New legislation that will strengthen laws to fight the growing problem of identity theft has been proposed by the United States Department of Justice. While the administration should be commended for their actions, the problem is much deeper than just restitution to the victims. "The problem of identity theft needs to be fought from the front lines. Consumers should empower themselves to take ownership and control of their personal information, reducing their vulnerability to identity theft." Durnack goes on to say, "This is about preventing a fire before the fire starts," said Michael Durnack, president and CEO of Identity Defense says.

    This new legislation would ensure on a corporate level that those who steal personal data from an organization or business can be prosecuted. In the case of the TJ Max and Marshalls security breach, a hacker broke into their computer system and accessed personal credit and debit card data from their customers. In the months that followed the breach, over 60 banks worldwide reported suspicious credit card activity that could be traced back to the security incident. This proposed legislation will have effect only on identity theft cases that take place in the country. This is another loophole that only makes the theft of identity even more violating.

    In 2005 the Federal Trade Commission received over 685,000 complaints of fraud and Identity Theft. In most of the cases of identity theft, the thieves are drug users who perform the crime to support their habit. The resulted money is spent long before any recovery can be made and the victim is left with nothing returned. If by chance there is money recovered, one must question the method used to determine to whom it belongs. IdentityDefense.com is a consultancy focused on helping individuals guard their identity from theft and fraud. An innovative and proprietary set of utilities have been created to help quantify vulnerability and create personalized recommendations for modifying habits and behaviors to reduce risk with Identity Defense's Customized Personal Report (CPR). These utilities are offered to individuals on-line at http://www.IdentityDefense.com and also offered directly to financial institutions, credit unions, and financial planners to offer their customers tangible Identity Defense solutions.

For more information visit http://www.IdentityDefense.com .