What Is Identity Theft? Identity Theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal information such as Identity numbers and uses them for their own personal gain. This crime varies widely, and can include check fraud, credit card fraud, financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, governmental identity theft, and identity fraud. PWC in their Global Economic Crime Survey revealed that in South Africa during the past two years: 80% of companies have fallen victim to fraud 15% of companies have lost between US$1 million and US$10 million 20% of all fraud is detected by luck The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act requires the adequate protection, management and control of critical databases

What Does Database Security Have To Do With You? Data Breach Reports are Up 69 Percent in 2008 Identity Theft Resource Centre The cost of a data breach rose from $182 per customer in 2006 to $197 per customer in 2007 and the total cost rose from $4.8 million to $6.3 million The Pomenon Institute South Africa is now officially following international trends in banking related crimes (ATM, credit card fraud & identity theft). Gilbert Swats, CE of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre Electronic fraud is now taking six weeks to reach South Africa, which requires the police and banking industry to constantly monitor new trends. Senior Superintendent Janneman van Wyk, SAPS commercial crimes branch South Africa to mandate the Protection of Personal information Click image to read iWeek article