Identity theft

The provision would make it harder for criminals who use real Social Security numbers to create fake personas and then apply for credit.

More fraudsters are seeking out children for identity theft, highlighting another danger of the digital economy.

A startup called Spring Labs has launched a blockchain network with the goal of getting lenders and data providers to share data to help verify customers' identity.

The MyCUID product is intended to help membes protect against fraud and identity theft by creating a lifetime "portable digital identity" not dependent on any central authority.

Foreign operatives' alleged use of fraudulent financial accounts to try to influence the U.S. political system shows again how difficult it is for banks to truly know their customers.

This dangerous "wild west" scenario of fraud and breaches is pushing improving or revamping online authentication to the top of this year’s to-do list for both online companies and governments, writes Robert Capps, vice president of business development for NuData Security.

There is a visible shift in attack patterns immediately following a breach, from initial attacks focusing on high-value loan applications at online lenders to low-value identity testing on charities and social media sites to determine if a stolen credential will work.

KRACK, combined with other attacks, allows for the reading of pain text username, passwords, credit card numbers as well as the injection of code including ransomware, writes Timothy Crosby, senior security consultant for Spohn.

The identity theft threat created by the Equifax hack and the growth of online lending have given software makers a platform to pitch products that rely on selfies, scans of driver’s licenses and other nontraditional ID methods.

The Equifax breach has millions of Americans now thinking about freezing their credit to guard against identity theft. But those who act could be cutting themselves off from the nation's vast credit economy.