Companies must wake up to ID fraud threat

You know something has reached prominence when it gets its own dedicated week. May played host to National Postcard Week and National Vegetarian Week, while earlier this month we enjoyed National Chocolate Week.

Last week was National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, reflecting the severity of the threat that the world’s fastest- growing crime now represents.

The Home Office estimates the cost of identity fraud at £1.7bn, and a survey for shredder manufacturer Fellowes says people are now more worried about ID theft than they are about being burgled, mugged or pickpocketed. It says a quarter of the UK population has been a victim of identity fraud or knows somebody who has.

Until now most discussions about ID theft have centred on its impact on individuals, and how we need to protect personal data such as bank and credit card details.

But now it is emerging that businesses, particularly smaller firms, are increasingly becoming targets of ID thieves.

The research shows that 79 per cent of businesses make no effort to destroy sensitive material they throw away or prepare for recycling.

Some 30 per cent of businesses discard information that could be useful to competitors, while 40 per cent bin sensitive client information, and 30 per cent admit to throwing away personal information relating to their employees, including home contact details.

With all the fuss about data protection and regulatory requirements one might assume that businesses are more cautious about their disposal of sensitive data.

But the astonishing figure that just four per cent of firms destroy all sensitive information should be sending company directors into a spin.

Businesses have spent millions securing IT systems and preventing theft of data. So it is surprising that so much makes it onto paper and is then recklessly discarded.

Greater caution must be exercised by businesses handling sensitive information, for the sake of their compliance obligations, their reputation and, in some cases, their ultimate survival.

Increased reliance on online working practices and the paperless office, combined with strong security mechanisms, must surely be the way forward.

With ID theft increasing at such a rate we need to implement alternatives to help quell its rise.

Businesses cannot afford to put their heads in the sand and just hope they are not targeted.