Michael Durnack
Michael is the President and CEO of Identity Defense a consultancy committed to helping individuals defend their identity from theft and fraud. His firm has developed an innovative and proprietary set of tools to help quantify vulnerability and create personalized recommendations for modifying habits and behaviors to reduce risks.
An expert in the field of identity theft and fraud, he has conducted extensive research in a wide range of tactical methods used by identity thieves relating to victim social behavior. His research has been conducted throughout the US and to areas that economically thrive on theft around the globe.
An expert in the field of identity theft and fraud, he has conducted extensive research in a wide range of tactical methods used by identity thieves relating to victim social behavior. His research has been conducted throughout the US and to areas that economically thrive on theft around the globe.
Articles by Michael Durnack
February 09, 2008
Innocent until proven guilty does not apply to identity theft victims
February 06, 2008
This time of year provides a sure source of information for the identity thief this week in millions of American mailboxes.
February 06, 2008
Millions of Americans allow crucial pieces of mail to sit unsecured in their mailboxes daily, a practice that need to change.
January 31, 2008
The federal government rebate scams continue to grow and flourish with new tactics surfacing rapidly. You need to be aware of these today, so you will not get caught in one of the countless traps.
January 29, 2008
The anticipation of a quick rebate check from the government will lead many to fall victim to identity thieves. We outline some of the methods that will be deployed and how to spot them.
January 28, 2008
Sites go overboard by getting you to take a quiz then flood you with ads asking for your personal information that could likely end up in the wrong hands.
January 26, 2008
Just because a company is worth billions does not guarantee that they will safeguard your personal information.
August 22, 2007
Ask someone who has a child in middle school up through college what P2P is and chances are you’ll get a look of uncertainty. Chances are they will not know what you are talking about and if they do the details will be scant.
If they do know what P2P is, do they truly understand the dangers of it...
August 22, 2007
When I ask people to describe an identity thief I usually end up with a wide array of answers and descriptions. They range from thinking they must be from another country, or are in organized crime rings, or gang members, drug addicts, low income or poverty stricken etc. Truth is, because identity t...
August 21, 2007
I am still amazed as I stand in any line at a store and the person in front of me pulls out a checkbook and writes a check, has to dig out a shopper ID card or some other form of ID, then hands it to the cashier. The cashier, with a puzzled look, takes all the documents and writes down information o...
August 13, 2007
Many people who live in states that allow you to freeze your credit are recognizing the benefits of such actions. But a lot are stopping there and not doing any more feeling they have covered the bases and have done what they can to protect themselves.
Governor Deval Patrick from Massachuset...
July 25, 2007
In 1994 about 58 percent of the US population was buckling up. By mid 2006 approximately 81% of the US population buckled up. Why the dramatic change? Did everyone suddenly recognize that the seatbelts they had been ignoring for years were suddenly cool? No, the reality came partially with educa...
July 15, 2007
Recently the US Government Accountability Office released its findings of a study on the net effect of data breaches, stolen data, and lost data with regard to how much actual identity theft resulted from such occurrences. They undertook this task to help Congress decide if a federal law should be ...
June 30, 2007
The latest in the string of data breaches involves the state government of Ohio whose officials allowed a storage device to be stolen from a car.
The story keeps getting worse as at first it was thought that only 64,000 state employees personal information was on the device, but now they are re...
June 22, 2007
When you are walking through the mall, or at a fair, or even online, chances are you’ll get asked to fill out a form for a chance to win some wonderful prize or receive something for free.
And why not, it costs you nothing and someone’s got to win that new laptop, or the car, or the trip to the...