Universities join coalition to stop ID theft

Coming on the heels of a flurry of breaches of sensitive databases, a coalition of high-tech companies and universities have created the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection at Utica (NY) College, Campus Technology reports.

Sponsors said the Center will drive research into causes, detection, and prevention of identity fraud, including threats from cyber criminals, insiders, and organized crime groups. The Center will be headed by Gary Gordon, a professor of economic crime management at Utica College. House Science Committee Chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), said the “new national center will give us better, more powerful tools to combat the pernicious threat of ID theft.”

The coaliton includes LexisNexis, IBM, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's CERT/CC, Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Syracuse University's CASE Center, and Utica College. It will research the causes, detection, and prevention of identity fraud, including threats from cyber criminals, insiders, and organized crime groups.

CIMIP's stated goals are to:

• Study the trends, causes, early detection, and prevention of identity fraud and theft.
• Understand the evolving threat from cyber criminals, insiders, and organized crime groups.
• Assess the impact of policy decisions, legislation, and regulatory actions.
• Improve identity authentication systems to reduce fraud and improper payments, and protect national security.
• Study the use of information, its protection, and the role of enabling technologies to facilitate privacy and information sharing.