UN agency warns Internet users of ID theft

[OhioChick]

Geneva, Dec 03: Computer users who type in the same username and password for multiple sites -- such as online banks, travel agencies and booksellers -- are at serious risk from identity thieves, a United Nations agency said today.

The International Telecommunication Union, a Geneva-based UN branch, said businesses and regulators need to find a solution to the spread of personal information on the Internet, possibly by developing more streamlined identification methods.

At the moment, the ITU said the sheer number of identifiers and passwords required from computer users made it nearly inevitable that they repeat codes.

''This may cause security breaches, and leave them vulnerable to the machinations of identity thieves ever increasing in number and inventiveness,'' it said in its 2006 Internet report, released ahead of a major meeting of governments and industry officials in Hong Kong.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=339681&ssid=54&sid=BUS