KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasLatest Identity Theft Technology
When it comes to everyday transactions, whether it's at the grocery store or at the bank, most of us use some type of credit card and a pin number. But that's quickly changing as identity theft continues to be the fastest growing crime.
Randy Vanderhoof, with the Smart Card Alliance, says, "Credit card fraud is increasing around the world and there are concerns how are we going to rein in and protect information and assets that we have."
From retinal scans to biometric imagining, the latest in security technology was recently on display at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Companies that are creating some of the most advanced identity recoginition systems were at the convention.
Randy Vanderhoof explains how the cards work, "There are smarts or intelligence built into the card technolgy itself. That intelligence is in the form of a microprocessor like in the computers today that we use. Smart card technology is really being used today in this form factor in a card so we can carry this intelligence with us wherever we go".
And that intelligence will change our everyday lives. One example is when you're checking out of the grocery store. When you swipe your smart card instead of punching in your pin number the machine will read your fingerprint that's already been embedded in the smart card and match it with the image of your finger you display. If it's not a match the card won't work.
But these types of theft prevention systems aren't limited to credit cards.
Mike Chaudoin with Fujitsu Microelectronics talks about the products that are on the market today, "This is is an example of a PDA with a fingerprint reader built inside and you can place your finger on the PDA and it would grap the fingerprint image information and if you were a match it would unlock the information stored in the PDA."
Even electronic passports that not only carry your biometric information, like fingerprint and retinal scan, but it also records your facial image.
For some people these types of advancements may seem unrealistic but according to Randy Vanderhoog, it's a necessity. "Over the past few years security has become more of a focal point for businesses as we've know with our experiences with terrorism and with computer breaking and viruses and such so I think more and more people are becoming concerned."
When it comes to computer security only 11-percent of ID theft victims were online. Close to 70-percent of victims had their information stolen through traditional methods.
To help protect your identity Channel 8 Eyewitness News is holding a Shred-It event this Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Shred-It trucks will be at both the Summerlin and Henderson R.C. Willey locations.
