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Press Release
The Inauguration of a New Trend in Cyber Crime: Tiversa Announces Unprecedented Rise in Identity Theft Related Searches In Midst of Economic Downturn
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA, January 20, 2009 - Tiversa today announced the findings of new research that reveals an unprecedented rise in identity theft-related searches in the fall of 2008, an overall increase of 32%. In the midst of the nation’s largest economic downturn since the Great Depression, Tiversa is finding evidence that identity thieves are on the hunt once again, continuing to find new ways to extract sensitive information to commit fraud on unsuspecting victims.
The research is based on search data in an ongoing 18 month study by Tiversa, whose patent-pending technology monitors roughly 450 million users issuing more than 1.5 billion searches a day. Data shows that search intent for sensitive information is on the rise, citing keywords related to personal banking logins, passwords, tax returns, credit card, account numbers, credit reports, and medical information.
“As the leaders in this space, we’ve been seeing this trend continue on an upward path for the last few years,” says Robert Boback, Tiversa’s chief executive. “At this time, more than ever before, consumers need to remain vigilant of their sensitive information.”
In the breakdown below, the search increase from October 2007 to October 2008 was significant, but minimal compared to the rapid rise seen from September 2008 - December 2008 (in the midst of the financial crisis).
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