Identity Theft

“Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.” (The United States Department of Justce)In today’s world where people are very dependent on internet and technology, identity theft has become a major issue for both consumers and business. Internet became a convenient, easy, and quick solution to everything starting from education, work, accessing medical records, paying bills, to shopping to fulfill daily task while coping up with the busy life. People are entering personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, and even bank information on a daily basis on different websites thinking that particular site is trustworthy and secure. However, no matter how secure and safe the site claims to be, there can be a glitch to the system anytime and the site can be hacked by different programs created and used by hackers which they use to successfully steal and use valuable personal information of other people towards excessive expenses. Identity theft is a process online hackers developing programs to breach the cyber security of different organizations’ websites to usually obtain personal data for example bank account information, drivers’ license number, social security to obtain large amount of money from consumers. Victims of identity theft can be in a vulnerable situation and can lose their house and job, face financial penalties, and can get punished for the crime they have never committed. As of September 2014, according to Identity Theft Recourse Center, about 76 million personal records were exposed through online security breaches in areas including medical, government, education, and other businesses.1
Ethically, Identity theft is a federal crime. Identity theft can be many types such as credit card theft, driver’s license fraud, mail