IT Consulting in Los Angeles: The Threat of Identity Theft

While data breaches have tasked cybersecurity professionals to stay on high alert, IT consulting companies in Los Angeles are helping at least 20 percent of US citizens recover from identity theft annually. Apart from credit card number theft, identity theft results in sensitive information such as your social security number, government ID, legal name, and bank account information falling into the hands of cybercriminals.

As such, the hacker will end up committing crimes with your identity.

In an ideal case, the violation of privacy that arises from such a crime would cause minimal harm if you were to unearth the occurrence and recover your identity.

However, Los Angeles managed IT services providers report that it takes about 30 to 50 hours to recover a compromised identity.

Read more: IT Support in Los Angeles: Preventing Identity & Data Theft

Irreparable Damage

In reality, this is all the time the hacker needs to take advantage of your personal information, sell it in the dark web or solicit services such as credit card debt in your name.

Once such occurrences have transpired, you’ll barely have the chance to restore your identity without facing felony charges and losing a lot of money in legal fees.

Despite the existence of identity theft protection guidelines, protecting against it is not easy without the services of IT consulting experts Los Angeles.

If your organization suffers a data breach, your employees' personally identifiable information would enable the hacker to authorize financial transactions for transfer of funds to offshore accounts. Such siphoning of funds can happen at once or slowly over time, resulting in immense losses.

Keep reading: IT Support in Pasadena: Protect Your Business Network with Identity Management

Self-Defense Mechanisms Are Inadequate

For instance, the FTC's guidelines offer various government-run services to aid in the detection and containment of ID theft crimes. However, these guidelines are merely plans for countering cybercrimes, and they don’t offer the user a direct course of action.

The general advisory on the proper storage of personal information provides little protection against sophisticated hacking attempts.

ID thieves on the internet can access user information by hacking popular media platforms such as Facebook, which are beyond a user’s control.

Besides, protection mechanisms such as running antivirus programs are not foolproof. Such simplistic solutions are naïve; even sophisticated security systems are susceptible to hacking, especially in high profile breaches such as the Equifax breach.

Read on: IT Support in Pasadena: The Role of Identity Access Management in Cybersecurity

Criminal syndicates are successfully organized in hacking attempts and have caused a significant increase in financial losses, especially in thefts that constitute of white-collar crimes. It is, therefore, urgent to consult with an IT consulting firm in Los Angeles like DCG Technical Solutions, Inc to learn how identity theft threatens your business. For more information, please contact us now.