Government Agency’s Name April 2013

 At the end of this course, the learner will be able to: ◦ Define personally identifiable information ◦ List examples of personally identifiable information ◦ Define identity theft ◦ Explain how identity theft impacts individuals and businesses ◦ List ways to prevent identity theft

 Personally Identifiable Information includes: ◦ Social security number ◦ Date of birth ◦ Driver’s license number ◦ Passport ◦ Student ID number ◦ Account numbers ◦ Address ◦ Access codes

Identity Theft is when someone steals your personal information and uses it as their own, usually for some financial gain

 Every 28 minutes someone in the U.S falls victim to identity theft  Every 79 seconds a thief steals personal data to open false accounts  Over 11.1 million reports of identity theft in 2009  Over $22 billion lost by businesses  * This information reported by Identity Theft Protection, about-recovering-from-identity-theft/ about-recovering-from-identity-theft/

 As a HR rep, you can access and handle sensitive information on a daily basis  Protect information by ◦ Recognizing and protecting personally identifiable information (PII) ◦ Locking hard copy information away in desk and cabinets ◦ Using encryption when sending s containing sensitive information

 PII can be in electronic or hard copy format and both need to be protected equally ◦ Put away hard copies or conceal hard copies when others are in your work area ◦ Lock away PII when you are away from your desk ◦ Use a shredder when destroying hard copy files

 If you handle PII in electronic format be sure to protect PII by: ◦ Use strong password to ensure that your account is securely locked ◦ Always lock your computer when you step away from your desk ◦ Keep your computer screen concealed when others are in your work area ◦ Always use encryption when transmitting PII electronically

 Create strong passwords that have at least 16 characters, including numbers and special characters  Use encryption when sending s containing PII  Do not take sensitive information out of the office  Keep hard copy information locked in cabinets or drawers  Only share information with others on a need to know basis

 Ponemon studies show that data breaches cost organizations $5.5 million dollars last  39% of organizations say negligence was the root cause of the data breaches  Businesses lost $3.01 million due to reputational damage because of data breaches *Information provided by Ponemon Institute

Listen to this victim testimony at