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How Does Identity Theft Affect Australia

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It’s no secret, the internet sensation has made many people redundant, however, over the past decade this global phenomenon has seen the birth of over 1.2 million jobs, dawning a new era for humanity. With rapid developments occurring in the design, development and implementation of technological discoveries. Traditional legal principles and processes are constantly challenged by the need to keep pace with new technologies. in particular, identity theft has skyrocketed since the rise of the internet; a 2012 survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 7% of respondents were directly affected by identity crime in the preceding six months. Identity theft not only affects Australian citizens it’s also a cancer to national security, in order for the government to beat this epidemic it’s imperative that harsher punishments are imposed on cyber criminals.

Identity theft is a type of fraud that involves using someone else's identity to steal money or gain other benefits. as of yet, …show more content…

Given the widespread effects of identity theft, it’s clear to see why 18% of Australians believe they are at risk in the next 12 months. Some alarming statistics regarding identity theft are:
Australians are more likely to have their identity taken than have their car stolen
Roughly 1.6 billion dollars are lost to identity theft per annum on average, at least one data breach occurs in Australia every week, in these attacks, an estimated 19000 records are lost, costing $2.16 million dollars to the organisation involved average cost for an individual targeted by identity theft is $4000, taking an estimated 18 hours to resolve.
And 937000 Australians will experience some form of financial loss from identity crime every

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