FTC releases interim rule for red flag program
Dec 13, 2012 Dave King
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it decided on an Interim Final Rule on identity theft "red flags," a prevention program that has been in the works for several years. According to the commission, this program, backed by Congress and a variety of banking agencies, was established to require all financial institutions and creditors to develop written plans to prevent identity theft. The FTC now demands all covered organizations to have a four-part program in place that include "reasonable policies and procedures to identify signs of identity theft in the day-to-day operations of the business." Additionally, business executives will need to establish identity theft detection methods and put them into action immediately. The Commission explained the third point involves the proceedings to follow detection of identity theft, including any calls-to-action and reactionary processes. The fourth and final requirement will be an evaluation policy that outlines when all other points will be assessed and refined, as this will help to mitigate the risks of advanced persistent threats and keep businesses abreast with the ever-changing world of identity theft. The FTC noted that the Interim Final Rule is now at the comment phase and, if no objections are made, it will be finalized in 60 days. Everyone's responsibility
No matter what type of business an executive oversees, it is their responsibility to ensure proper ID verification processes are carried out regularly to protect their customers, employees and vendors. Identity thieves do not need a large amount of information to steal enormous quantities of money, so personal, corporate and banking data should be safeguarded at all times.