DATE=11/29/02

TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

TITLE=CHEY COBB, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK, "NETWORK SECURITY FOR DUMMIES."

NUMBER=3-443

BYLINE=TOM CROSBY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

/// Editors: This interview is available in Dalet under SOD/English News Now Interviews in the folder for today or yesterday ///

HOST: Earlier this week , U-S authorities said they had broken up the largest identity theft case to date. Three men have been charged with illegally accessing personal and credit information of 30-thousand people, and selling that information. Initial estimates are that nearly three-million dollars was taken from the victims, who, in many cases, were totally unaware of what was going on. Authorities fear the numbers of victims in this case and the amount of money taken could go much higher.

Chey (pron: Shay) Cobb is an authority on identity theft and author of the book "Network Security for Dummies." She is also a former technical security advisor to a top U-S intelligence agency. She tells V-O-A's Tom Crosby, identity theft is a far more common crime than most people imagine.

MS. COBB: This sort of crime has been going on for years. It has just taken a large attack, or a large amount of fraud, for the public to take notice.

MR. CROSBY: And this is a pretty big one, isn't it?

MS. COBB: Oh, it's tremendous. We don't even know how much it's going to cost us, yet.

MR. CROSBY: When we look at trying to secure our financial records, what is it that most of us are doing wrong?

MS. COBB: Well, there are a number of things people are doing wrong. I'll start with the computers. First of all, you have to protect your computers against unauthorized access. And there are dozens of things you can do in that regard. Some other things you can do, or don't do, is don't use your mother's maiden name when you're applying for credit or anything like that. Use your grandmother's maiden name or your father's middle name, or a name that you can remember, and use that consistently.

Don't carry your credit card with you, for one thing. That gives thieves immediate access to that number. And shred and tear all mail that you get in your household, whether you think it has personal information or not. Because a lot of our mail does have a lot of personal information. You should look at your credit bureau report at least one time a year. Ask what your company is doing to protect your private information, because they have a lot of information on you, too.

MR. CROSBY: What about somebody like myself, who doesn't use the Internet or computers to conduct financial business, does that necessarily mean, though, that these people still can't get access to such things as my credit card numbers?

MS. COBB: Oh, no; they can very easily get access to that sort of information. Again, by going through your trash, they can come up with a lot of information. And then, using that information, they can use what is called social engineering, which is just a specialized sort of con job against agencies and companies that have information, to get them to give that information to you.

MR. CROSBY: Now, when someone gets a hold of my identity, what can they do with it?

MS. COBB: They can change the address for all your bills, so that you don't know what's being billed. They can have new credit cards issued to their name. They can open up store accounts. They can rent houses and buy houses in your name. And also, if they get arrested and ticketed or charged or anything, it also goes on your record.

MR. CROSBY: But I might never know about it.

MS. COBB: You might never know about it until too late.

MR. CROSBY: When we look at the extent of this crime, do we have some idea of just how pervasive it is right now?

MS. COBB: I don't think so, because it's new in the public's mind. I don't think anybody has really taken a good look at how pervasive it is.

MR. CROSBY: What about overseas, does this kind of theft occur there? And are you just as vulnerable if you're living in England or France or someplace like that?

MS. COBB: I'm not really sure about other countries, but I do know, in the U.K., since I used to live there, they don't have a national identity number such as we have, like a Social Security number. So, they can't steal identities as easily and have it go throughout everything. They do steal identities, though, in that country as well.

MR. CROSBY: What is it that people can do with their individual home computers to protect themselves?

MS. COBB: If they're on a broadband connection, like D-S-L or cable modem, they should certainly have a personal firewall installed. And there are free firewalls available for personal use. They should also use anti-virus, because there are some viruses around that will pick a file at random off your own computer and send it out to people. So, it could be a financial file. You want to password protect as many things as possible with a good password. And don't let your computer store your passwords and your credit card information for you.

HOST: Chey (pron: Shay) Cobb, an authority on identity theft and author of the book "Network Security for Dummies" talking with V-O-A's Tom Crosby from her home in St. Augustine, Florida.

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