We are dedicated to bringing you an updated list of news stories important to your business.Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Punishing Sloppy Security
The Federal Trade Commission released information yesterday on a settlement it reached recently in a case involving a fairly large mortgage company that falsely claimed to be protecting the personal and financial details of its customers. Reading the details of the case, I'm starting to wonder just how pervasive these kinds of atrocious security practices really are.
The company was Tuckerton, N.J.-based Superior Mortgage Corp., a lender with 40 branch offices in 10 states and multiple Web sites. The FTC sued Superior for violating federal safeguard rules on data privacy, alleging the company routinely transmitted customers' Social Security numbers, credit histories, credit card numbers and other sensitive information via unencrypted e-mail .
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College-aged increasingly fall victim to ID theft
STAFF WRITER
October 10, 2005
Something as simple as taking out the garbage or buying a shirt online can make people victims of identity theft, one of the country’s most rapidly growing crimes.
And recent studies have found college students to be an especially vulnerable population.
According to “Customary Focus 2005: Insurance,” a study conducted by consumer research organization Vertis , identity theft is on the rise.
The study showed that the younger generation, who might be at higher risk for fraud, were more concerned. Thirty-eight percent of men and 23 percent of women ages 18 to 24 said they were interested in purchasing identity theft insurance.
Identity Theft 911 is an organization dedicated to preventing identity theft crimes and helping victims. Judd Rousseau, chief operating officer and director of fraud operations, says he also has seen the drastic increase in the crime and wants to help.
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Thursday, October 13, 2005
Americas Fastest Growing Crime
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America! Over 12.7 percent of Americans reported they were victims of Identity Theft in the last five years! The misuse of existing credit card accounts has increased to over 71 percent in the last two years. Over all, Identity Theft has increased over 41 percent in the same period.
Identity Theft is a massive crime and it is virtually without risk. Unbelievably, only 25 percent of Identity Theft victims report this crime to the police.
In 2002, estimated financial losses to American businesses were over $33 billion dollars. The average victim lost over $10,200.00, and that does not begin to include the cost needed to recover from the abuse. On average a victim needed over 30 hours to recover from the theft. Significantly, the sooner the theft was discovered, the less the monetary damage and the quicker the recovery.
Overall, the amount of time needed for resolution increased as the length of time required for discovery increased. Seventy-six percent of the victims who discovered the theft within one month took less than 10 hours to resolve the issue. When the theft was discovered between one and five months only 59 percent were able to resolve the problem within ten hours. For those that discovered the theft more than six months after the event, less than 20 percent were able to reach a resolution in less than 10 hours.
Clearly, time is a critical component in protecting yourself and recovering from Identity Theft. Quick discovery can help reduce the amount of monetary damage AND the number of problems you may encounter when attempting to clean up the resulting mess!
Identity theft is more like a family of crimes. It takes several different forms.
New Account Fraud -
The most common form of Identity Theft is when the criminal obtains your personal information and uses it to obtain credit in your name.
Existing Account Fraud -
The second category concerns misuse of existing accounts. Again, the same documentation needed to open new accounts can be used to access the victim’s current accounts
Child Identity Fraud -
In this instance, a thief steals the identity of a child. Here is the catch with this one. You or your child may not know about the theft until they grow up and get out on their own! The thief can have almost twenty years to destroy the child’s name. Luckily, this is easy to clean up. Not even your credit company is going to believe a three year old applied for a loan to buy a car!
Deceased Persons Fraud -
This one can be almost as insidious as Child Identity Theft. Why, because who is going to complain! Here the thief steals the identity of a recently deceased person. With no one to complain, how long it can go on.
Work Place Identity Theft -
Here things get a little tricky. This type of identity theft can happen whether or not you know the assailant. In its simplest form, someone at your work steals your personal information and then your identity. That is bad enough, but what about someone stealing the information you entrust with a company?
Immigration Fraud -
Identity Theft is a problem on the immigration front also. Illegal aliens often attempt to use stolen or falsified documentation to enter the country. Your documentation can be used to establish the illegal immigrant’s right to work, in the United States.
Criminal Record Fraud -
The last type of Identity Theft is perhaps the most damaging! In this instance, the thief uses your information to leave you with a criminal record!
Imagine being pulled over for a speeding ticket only to find out you had several warrants out for your arrest!
How do you prevent Identity Theft? You prevent it by being proactive! Check your credit reports at least yearly! Check Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.
Equifax: (800) 525-6285
Experian: (800) 301-7195
Trans Union: (800) 680-7289
Be careful of how you dispose of your old mail. Utility bills Phone bills, school papers and many other items can give an identity thief all the ammunition needed to steal your life.
Pay attention to mail that you receive or do not receive, if you suddenly stop getting your credit card bill call the company and find out why. Your mailing address may have been changed without you knowing about it.
Identity theft can ruin your life if left undiscovered. Counter this by actively monitoring your credit and other accounts. Like other criminals, these thieves look for victims. People who proactively look after themselves and their families are seldom mistaken for victims.
Before you do anything else, call all three of the numbers listed above and order a copy of your credit report. Do it, right now!
Rick Parrott, MCP - Secure Publications, a subsiderary of SA Secure, is a San Antonio based publishing company dedicated to providing information to help ordinary people protect themselves and their families. Please visit http://www.securepublications.com or http://www.sasecure.net to get more information on Identity Theft and other problems.
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Top 10 Principles for Positive Business Ethics
This morning, I read about a company using on-line auctions to defraud customers. Last week, I consulted on an ethics complaint where a business coach betrayed a client’s confidentiality. And, recently a Physician was convicted of insider trading based on information from a patient, a violation of both business ethics and her professional ethics.
Business ethics are the key to profits. If clients and customers don’t trust you, and your business ethics, they will not do business with you. Would you buy from a company you didn’t trust? Of course not!
Business ethics have become a hot-button topic. There are often ethical conflicts between making money, and doing what is right. There can be dilemmas about doing what is best for your employer, what’s best for your own career, and what’s best for the customer. Business ethics is about negotiating these mine-fields. Here are my Top 10 Principles for Positive Business Ethics:
1. Business Ethics are built on Personal Ethics. There is no real separation between doing what is right in business, and playing fair, telling the truth and being ethical in your personal life.
2. Business Ethics are based on Fairness. Would a dis-interested observer agree that both sides are being treated fairly? Are both sides negotiating in good faith? Does each transaction take place on a “level playing field”? If so, the basic principles of ethics are being met.
3. Business Ethics require Integrity. Integrity refers to whole-ness, reliability and consistency. Ethical businesses treat people with respect, honesty and integrity. They back up their promises, and they keep their commitments.
4. Business Ethics require Truth-telling. The days when a business could sell a defective product and hide behind the “buyer beware” defense are long gone. You can sell products or services that have limitations, defects or are out-dated, but not as first-class, new merchandise. Truth in advertising is not only the law, business ethics require it.
5. Business Ethics require Dependability. If your company is new, unstable, about to be sold, or going out of business, ethics requires that you let clients and customers know this. Ethical businesses can be relied upon to be available to solve problems, answer questions and provide support.
6. Business Ethics require a Business Plan. A company’s ethics are built on its image of itself and its vision of the future and its role in the community. Business ethics do not happen in a vacuum. The clearer the company’s plan for growth, stability, profits and service, the stronger its commitment to ethical business practices.
7. Business Ethics apply Internally and Externally. Ethical businesses treat both customers and employees with respect and fairness. Ethics is about respect in the conference room, negotiating in good faith, keeping promises and meeting obligations to staff, employers, vendors and customers. The scope is universal.
8. Business Ethics require a Profit. Ethical businesses are well-run, well-managed, have effective internal controls, and clear expectations of growth. Ethics is about how we live in the present to prepare for the future, and a business without profits (or a plan to create them) is not meeting its ethical obligations to prepare for the future well-being of the company, its employees and customers.
9. Business Ethics are values-based. The law, and professional organizations, must produce written standards that are inflexible and universal. While they may talk about “ethics”, these documents are usually prescriptive and refer to minimal standards. Ethics are about values, ideals and aspirations. Ethical businesses may not always live up to their ideals, but they are clear about their intent.
10. Business Ethics come from the Boss. Leadership sets the tone, in every area of a business. Ethics are either central to the way a company functions, or they are not. The executives and managers either lead the way, or they communicate that cutting corners, deception and dis-respect are acceptable. Line staff will always rise, or sink, to the level of performance they see modeled above them. Business ethics starts at the top.
Ethics is about the quality of our lives, the quality of our service, and ultimately, about the bottom line. An unhappy customer complains to an average of 16 people. Treating employees, customers, vendors and the public in an ethical, fair and open way is not only the right thing, in the long run, it’s the only way to stay in business.
Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It's all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com
Monday, October 10, 2005
High Speed Laminating From Ledco
The LEDCO division of Graphic Laminating introduces a new high-speed, in-line laminator system featuring a precision engineered feeder that automatically separates sheets, a 25-inch high-speed laminator that provides variable-speed operation up to 65 feet-per-minute, and a custom-designed cutter that automatically cuts film up to 50 mil thick.
“Dollar for dollar, there is no other in-line laminator system on the market that can touch the value of this system. In addition to its unique features and quality workmanship, the system operates flawlessly, delivers consistent and reliable results, and is backed by our two-year warranty,” said Mike Hannon, president of Graphic Laminating. “It easily compares to systems priced four and five times more.”
The new system’s automatic feeder is completely self-contained and mounted on casters for easy movement. Precision engineered with minimum set-up adjustments, the feeder accurately separates the top sheet from the remaining stack and quickly forwards it to the high-speed laminator. The stack table is motorized and adjusts automatically throughout the process for trouble-free operation.
The 25-inch, high performance “Thoroughbred” laminator is designed to provide years of service with minimum maintenance. The laminator includes intelligent heat controllers that display the set temperature and the actual temperature. A microprocessor anticipates the heat demand of each job and maintains the actual temperature within a few degrees of the set temperature. Other features include a swing-away top heat shoe to reduce film abrasion; built-in retractable slitters to remove scrap from both sides of each sheet during lamination; silicone rubber laminating and pull rollers for superior release quality; dual tension knobs for wrinkle-free work and forced air cooling with built-in chill rollers to provide contact cooling during high-speed flat lamination.
The high-speed, precision cutter is designed to automatically cut film up to 50 mil thick. It includes levers to open and close feed rollers and a feed tray with easily adjustable guides that are machined square for precise web travel. The high speed cutter also offers spontaneous speed adjustment during operation, easy-to interchange cutting blades, and a control panel that displays all settings before, during and after operation. Because it requires no pneumatics, the cutter is simpleto install and operate.
Graphic Laminating, Inc., headquartered in Solon, Ohio, provides laminating equipment, laminating films, and laminating services to individuals, corporations, and institutions. The management of Graphic Laminating originated thermal lamination technology in the 1950’s. Since then, the company has expanded to become the leading supplier of high-quality films and is the only laminating equipment manufacturer with an in-house, full service laminating facility.
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Identity Theft Insurance
By JILIAN MINCER
Dow Jones Newswires
The advertisements are intentionally frightening: If someone steals your identity, you could lose your home, your job, even your life.
The ads are meant to scare you into buying identity-theft protection. And while the problem is real, insurance isn’t always the answer.
In fact, most consumers could better protect their identities if they guard their Social Security numbers, read their bank and credit-card statements, request their free credit reports and enroll in state security freeze programs.
“If it hits, it could be quite destructive to your life for a long time,” said Linda Foley, co-director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. “Identity theft is not a picnic, but it is repairable.”...
Shredders Become Must-Have Gadget
Jenn Abelson
Boston Globe October 5, 2005
Kate Luchini says she really isn't a paranoid person. But after she discovered a stranger rummaging through her trash on a quiet cul-de-sac in Salem, Mass., Luchini recently armed herself with a $27 shredder on sale at Target.
"I never thought I would get a shredder, but it was weird having someone look through my garbage," Luchini said. "I plan to shred bank statements, credit card offers, and who knows what else."
Paper shredders, once associated with high-profile evidence trashers from Oliver North to Enron executives, have gone mainstream thanks to growing concerns about identity theft. There have been dozens of major identity theft cases this year, affecting nearly 10 million Americans, and new reports show these crimes are more frequently committed using bank statements and other personal documents than over the Internet.
In June, the federal government enacted the nation's first shredding law...Read Full Story
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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Duplo USA Announces Its DC-545HC Slitter/Cutter/Creaser
Duplo U.S.A. announced the introduction of its DC-545HC Slitter/Cutter/Creaser through Canon U.S.A.’S Imaging Systems Group Alliance and Industry Marketing (AIM) program. This pairing of Canon digital color printing systems and Duplo finishing equipment will provide customers in the production and commercial printing marketplace with a streamlined solution for the finishing of short-run digital color print jobs.
“In order to achieve true print on demand, finishing on demand is a must. Users are able to immediately take digitally printed output directly off the print device and load it into the DC-545HC’s high capacity feeder,” says Duplo Vice President of Sales Peter Tu. “Canon U.S.A., as the market brand leader in both color and black and white copiers, greatly expands our ability to present customers with a truly efficient solution to their short-run digital needs.”
Increasing workflow efficiency and productivity is at the height of concern for many businesses and print shops. Duplo’s DC-545HC provides complementary finishing features for documents printed on Canon imageRUNNER® and CLC devices. By combining the functionality of multiple devices, the DC-545HC delivers value by reducing production time (single pass required, as opposed to multiple passes in multiple devices) and freeing up valuable floor space.
The DC-545HC Slitter/Cutter/Creaser is a versatile off-line finishing solution for short-runs of the on-demand digital print market. The device slits, cuts, and creases documents in a single pass producing a wide variety of full-bleed applications such as business cards, post cards, greeting cards, brochures, direct mailers and more. The DC-545HC neatly slits and trims white borders left by digital printers and eliminates image cracking by creasing the fold line.
For more information on this and other Duplo products visit Factory Express or call (800) 399-2564
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Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Fight Identity Theft
By: ByteEnable
California – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation last week that will help prevent identity theft in California. Among the provisions, the legislation will increase the penalties for "spam," ban the use of equipment to make fake documents, prohibit prisoners from accessing personal information while in work programs, and authorize the Department of Managed Healthcare to perform criminal background checks for state employees and others who have access to medical information.
"Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "We must do everything we can to close the vulnerable pathways that allow thieves to steal personal information. The effects of identity theft can be devastating and take years to recover from."
Governor Schwarzenegger signed the following legislation:
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The Shredder is Going Mainstream as Worries Over Identity Theft Rise
Kate Luchini says she really isn't a paranoid person. But after she discovered a stranger rummaging through her trash on a quiet cul-de-sac in Salem, Luchini recently armed herself with a $27 shredder on sale at Target.
''I never thought I would get a shredder but it was weird having someone look through my garbage," Luchini said. ''I plan to shred bank statements, credit card offers, and who knows what else."
Paper shredders, once associated with high-profile evidence trashers from Oliver North to Enron executives, have gone mainstream thanks to growing concerns over identity theft. There have been dozens of major identity theft cases this year, affecting nearly 10 million Americans, and new reports show these crimes are more frequently committed using bank statements and other personal documents than over the Internet.
In June, the federal government enacted the nation's first shredding law, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act,...
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
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