Protecting Your Personal Data: How Law Enforcement Works With the Private Sector to Prevent Cybercrime

Recent cyber breaches at retailers, including Target, Nieman Marcus, and Michael's, have once again brought the public's attention to the threat of criminals accessing their personal information. Such data breaches are neither new nor rare. The Target attack alone compromised the information of approximately 110 million consumers. In 2012, an estimated 16.6 million Americans experienced identity theft, costing consumers nearly $25 billion. Just last week many people learned about the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability that affects the encryption software used in many e-commerce sites. While fraud is nothing new, the techniques and scope have risen to a new level. Our increasingly interconnected world, and the advancement of on-line shopping and banking, has made our lives much more convenient, but it has also meant that a sophisticated criminal can steal your account information without ever being in the country.