Definition:

Spoofing is the practice of deceiving people into believing an email or Web site originates from a source that it does not. The most common type of spoofing is email spoofing, but Web page spoofing and IP spoofing are also very common.

In email spoofing the deception is usually accomplished using software that harvests or generates email addresses from which messages appear to be sent. In Web page spoofing, the hacker will use software to display a Web page they have created to duplicate the actual Web page that’s targeted. And in IP spoofing, hackers use software to redirect Web site visitors to false Web pages.

The Washington Post reported Thursday night that user IDs and email addresses of more than 1 million job seekers on its Jobs site have been compromised.

We discovered that an unauthorized third party attacked our Jobs website and was able to obtain access to certain user IDs and e-mail addresses, the Post reported in an online message. No passwords or other personal information was affected. The vulnerability has been identified and shut down, the newspaper said.

The attack occurred in two brief episodes once on June 27 and once on June 28, according to the message.

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Finding out your identity has been stolen is tough. You’ll face anger and shame that the crime even happened to you. But worse than that will be the frustrations you encounter as you’re trying to clean up the mess.

Since identity theft tends to start as a financial crime in most cases, the most important part of clearing up the damage is fixing credit report errors or unauthorized charges and accounts opened in your name. The key to cleaning up your credit report is to move quickly and be patient. The faster you catch and dispute errors, the easier it will be to clean them up. Just understand that even when errors are caught early, disputing a credit report entry will take time.

Fixing Your Credit Report

If you’ve noticed errors in your credit report, the best thing to do is make a complete list of the errors. Look at your personal information as well as your credit information. It’s

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The New Threat: Spear Phishing

Most people have heard about phishing – the practice of using fraudulent emails to gain access to personal information for the purpose of identity theft. But like any activity, an occasional update in the process is needed. Spear phishing is the new black in identity theft.

The term phishing was coined because of the way that criminals try to gain access to personal information – basically, they cast out a bunch of bait in the form of fraudulent emails, and wait to see who bites. Spear phishing, however, is more targeted.

Just a fisherman would use a spear to target a single fish, spear phishing targets individuals. Whereas criminals might send a single, mass e-mail to a couple hundred thousand people in a phishing attack, spear phishing attacks are customized and sent to a single person at a time.

The spear phishing email usually contains personal information such as a name or some tidbit about employment. The

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It’s impossible to protect yourself completely from identity theft, but you can cut your risks with some simple precautions.

Keep a Secure Mindset

Don’t give out your personal information. If someone calls you asking for your social security number or a credit card number, ask for a number to call them back. That’s assuming they have a valid need for the information. If you’re ordering something by telephone, don’t let the other person repeat your credit card number – say it twice instead. You don’t know who’s standing behind them taking notes.

Ask questions. If someone asks for sensitive information, ask them why they need it. Find out how will it be used, and what happens to it when they don’t need it anymore. All businesses are supposed to have an information privacy policy they can give out. Ask for a copy.

Your Mai

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If you watch the news at all, you know that the risks of identity theft are everywhere. Regular reports of identities being stolen en masse are not uncommon. And that’s to say nothing of the number of times each day that individual identities are stolen.

On any given day you can hear stories about government agencies that lose a laptop which contains hundreds of thousands of personal records or a corporate data breach where criminals hack into a database and steal all of the personal records stored there. Colleges fall victim. Even the medical facilities that so many of us trust without a second thought are at risk.

Protecting Your Identity

The number of identity scams that users face is astounding. And the most frightening part is that many of those scams and thefts aren’t even reported until months after they happen. By then, victims are already suffering the losses that come with identity theft.

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