Symantec Internet Security Threat Report

Security application company Symantec has claimed in a research report that an individual’s personal information including his credit-card number, date of birth, and other sensitive information can be acquired for as little as USD 14 online.

The report has been named Internet Security Threat Report and it details information gathered from online trends from June to December 2006.

Symantec claimed that this information is enough to open a bank account in a false name for identity scams. The report said: “U.S.-based credit cards with a card verification number were available for between $1 to $6, while an identity — including a U.S. bank account, credit card, date of birth, and government-issued identification number — was available for between $14 to $18.”

Ollie Whitehouse, a security architect at Symantec added in a statement: “A business isn’t going to say ‘We will no longer accept Office documents received via email. I think productivity would go through the floor at that point. Unfortunately, this is where the security requirement and the business requirement do really clash.”

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