IDENTITY THEFT GETS THE MAJORITY OF MEDIA ATTENTION

Jun 1, 2005 12:00 PM

The corporate security world seems to be dominated by stories in the media about the pitfalls of ID theft. A study suggests the subject is the most popularly reported-on security concern.

An audit of major business media, IT trade and security-focused publications conducted by Shift Communications identifies 10 key areas of interest in security as reported by the media, with total coverage represented as a percentage: ID theft (21 percent); legislative (16 percent); malware (12 percent); wireless security (11 percent); phishing (10 percent); hacking (8 percent); compliance (7 percent); vulnerabilities (6 percent); general security (6 percent); and privacy (3 percent).

ID theft issues have been at the top of the news, stemming from the highly publicized ChoicePoint breach, followed by incidents at Bank of America LexisNexis and Wells Fargo.

“It's important to note that much of the buzz surrounding the security breaches had as much to do with the changing regulations aimed at protecting private consumer information as it did to any dramatic increase in ID theft itself,” says Shift Communications principal Jim Joyal.

Incidents of phishing and identify theft continue to increase dramatically, according to an independent nationwide survey of consumers by First Data Corp.

The survey finds that 6.8 percent of adults have been victimized by identity theft and a striking 43.4 percent of adults have received a phishing contact. Furthermore, as many as 54 million Americans have been the victims of ID-related fraud.

Further analysis of the security media audit data indicates that ID theft was the top security area of interest covered by the business press, while vulnerabilities and emerging legislative issues were the security issues addressed by the security publications and IT press.

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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