Data Breach Incidents Up 50 Percent In 2008

January 6, 2009 9:52 a.m. EST

San Diego, CA (AHN) - Data breach incidents rose to 656 in 2008, up by almost 50 percent from 446 in 2007. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the 656 breaches involved at least 35.7 million personal records of Americans.

The ITRC said about 37 percent of breaches took place in the corporate world, while 20 percent occurred in educational institutions. It added data theft from current and former employees rose to 16 percent in 2008 from 7 percent in 2007.

Linda Foley, co-founder of the center, explained to the Washington Post, "This may be reflective of the economy, or the fact that there are more organized crime rings going after company information using insiders."

In response to this worrying trend, many organizations - mostly banks - have shown interest in technology that would assist them detect potential threat from workers, said Amir Orad, chief marketing officer of fraud prevention firm Actimize.

In mid-December, the ITRC identified potential identity theft scams for 2009. It includes real estate, credit card and job scams. A bulk of these scams will be perpetrated by organized crime groups, including those done online. The tight credit situation will also lead to a rise in check frauds and other forms of identity theft crimes such as the use by other people of Social Security numbers of children, dead people, senior citizens and critically ill patients.