Identity Theft 911 was founded in 2003 as a national personal identity theft resolution and commercial data risk consultation company and is based out of Providence, New York City and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Matt Cullina has served as CEO since April 2008. Previously, he spent 15 years in insurance industry management and claims and product development positions. He spearheaded MetLife Auto & Home Insurance Co.’s personal product development initiatives, managed claims litigation and served as a corporate witness for Travelers Insurance and the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
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Culina offers advice on data breaches and identity theft, noting the “holy trinity” for those looking to steal your identity is having your name, social security number and date of birth.
PBN: First of all, tell us a little bit about your company.
CULLINA: Identity Theft 911 is America’s premier provider of personal identity management and resolution services for consumers and commercial breach services for businesses. Consumers have access to our services through the brands that carry us, which include such leading companies as MetLife Auto & Home Insurance Co., Farmers Insurance Group, The Hartford, and Amica Insurance. As a business-to-business provider, our largest market is the property and casualty insurance space where we partner with more than 45 percent of the industry. We also partner with banks, credit unions, membership organizations and large employers.
We also offer consulting services that provide data risk management guidance to companies. Our expert team of consultants help companies assess and reduce their risk of data breach and develop response plans should a breach occur.
Most recently, a fast growing part of our business has been working with commercial insurance companies to build programs to provide coverage and expert services to business policyholders. The increase in cyber attacks and data breaches that have hit every size of business – from the mom and pop shop around the corner, to giants like Sony and the U.S. government – has given way to new demand for better and different coverage offerings. In addition to proactive data risk management education, these programs offer services that help business respond to a breach incident. These services include notification outreach, call center support, fraud and credit monitoring services to affected individuals, and fraud resolution services should any individuals become the victim of fraud as a result of the breach incident. Altogether, we have helped more than 150,000 companies in this area.
PBN: The only piece out of the “holy trinity” that people looking to steal your identity can’t find on Facebook is your social security number, it appears. Should that scare us?
CULLINA: It shouldn’t scare us, but it should make us realize just how willing we are to give out information.
We advise not to list your real birth date or link to relatives on any social network. It’s easy to figure out your mother’s maiden name or your first pet, which all aid a thief in stealing your identity.
It’s important to realize that not all companies and employees need this information and it’s okay to ask why, how it will be used and what will be done with the record in storage or disposal. Educate your children of the importance in keeping personal data private. With new apps and ever-changing social network privacy policies, it’s vital to teach them the fundamentals to staying protected.
PBN: In the wake of data breaches at Sony and RSA, I imagine that many businesses are looking for data protection. In your opinion, what’s the major Achilles’ heel that most businesses have in terms of their data/technology?
CULLINA: Most businesses fail to properly educate and train their employees. Many studies, as well as our own experience, point to human factors as the common denominator in most data breaches. Stolen laptops, lost USB drives, or a disgruntled employee leave a company at risk for exposing a customer’s data.
It is imperative that there be a top-down approach to creating a risk plan with everyone on staff committed. There needs to be continuous education and training, as risks and fraud get more complex and thieves get wiser.
PBN: What’s the first thing a business should do once they learn of a data breach? How big of a problem are data breaches for small businesses?
CULLINA: The first thing a company should do if they think they have a breach is to consult their response plan. The questions on this plan should ask: Did a breach really occur? What information may have been breached? How many are affected? Who may have committed this breach (if a cyber attack, etc.)? What may be done with information stolen? How do we protect our customers and restore peace of mind?
Next, it’s important to deploy a communications plan and notify individuals who may have been affected by the incident to offer support and enroll them in a fraud and credit monitoring program. It’s important for businesses to communicate to their customers that privacy is a priority and that their satisfaction and safety is of utmost importance.
Finally, it’s important to evaluate what happened and what could have been done to reduce the risk of this type of breach from occurring.
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to these types of attacks. What generally make the news are the giants – like RSA and Sony, because their names are familiar. What doesn’t are the mom and pop shops that often lack the protection and knowledge. Private data is private data any way you slice it – and all companies should be taking the proper procedures to keep customers safe.
PBN: In terms of revenue and staff, how much has Identity Theft 911 grown since its founding in 2003. What are the company’s plans for the future? Any expansion/ staff addition plans?
CULLINA: Identity Theft 911 has grown significantly since 2003. We have increased our client base to include such high-profile regional insurers as Arbella, Quincy Mutual, and Amica Insurance. To support this growth, we have increased our number of employees by 80 percent with offices in Arizona, New York City and Rhode Island.
We are also supporting our growth with investments in our operations, technology and service infrastructure. We continue to expand and enhance our service offering to meet the growing and changing demands of our clients.
We also just completed two major projects – we expanded our Providence office in Kennedy Plaza, doubling our size here; and we also moved our Scottsdale, Ariz., expansion offices to accommodate our growing staff. We’re looking forward to continued success and future.
PBN: You’ve written on your blog about child identity theft, why is it an important topic for you?
CULLINA: Child identity theft occurs at a rate even higher than adult identity theft. Child identity predators are drawn to the untouched credit profiles and dormant Social Security numbers of their victims. Victims 19 and younger accounted for 8 percent of identity theft complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2010, compared with 7 percent the previous year. And in a recent study of 42,000 children, Carnegie Mellon found that 10.2 percent of their Social Security numbers had been misused—more than 50 times the rate for the adults studied.
One particular subset of this population that is especially vulnerable is foster youth. Foster youth live a transitory life; they move frequently and their personal information is accessible by many people—relatives, foster parents, social workers and group home personnel. Many children go years with someone else using their identity. When they’re finally emancipated from the system and apply for credit or a loan, they’re denied because of the strikes on their credit report.
This issue is important to us for many reasons. First, and on a personal level, I’m a foster parent and adoptive foster parent and I’ve witnessed first-hand the issues of the system in both my professional and personal life. I receive benefits cards for my children which contain their social security number. I receive about four per child each year, three more than necessary. If these got into the wrong hands, it could do serious damage to their identity.
Second, we want to use our expertise in the identity theft space to support our charitable giving program. We have partnered with a non-profit organization to deliver high impact education to foster youth about the risks of identity theft. With much success from the first iteration, we plan on delivering this program to other foster youth across the nation.
Rhode Island is fortunate to have Congressman Jim Langevin’s efforts to help this population. His work in instituting a bill to aid foster youth would do wonders for those in Rhode Island.
