Privacy Resources for Military Members and Their Families
By DON CIO Privacy Team - Published, May 1, 2012
Service members and their families face many life altering events that most people never experience, such as frequent moves, extended deployments and multiple family separations. Each of these events can potentially expose the service member to an increased risk of identity theft and/or fraud. The following links provide information on what to do if you find yourself in a situation where your personal information has been compromised, and how you can proactively avoid becoming a victim.
The following links provide Department of Defense/Defense Information Systems Agency computer based privacy training on:
The Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer publishes Privacy Tips on a regular basis. The following tips apply to military members and their families, as well as provide helpful information on a variety of privacy related topics:
- Tax Related Identity Fraud: Over 34,000 identity fraud cases were reported by the Internal Revenue Service in 2011, which represents an almost 100 percent increase from 2010. Identity tax-fraud is easy to commit and presents little risk of getting caught to the identity thief. All that is required by the thief is a full name and associated Social Security Number (SSN).
- Steps For Military Personnel to Take to Defend Against ID Theft: Identity theft can cost you time and money. It can destroy your credit and ruin your good name. And, unfortunately, the rigors of military life often compound the problems that identity theft creates. It is important that military personnel take time to protect themselves against this threat.
- SSNs to be Removed from Government ID Cards: This Privacy Tip provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding upcoming changes to the DoD identification cards.
- Protect Your Personal Information: It's Valuable: Why should you protect your personal information? To an identity thief, it can provide instant access to your financial accounts, your credit record and your other personal assets. If you think that no one would be interested in your personal information, think again.
- Defending Cell Phones and PDAs Against Attack: As cell phones and personal digital assistants become more technologically advanced, attackers are finding new ways to target victims. By using text messaging or email, an attacker could lure you to a malicious site or convince you to install malicious code on your portable device.
- Action Steps for Identity Theft Victims: This Privacy Tip is reproduced from Department of Justice guidance found on its website. It provides information about how to prevent identity theft, as well as what to do if you become a victim of identity theft.
- What You Should Know About Identity Theft: The DON has experienced several documented cases of identity theft linked to the loss of government privacy information. This Privacy Tip focuses on how thieves steal identities and what they do with that personal information, as well as general information about identity theft.
- Why Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Is Not a Good Idea: Peer-to-Peer networks, which link computers directly, allow users to swap digital movies, music and files with other users without centralized security controls or oversight. There are more than 120 free software titles available for online file-sharing. Unauthorized use of these file sharing services is prohibited and such applications must be eliminated.
- Don't Get Caught by Phishing: Phishing is a criminal activity in which an adversary attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information by impersonating a trustworthy person or organization. Examples of such practices include manipulated emails that appear to be from recognizable reputable sources.
- Use Caution With Wi-Fi: There are 68,000 Wi-Fi "hot spots" in the United States at airports, coffee shops, hotels, bookstores, schools and other locations where hundreds or thousands of people pass through every day. While many of these hot spots have secure networks, some do not. Connecting to an unsecure network can leave you vulnerable.