Credit Guide

Credit unions face identity management issues

Card Consolidation Credit Debt By WTN News • 03/07/06 Madison, Wis. Credit unions could take better advantage of available technology for identity management, says a study released by the UW E-Business Consortium.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 27 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years 10 million last year. While not all stolen identities may ever be used, just the fact that they could be is a pressing worry for many individuals and institutions.

David Meunier, vice president and chief information security officer for CUNA Mutual, called the statistics alarming and said credit unions need to make sure they can keep track of who may interact with digital resources such as web sites.

According to the report, credit unions realize that the risks of poor identity management outweigh the costs of implementation. But problems remain: manual processes are still being used where automated ones are available, high-level governance bodies are making decisions without the involvement of IT staff, and individual users are not protecting their passwords or other authorization.

UW E-Business Consortium
Full report

"We are pleased to partner with Water and Power Community Credit Union to share the many identity theft prevention options that exist, including preventative services provided by LifeLock, " said Davis. "Water and Power Community Credit Union is our first partnership with a major credit union and we are thrilled to be able to help them bring this issue into the spotlight while also providing an affordable prevention tool."

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]