College students prime targets for identity theft
Taryn Clark
Issue date: 12/12/06 Section: News
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(Colorado State)
(U-WIRE) FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Studies show identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, and students may be the likeliest targets of the crime.
Technology is increasing the likelihood that college students will fall victim to identity theft, said Steve Williams, a senior systems engineer for Cisco Systems.
"The big thing is that almost every single college student has a computer," said Williams, who has a contract with Colorado State University (CSU). "They are always online, using Facebook, MySpace and chat rooms, meaning they are constantly sharing information back and forth."
One reason college students have become such popular targets of identity theft is because many students don't realize they've been had until after college when they try to get a job.
"When was the last time a college student checked their credit report or their Social Security account?" he asked.
A considerable amount of damage could be done if a student's identity was compromised, Williams said. The student could easily spend 10-15 years mending the credit wounds.
In the meantime, the victim would struggle to qualify for loans, possibly have utilities cut off, suffer a bad credit rating and possibly even face jail time for crimes committed under their identities.
Many identity thieves get vital information about their victims through file sharing, Williams said, which is popular among college students who like getting music without a price tag. Programs like LimeWire and Kazaa attract students, but these programs are also handy to identity predators.
"You can download a song from somebody and they can attach something to your song that will be stored on your computer," he said. "They can record your every key stroke."
Steven Lovaas, the network security manager for Academic and Computing Network Services at CSU, said the high incidence of college student identity theft is not because of a lack of technical knowledge.
"I think college students on average are better informed about computer security than society at large," he said. "I think that a lot of students take technology for granted and don't know what risk they're taking sometimes when they share information with others online."
Bill Davis, the network security administrator for CSU, said students can be sure CSU does everything it can to protect students while they are using the network.
"Anywhere you enter into a connection with another computer on the Internet, what you should really be worried about is what is happening on the other end, not what is happening with CSU," Davis said. "A way you can protect yourself is to be vigilant with who you are interacting with and make certain that you are interacting with the site that you think you are."
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