Identity Resolution Daily

By the Infoglide Team

Center for Advanced Public Safety: SHARE & PUSH

“While SHARE is strictly for communications between law enforcement and the state’s Fusion Center, a companion portal, called the Portal to Uphold a Secure Homeland (PUSH), was also developed as part of the USDHS ITEP project to support private sector security personnel who oversee critical infrastructure.”

HealthNewsDigest.com: Medical/Healthcare Privacy and Fraud Outlook for 2010

“You may not be aware of this, but medical-related fraud and identity theft are growing problems in America. With the exploding cost of healthcare, increasing bureaucratic administrative healthcare systems, and a large, aging Baby Boomer population requiring increased medical care, it would seem that we are entering into a kind of ‘perfect storm’ for medical fraud.”

Aerospace News & Views: Business Travel Association Calls for Greater Attention to Aviation Security

“NBTA has long supported risk-management programs that enhance aviation security. TSA’s Secure Flight helps to enhance domestic and international travel through the use of improved watch list matching, while the US-VISIT program collects biometric information from international travelers, both of which help to protect travelers and our nation. These programs should be used as readily available tools to improve the system that protects our global aviation security.”

[Wes Richel] Gartner: Simple Interop: Why We Don’t Seek a Top Level Domain Name

“Should anyone need a demonstration of the difficulties that delay reaching global agreements, consider that the term “EHR” has an idiosyncratic definition in the U.S. when compared to most of the world. In the U.S. the term refers to the record of patient information that is kept by an individual care delivery organization (CDO), with the proviso that there be some degree of interoperability. In most other countries that use the term it refers to some specific sharing of information that may be sourced from many places including but not limited to the electronic patient records of individual CDOs.”

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By Dan Power, President and Founder, Hub Solution Designs

There definitely seems to be a trend lately with small companies in the master data management (MDM) and data quality space being purchased (as in the asset acquisition of Exeros by IBM) or partnering with larger firms (such as Silver Creek Systems’ OEM relationship with Oracle).

I think this is a good thing. Using the classic “build, buy or ally” strategy, it isn’t surprising that sometimes companies will conclude that it’s faster and/or cheaper to buy a technology, or partner with another company that has that technology, rather than build it themselves internally.

A lot of companies do tend to suffer from the “not invented here” syndrome, where anything not developed inside their four walls tends to be regarded with disdain. But that tendency leads to a much slower pace of innovation. In very competitive industries like enterprise software, getting there faster is a very definite advantage.

Since I’ve been working with the identity resolution experts at Infoglide, I’ve become much more aware of the role identity resolution technology plays in our daily lives. Every time you get on an airplane, file an insurance claim, apply for a job / mortgage / credit card, or even shop in a retail store or on a web site, your identity is probably being evaluated by an Identity Resolution Engine.

A lot of people in the MDM space refer to this as “matching”, but there’s considerably more to Identity Resolution than the sophisticated pattern matching that most MDM hub platforms use today. The more robust form – Identity Resolution – is mostly used currently for sophisticated applications like terrorist screening and anti-money laundering, where big consequences or big dollar amounts are at stake.

But that technology is gradually filtering down to more routine commercial applications like master data management for customers. The large MDM vendors like Oracle, IBM and SAP – and the smaller vendors like Siperian, Initiate Systems and D&B/Purisma – will follow the “build, buy or ally” pattern, with some opting to create their own more sophisticated Entity Resolution capabilities, some buying smaller firms who already have those advanced products, or perhaps partnering as a middle ground between building and buying.

Either way, this trend is good both for specialized companies like Infoglide and for the general public. We’ll all be a little safer getting on a plane, a little less likely to suffer from identity theft or confusion, and perhaps save a little money through reduced incidence of various types of fraud.

Full-fledged Identity Resolution is a capability that most MDM hubs should plan on adding in the next revision cycle or two, as MDM customers become more discriminating and more demanding of their hub’s ability to identify individuals and businesses from an ever-growing stream of data.

Dan Power is president of Hub Solution Designs, a consulting firm specializing in master data management and data governance. He writes a popular blog and a column for Information Management magazine, speaks frequently at technology conferences, and regularly advises clients on developing & implementing high impact MDM and data governance strategies.

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[Post from Infoglide] Start Early on Data Quality

“Identity resolution plays a vital role in data quality applications. Applying identity resolution on the front-end can ensure that error-filled and fraudulent identity information is detected and kept from entering production systems.”

Nashua Telegraph: Owners take on workers at issue

“In addition, the business avoided more than $368,000 in worker’s compensation insurance premiums by under-reporting the number of workers they had hired, prosecutors claim.”

Kiplinger Business Resource Center: Government to Take over Screening from Airlines

“Under a program dubbed Secure Flight, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will assume responsibility for checking passengers against a watch list of known and suspected terrorists. Currently, that job is performed by the airlines, and each one has its own process.”

CSO Security Leadership: Opposing Forces in a Down Market

“In a tightening economy, history has proven that the risks faced by businesses increase significantly. When times begin to get tough for individuals, many will turn to crime to abate their diminishing financial situations.”

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By the Infoglide Team

info4security: The Cybercrime Arms Race

“Criminal activity has always mirrored legitimate business. The image of a Mafia accountant may be the first to spring to mind. However, it’s worth noting that cybercrime is not currently organised into one or more worldwide Mafia-like organizations with a Dr No figure at the helm. Rather, it’s an interdependent world based on groups who have complementary functionality.”

Portfolio.com: Insider Trading Suspects Settle Up

“In what the S.E.C. called the ‘Wall Street Serial Insider Trading Ring,’ 14 defendants, in two different schemes, traded repeatedly on non-public information in exchange for cash kickbacks, according to the complaint. Overall, they allegedly made at least $15 million in illegal profits.”

SecurityFocus: Two-thirds of firms hit by cybercrime

“More than 7,800 companies responded to the survey (pdf), which classified cybercrime into cyber attacks, cyber theft, and other incidents.”

Information Week: Congress Extends Cybercrime Laws

“The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill — H.R. 5938 — Monday. The amendment — part of Senate bill S. 2168 — expands the ability of the federal government to prosecute identity theft crimes and allows victims to obtain restitution for the time and money they spend trying to restore their credit. The legislation, which must be signed by President George W. Bush, allows a fine and up to five years imprisonment for spyware.”

NRF LPInformation: Update on ORC Hearing, September 22 (Monday) at 4pm

“The House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security is scheduled to address H.R. 6713, the ‘E-fencing Enforcement Act of 2008′, H.R. 6491, the ‘Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008′ and S. 3434, the ‘Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008′.”

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[Post from Infoglide] When Your Business Knowledge of Identity Theft Gets Personal

“Identity theft is a scary aspect in both the business world and your own personal life. When those two worlds blend and it touches your child, the knowledge you’ve gained about fraud risk becomes the foremost thought in your mind, and you automatically fear the worst-case scenario.”

Yahoo! Finance: Informatica’s Acquisition of Nokia’s Identity Systems Completed

“Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News) and Informatica Corporation (NASDAQ: INFA - News) today announced that Informatica, the leading independent provider of data integration software, has completed the acquisition of Identity Systems, which was initially announced on April 17, 2008.”

The Wall Street Journal: Getting in Line: Fliers Self-Sort At Security

“In an effort to ease traveler anxiety and maybe even improve airport security, the Transportation Security Administration is rolling out a new setup where fliers are asked to self-segregate into different screening lanes depending on their security prowess. There are lanes for ‘Expert Travelers,’ who know the drill cold; ‘Casual Travelers,’ who run the airport gauntlet infrequently; and people with small children or special needs who move slowly through screening.”

The 451 Group (free registration required): Informatica buys itself a new identity with its $85m purchase of Identity Systems

“Rumors have continued to swirl around Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) as a candidate ripe for acquisition. But the company’s announcement on April 17 to buy Identity Systems, a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) subsidiary, to expand its data integration portfolio places it more in the acquirer camp than the target camp – at least for now. . . . Infoglide Software is probably the best known of the independent players in the identity resolution sector, which has clearly consolidated a great deal over the past few years. Could Infoglide now be a target for acquisition from a vendor with fervent ambitions in data integration, MDM and BI such as Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) or SAS Institute?”

Save Borrow Spend: Many Brits do not think fraud is wrong, research suggests

“A total of 1.2 million Brits do not think it is wrong to tell a lie when making an insurance claim, according to a new study from RSA.”

OnStrategies Perspectives: Not Your Father’s Data Cleansing

“Admittedly, you could do a more primitive form of the same task with a traditional name/address verification tool; however getting rough matches is not the same thing as providing authoritative answers when you deal with names that are common, such as Smith or Jones in North America, or for that matter Bin Laden in the Mideast. Similarly, having versions of name/address verification tools in different languages isn’t new either. But again, this all child’s play compared to the challenge of verifying identity, which requires pattern matching that also accounts for context, not to mention real-time search capabilities (most data quality tools have traditionally been batch-driven). Demand for identity verification capabilities is obvious, given the plagues of identity theft, financial fraud, and world terrorism, not to mention more positive goals such as providing real-time credit verifications or managing patient electronic health records for care that may be delivered through multiple entities.”

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By Ann Cunningham, Director, Americas Marketing, ACI Worldwide

Identity theft is a scary aspect in both the business world and your own personal life. When those two worlds blend and it touches your child, the knowledge you’ve gained about fraud risk becomes the foremost thought in your mind, and you automatically fear the worst-case scenario.

My 18-year-old son recently traveled with his classmates on his first international trip. He had the task to acquire his passport. He knew a passport was an important, government issued document required to travel outside the country and valid for 10 years. Before he left for his trip, I had discussions with him about the risk of identity theft if he lost his passport and about the importance of protecting his passport by keeping it safe.

To make a long story short, my son lost his passport after re-entering the United States, somewhere between his connecting flight and home. Because I had discussed this very danger with him several times, I went over the edge when he told me he lost it. He had a 50 percent chance of a good person finding it and returning it and a 50 percent chance of my worst nightmare - a crook finding it and selling it.

I told my son about scenario No. 2 and how the “new boy” from Eastern Europe would be arriving in the U.S. in two days with his name, his address and his picture. With few organizations using identity resolution-based analysis, it wouldn’t be long after that the new boy would have a driver’s license with his own photograph and my son’s name, and later the new boy would have my son’s social security number to open new bank and credit accounts, and my son would have a mountain of credit debt in his name. This hit home with him, and his fear was insurmountable.

Because I work in an industry that provides fraud detection and prevention solutions to financial institutions and retailers, I am well aware of the dangers of identity theft and the consequences of it. I’ve read the studies indicating that as many as 9 million Americans fall victim to identity theft every year and that, without identity resolution technologies, the result can range from a mountain of fraudulent debt to a false criminal record.

Working at a company that provides e-payment solutions, I also know the tools available today to help detect identity theft: search engines, neural networks, rules based systems, identity resolution and entity analysis, comparative analytics, and account monitoring tactics. Although these can’t stop a criminal from stealing my son’s or anyone else’s identity given the opportunity, these solutions can stop a criminal from using his or your identity.

Although consumers should take responsibility for protecting their identity in every way possible, not all of them do. Not everyone shreds every bit of paper that holds personal information. Many people give out pertinent information over the telephone or Internet without considering the risk of identity theft. And plenty of people assume that every Internet retailer is safe and honest.

All retailers - online and brick-and-mortar - must be proactive in the fight against identity theft and the use of identity resolution is a powerful tool. In the end, this will protect both the retailer and its customers. The best practice is for retailers to employ as many prevention and detection tools as feasible to protect both the business and its customers. Whether or not a retailer has fallen victim to fraud from identity theft, the time to implement identity resolution solutions is now. Growth trends and forecasts for identity theft and account takeover are astronomical. Criminals won’t just go away and stop committing fraud; rather, they become cleverer and more innovative right along with the solutions to defeat them.

As technology and payments solution users and providers, most retailers cover as many bases as possible, but criminals just keep applying new tactics against this problem. Thus, in our fight against this problem, we must continually refine our current solutions and deploy new tools as they become available to help fight the battle.

To bring closure to my story, my son was lucky enough to have a good person return his passport, and it now sits in lockup in a safe deposit box. I’m betting that on his next international trip his passport will be better secured.

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