Applications are created every day that assist with financial and social intricacies of everyday life; however, there is a unique program called Civic that sends notifications when a particular social security number is used online. At its core, the service is akin to Credit Karma or even the opt-in notifications from brick and mortar banks. However, third party vendors are involved, as well as a lot of additional sensitive information required by the service. Is signing up for a service such as Civic helpful enough in the long run that it outweighs the potentially significant cyber security gaps that could threaten your sensitive data even more?
An identity protection network, Civic, on a very simple level, sends notifications to the registered user if and when their social security number is used. And as an added bonus, you receive $1 Million worth of identity theft insurance in exchange for signing up. The payoff to companies is that, hypothetically, fewer fraudulent purchases will occur if people are able to monitor when their social security number is used. Essentially all parties involved lose money when a social security number is used fraudulently – the store has to cover the merchandise “bought” since it was basically stolen and they’ll never recoup those potential earnings, and the owner of the social security number has to jump through hoops to recreate their identity.
Before you run off to sign up for a Civic account, there are a few things to keep in mind. The identity protection network is working with three organizations that hold social security numbers: Onfido and GoodHire (background check companies) and TransUnion. And while these three companies are trusted in their fields they still hold the distinction of being third party vendors; basically, look before you leap. Also there’s the devil’s advocate argument – even if you’re taking steps to protect a valued asset such as your social security number on the Internet, your passwords, usernames, and other pertinent information are worth as much or more when it comes to your identity online.
Civic is in its infancy but brings another reminder of how sensitive and vulnerable our data is online and what needs to be done to protect it. Just as individual users ensure the safety of their home networks and the data within, Neovera knows that companies are equally pressed to provide top-tier coverage to the users visiting their sites and inputting their data on a daily basis. Providing exceptional managing and monitoring cyber security services for over fifteen years allows clients to rest assured when they have Neovera on their side.