New technology's impact on identity theft

Qing Hu, a professor and chair of logistics, operations and management information systems at Iowa State, says those new technologies won't even make a dent on the identity theft problem.

"Identities are sold around the world quickly after they are stolen through online auction sites operated by organized crime or hackers, and they are used for a number of purposes -- most of which do not need a personal presence where a retina scan might be used," said Hu, who has been conducting research on corporate information security management and user behavior toward information security technologies since 2005.

"They [stolen identities] can be used to apply for new credit cards, making duplicate cards for online purchases of digital services and products where physical delivery is not needed -- online games, pornographic material, music download, fake account for money laundering, etc.," he said. "It is rare that a criminal would take a fake ATM card to go to a physical machine to take cash out, knowing that almost all ATMs today have cameras to record every transaction."

Steffen Schmidt, a University Professor of political science who is also a researcher in ISU's Center for Information Protection, shares Hu's information security outlook amid new technology. The co-author of two books on preventing identity theft -- "Who Is You: The Coming Epidemic of Identity Theft" (The Consortium, 2005) and "The Silent Crime: What You Need to Know About Identity Theft" (Twin Lakes Press, 2008) -- Schmidt predicts identity theft will only escalate with technological advancements.