The New York Times ponders the plight of the Internet user

Posted by Caitlin on January 25th, 2010

In this day and age, even the Fashion & Style section of The New York Times is worried about Internet security issues. This weekend, the Times recounted the experiences of Allan Goldstein, a 60 year old college professor who uses the Internet, but does so a bit nervously. He worries that NYU's online system will crash, and that he'll lose his syllabus and grades. He uses online banking, but draws the line at automated payments.

A few years ago, Mr. Goldstein was a victim of a rather low-tech variety of identity theft: dumpster diving. Mr. Goldstein believes the thief or thieves found discarded receipts and bank statements in his building's trash before changing the address associated with his credit card. Mr. Goldstein responded to the situation by purchasing a shredder.

In December, Mr. Goldstein opened a new American Express credit card account, but the first time he logged in to check his balance, he found himself in a different account, one belonging to a woman in Florida. He could see her purchase history and all of her personal information. His first move was to call American Express's customer service department and explain that he'd "hacked into someone's private account by mistake."

After a month of being brushed off by six American Express customer representatives who seemed less than concerned about the issue, Mr. Goldstein contacted The New York Times, which finally got American Express's attention. It turned out, there was no hacking or security failure going on. Mr. Goldstein's user name and password were nearly identical to those of another customer, and he had typed his own information incorrectly, which led him to accidentally sign into her account.

Sadly, the incident shook Mr. Goldstein's already tenuous faith in the Internet to such a degree that he responded by moving his savings from an online savings account to a standard account with a lower interest rate.

Clearly, American Express should have responded to Mr. Goldstein's concerns more quickly. But while Mr. Goldstein's trepidation about Internet services is understandable, he would be far safer if he did his research. While shredding sensitive documents is a good move, it is not an adequate defense against identity theft. And if Mr. Goldstein's banking user name and password were nearly identical to those of another customer, it is likely that both were using a popular and weak password.

Instead of avoiding Internet services, learn to use them safely. Protect yourself from identity thieves by investing in an identity theft protection service, or at least a credit monitoring service. Use strong passwords, with a combination of upper and lowercase letters and numbers. Be sure to install Internet security software on your PC, and set it to update automatically. Don't be afraid of online savings accounts, which generally earn higher interest rates than standard accounts. And if you're nervous about losing files, invest in an online backup service.