Who is Protecting Your Digital Identity

Game Changers Silicon Valley

We hear a great deal of discussion about protecting access to our digital assets, bank accounts, travel services, retail sites and even government agencies like the IRS and State Tax Authorities. The recommendations focus on creating a secure name and password, two-factor authentication and possibly a biometric verification such as a fingerprint or voice print.

During the RSA conference in San Francisco, I came across another source of digital identity theft, easily overlooked and there is was, staring me in the face one morning when I checked my name on a “financial aggregation” web site. These are sites that collect information about each of us and then sell that information to anyone, anyone who will attest with an online click that they will only use the information in an authorized procedure, such as qualifying for benefits, or employment verification.

As part of the podcast series on cybersecurity issues, I met with a company that specialized in providing identity verification to financial companies in their online registrations. The conversation with Dean Nicholls from Jumio provided insights into the methods used to create false digital identities and the technology to detect and deny the creation of these digital identities.