Imagine discovering you are the co-owner of your business instead of the sole owner, or that you have a satellite business you didn’t know about operating in a different state, or there is a business with a similar name using a similar address to yours pretending to be your business. How would any one of these scenarios impact your business? This is what business identity theft looks like. It can happen to any business large or small. It could happen to yours, too.
Most small to mid-sized businesses don’t understand what identity theft can do to their business until it is too late.
Business identity theft doesn’t target individuals, instead, criminals look for ways they can take valuable information fro legitimate businesses. They are looking for bank accounts, credit card numbers and passwords, and sensitive intellectual information.
These looters gain access to key accounts and drain them, many times, before the bank is aware of the act. The cost of business identity theft can be enormous. It could take hundreds of hours and a large sum of money to repair the damage. Some businesses never recover and go out of business.
Business identity theft is still a relatively new type of crime. Most business owners haven’t heard of it. So there is a temptation to ignore it. Steve Cox of the Better Business Bureau says, “Business identity theft is a very real concern in today’s marketplace. From a criminal’s perspective, it’s significantly more cost-effective to steal business identities than consumer identities.:
The criminals act quickly. They know they only have a short period of time before the act is discovered. The Ponemon Institute says that 84 percent of the cases money was stolen before the fraud was detected by the bank.
Many small business owners don’t think they have much that a thief can take from them. But the truth is that you don’t have to have more than a good name. The thieves can use it to get loans, order products and ruin the businesses good name. Dun and Bradstreet’s Senior Risk Analyst Robert Strezze states, “What is particularly disturbing about this trend is the significant dollar amount involved. It’s not unusual for the losses to be in the mid-six figures by the time the criminal activity has been detected.”
The unfortunate truth is that most businesses don’t take the time or steps to safeguard against the crime. Most are too busy doing the daily activities to keep the business going. It isn’t until the damage is done that a business realizes the trap it fell into.
What are the keys to business identity theft prevention?
There’s good news for businesses who are willing to put some time and effort into business identity theft prevention. Many times preventative measures can mean big savings and a better image in the community. There are three keys where a business can lessen the likelihood that identity theft will happen:
The first key is to establish a position on the leadership team that is in charge of monitoring for business identity theft, establishing procedures for data breach prevention, and protect against other criminal activity. This officer could be called the Chief Security Officer, for example, and should have the power to check banking, credit card and other key accounts. The officer would be wise to establish “best practices” for information security including employee training, password protection and more.
The second key is to set up monitoring services that watch your back for you. A businesses personal information is everywhere. It is nearly impossible for one person to keep an eye on every aspect of the business. A business identity theft protection service that includes business credit monitoring and internet surveillance, identity theft alerts, and whole business recovery can be a valuable asset for identity theft protection.
The third key is to set up credentials monitoring in the Dark Web. This is where criminals do their business buying-selling-trading stolen information. Credentials monitoring will alert a business when stolen credentials, IP addresses and, for banks, BIN card numbers appear. Businesses can take proactive steps to prevent the stolen information from harming them, their employees and/or customers. Millions of stolen credentials, email and login information, show up every month. Stolen credentials is a major player in all forms of business fraud.
Business identity thieves are clever and determined. They can take advantage of businesses and business owners that do not take precautions to protect their business.
I ask nearly every business this question: “If someone started representing himself as an owner or officer in your business, how would you know? How soon would you want to know?
How many times have you discovered an error after it happened? For most of us, it happens all of the time. Generally, we can get past it without much harm. However, an error of not protecting your businesses’ identity is something that you won’t get over easily. You can learn more about identity theft protection by going to [http://franklinrms.com/idefendbusiness.html]. I recommend monitoring credentials and IP addresses to make sure you catch criminal activity before it negatively impacts your business. You can learn more at [http://franklinrms.com/cyberid-sleuth.html]. Education is a must when it comes to protecting a business. This is your chance to learn about the problem and the solution. I have been involved in the information security field for over 10 years. I have trained hundreds of individuals in this field and been a speaker at many events. You are welcome to email me at [email protected]. I welcome your comments and questions.
