How do you know if your identity has been stolen?

Companies have different policies for notifying customers when they discover that someone has accessed a customer database. However, you should be aware of changes in your normal account activity. The following are examples of changes that could indicate that someone has accessed your information:

unusual or unexplainable charges on your bills
phone calls or bills for accounts, products, or services that you do not have
failure to receive regular bills or mail
new, strange accounts appearing on your credit report
unexpected denial of your credit card

now after knowing your identity has been stolen ,comes another important question

"What can you do if you think, or know, that your identity has been stolen? .
Recovering from identity theft can be a long, stressful, and potentially costly process. Many credit card companies have adopted policies that try to minimize the amount of money you are liable for, but the implications can extend beyond your existing accounts.
dear my friend do you what should you do now? what actions you must have? please give me your ideas .
thank you
sanaz

How are victims of online identity theft chosen?

Identity theft is usually a crime of opportunity, so you may be victimized simply because your information is available. Thieves may target customers of certain companies for a variety of reasons; for example, a company database is easily accessible, the demographics of the customers are appealing, or there is a market for specific information. If your information is stored in a database that is compromised, you may become a victim of identity theft.

This is unfortunately happening almost every day.identity theft is not something new. there is no way to guarantee that you will not be a victim of online identity theft. However, there are ways to minimize your risk.
in my opinion one important way is being aware of your account activity.pay attention to what you post on websites the same as your statements.do not let every one to have an access to your personal information ,even your picture! to be sure ,you are secured also check your credit report yearly. get the report from main credit reporting companies .
the other way to protect yourself as I see it ,is to Use and maintain anti-virus software and a firewall.to be secured from viruses and Trojan horses you need an up-to -date anti-virus because those trojans can easily steal data on your own computer.
there must be some other ways to not be victims of online identity theft , do you know them ? please help me with that.

what is cyber theft ?

Computer crime or cybercrime refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network, where the computers may or may not have played an instrumental part in the commission of the crime (Moore 2000). Issues surrounding this type of crime have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright infringement, child porn, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise.
On the global level, both governments and non-state actors continue to grow in importance, with the ability to engage in such activities as espionage, financial theft, and other cross-border crimes sometimes referred to as cyber warfare. The international legal system is attempting to hold actors accountable for their actions, with the International Criminal Court among the few addressing this threat.

cyber thefts nowadays are becoming a big concern .computer viruses are designed to steal the personal information such as bank account numbers, credit cards data.worms and Trojan horses are attaching many computer programs.social networking sites, like Facebook, are among the most commonly targeted because of their huge communities of users .
In my opinion ,these uncertanties and unsecured sites makes people reluctant of using internet and computers as a means of purchasing goods and services.
Experts say Internet users can keep safe by being circumspect about sharing personal information, and making sure their computers have up-to-date anti-virus programs. but can it be really like that? as I see that, even using up-to-date anti-virus programs don't makes us secured . I myself had face a lot of problems even though I use anti-viruses.
What is your opinion?

Tips Preventing Cyber Theft

There are many ways to prevent oneself to be the next victim of cyber theft.

Apart from equipping yourself with relevant legal knowledge, on the technical aspect, you should have the below basic programming knowledge (I got this from an email forwarded by my friend):

The main difference between http:// and https:// is i t’s all about keeping you secure .
HTTP stands for HyperText Transport Protocol, which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a protocol
(a language, in a manner of speaking) for information to be passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

The important thing is the letter S which makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

The S (big surprise) stands for “Secure“.

If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://.

This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular ‘unsecure’ language.

In other words, it is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the website.


If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

This is why you never ever ever enter your credit card number in an http website!

But if the web address begins with https://, that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

You understand why this is so important, right?

If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://.

If it doesn’t, there’s no way you’re going to enter sensitive information like a credit card number!

second Famous Hacker of All Time-Adrian Lamo

Adrian Lamo: Lamo's claim to fame is his break-ins at major organizations like The New York Times and Microsoft. Dubbed the "homeless hacker," he used Internet connections at Kinko's, coffee shops and libraries to do his intrusions. In a profile article, "He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night," Lamo reflects, "I have a laptop in Pittsburgh, a change of clothes in D.C. It kind of redefines the term multi-jurisdictional."
Lamo's intrusions consisted mainly of penetration testing, in which he found flaws in security, exploited them and then informed companies of their shortcomings. His hits include Yahoo!, Bank of America, Citigroup and Cingular. When white hat hackers are hired by companies to do penetration testing, it's legal. What Lamo did is not.
When he broke into The New York Times' intranet, things got serious. He added himself to a list of experts and viewed personal information on contributors, including Social Security numbers. Lamo also hacked into The Times' LexisNexis account to research high-profile subject matter.
For his intrusion at The New York Times, Lamo was ordered to pay approximately $65,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation, which expired January 16, 2007. Lamo is currently working as an award-winning journalist and public speaker.

CYBERLAW

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CYBERLAW ?
Cyberlaw is a term that encapsulates the legal issues related to use of communicative, transactional, and distributive aspects of networked information devices and technologies. It is less a distinct field of law in the way that property or contract are, as it is a domain covering many areas of law and regulation. Some leading topics include intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression, and jurisdiction.
Cyber Law is the law governing computers and the Internet.

In today's highly digitalized world, almost everyone is affected by cyber law. Let us take a few examples:

1-Almost all transactions in shares are in demat form.

2-Almost all companies extensively depend upon their computer networks and keep their valuable data in electronic form.

3-Government forms including income tax returns, company law forms etc are now filled in electronic form.

4-Consumers are increasingly using credit cards for shopping.

5-Most people are using email, cell phones and SMS messages for communication.

6-Even in "non-cyber crime" cases, important evidence is found in computers / cell phones e.g. in cases of divorce, murder, kidnapping, tax evasion, organized crime, terrorist operations, counterfeit currency etc.

7-Cyber crime cases such as online banking frauds, online share trading fraud, source code theft, credit card fraud, tax evasion, virus attacks, cyber sabotage, phishing attacks, email hijacking, denial of service, hacking, pornography etc are becoming common. Digital signatures and e-contracts are fast replacing conventional methods of transacting business.