In addition to the assessment, Davis offers several suggestions to help protect personal information online:
• Check your credit report frequently and thoroughly. Cancel credit cards immediately if you see any unauthorized activity.
• Obtain a credit card with a low spending limit and use it for all of your online purchases. If someone is able to steal information for that card, they can cause less damage than with your primary credit card.
• Ask a trusted techno-savvy person to attempt to hack into your personal information.
• Ask yourself who might attempt to steal your information and the specific information they would want. Think about the same factors for businesses you send information to, and factor that into your decisions.
• Invest in up-to-date virus and firewall protection.
• Do research into the experience of others who have had their personal information stolen online. Learn from their mistakes.
• Consider avoiding Web sites that generate massive amounts of spam e-mail after visiting them.
• Carefully select passwords that are difficult to guess and change them frequently.
• Make sure all members of your family, including children, are educated about the fundamentals and importance of security.
• As you add new technologies to your life – such as advanced cell phones or your bank's automatic bill payment options – educate yourself about the potential risks associated with them.
• Check your credit report and other accounts at least once a year. Protecting personal information is not a one-time activity.
Writer: Matt Holsapple, (765) 494-2073, mholsapple@purdue.edu
Source: Beverly J. Davis, (574) 520-5581, bevjd@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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