by Tom Simonite, Technology Review
Stories like the spectacular data breach that befell Sony last year mean that most of us now understand that cyber criminals actively access and trade our personal data. A less well-known consequence is that increasing volumes of it – credit card details, social security numbers and online accounts – are also passing through the hands of investigators from organizations like the FBI. They’ve traditionally used it only as evidence to help catch crooks. AllClear ID has now set up an agreement that allow the FBI and other organizations affiliated with the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to inform people when their data is found in the wrong hands. “Being able to notify people their data has been found is the piece that’s been missing,” AllClear ID’s founder Bo Holland told me yesterday. “Let’s say a researcher working for PayPal to combat a botnet,” he said, “when he finds your credit card information you’ll know about it.”
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27644/?p1=blogs
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