Data Breach Path Not Clear

Government representatives have reported to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that it is difficult to trace the path of a data breach. The GAO took reports from 24 of the largest data breaches between 2000 and 2005 to investigate the connection between fraud and theft.

The FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement report that links between data breaches and fraud are difficult to ascertain, so it’s often difficult to find a solid data trail.

“No comprehensive data are available on the consequences of data breaches” from law enforcement agencies, industry and trade associations, consumer groups or privacy advocates, according to GAO, which is Congress’ auditing arm.

In addition to an inability to connect data breaches with fraud, the reverse investigation of identity theft does not always reveal the source of the data used to commit the crime.

Via top tech news ; Tags: data breach, gao, identity theft, fraud, data fraud