Safeguard Your Customers' -- and Your Own -- Online Identity

'Tis the season for eggnog, mistletoe and ... cybercrooks? It's unfortunate, but as consumers become more comfortable with online shopping, cybercrooks are getting better at finding newer, sneakier ways to trick them into passing on personal information for the crooks' gain.

According to the Electronics Retailing Association, consumers are expected to spend more than $24.3 billion online this holiday season -- that's double-digit growth from last year's numbers. But as Christopher Faulkner, CEO of CI Host, a Dallas-based Web hosting and Web site management company, points out, with the onset of Cyber Monday on Nov. 27 -- the kickoff to the online shopping season -- cybercrooks are more than ready to pounce on online consumers.

Unfortunately, it's simply the nature of the season that has cybercrooks drooling over the increased opportunities for theft. As Todd Davis, CEO of ID theft prevention company LifeLock in Tempe, Arizona, says, there are simply too many large purchases coming through this time of year for credit card companies to be as vigilant as they normally are: "During the holiday season, thieves know they can put more on a card without being caught." According to Davis, 40% of all annual instances of identity theft occur between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31. ...