CALIFORNIA PROTECTING YOUR DATA FROM THE GIGABYTE GANGSTERS http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=consumer&id=4744407

November 8, 2006 - Are we doing enough to protect our personal information from identity theft? Most of us shred sensitive documents, monitor our credit card statements, and protect our social security numbers. But in this Eyewitness News investigation Consumer Specialist Ric Romero says there is a new threat and this time it involves organized gangs.

This is one of the battlegrounds in the war between law enforcement and the fastest growing crime in America -- identity theft. It is the Huntington Beach Police Department's high-tech crime unit. According to Detective David McCain there is a new enemy ... Local gang members are now getting into the crime of identitytheft by stealing your laptop computer or smart phone.

High-Tech Crime Unit Detective David McCain: "The days of some gang members going to the local corner market and robbing it for $170 and taking a chance of getting caught and sit in a prison for 10, 15 years is gone. The real crime now is online."

Just another way we've become vulnerable to identity theft. A gang member can simply break into your home or car, take your laptop, Treo or Blackberry and have complete access to your personal information including bank accounts.

Computer security expert David Perry: "Personal identity theft is huge. It's a war out there."

David Perry is one of the top computer security experts in the country. Out of his home he works for Trend Micro, a company that develops anti-virus and security software. David says his company has a high-tech solution to protecting your laptop information, even if the computer is stolen. He is promoting Trend Secure Vault which is basically a folder on your computer desktop filled with your most important information.

Perry: "And that folder on my laptop can only be read when you're connected to the Internet, so it can talk to Trend Micro, and when you know the password."

The software is encrypted to avoid hacking your password, and it can lock down your personal files from another computer even after your laptop has been stolen. Similar programs can be had from other companies and are available for smart phones too.

But some gang members are even more sophisticated. Det. McCain says they're not stopping at stealing your laptop.

McCain: "They are getting jobs in places where they have access to personal information. Their girlfriends are working at mortgage companies. Their sister is working at a business where they're skimming credit cards. Anywhere that your information is used, if there's someone behind the counter working, they can compromise it."

Law enforcement does catch some of these criminals, but at a cost.
McCain: "Every time they get arrested they learn how we caught them and what we did to catch them. So we are educating them for the next time. And next time they'll be better and bigger and harder to catch."

This is Ric Romero, ABC7 Eyewitness News.