A better way to identify

Data hacks and identity theft

Recently, we’ve seen a significant increase in crimes like identity theft and fraud, including high-profile cases such as the Optus, Medibank, and Latitude Financial cyber attacks that have exposed the data of millions of Australians. A single point of failure, such as a hacker gaining access to a database, can have wide-ranging consequences, including a devastating impact on your personal, emotional, and financial wellbeing.

Several recent cases have shown the devastating impact that identity theft can have on both individuals and organisations. According to a report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), more than $3.1 billion was lost to scams in 2022 – an 80 per cent increase from 2021.

Identity theft is the act of using someone else's personal information without their permission. This can include using someone's name, address, date of birth, tax file number, credit card information or other personal data. This information can then be used to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, make purchases, and apply for loans, rental agreements and even jobs.

As identity theft and data breaches become increasingly common, protecting personal and sensitive data has become critical for both individuals and businesses.

When even large corporations are struggling against this threat, it's crucial to understand how it occurs and how you can proactively protect yourself and your business.

Requirement to identify customers

Many industries are forced to comply with strict regulatory requirements regarding identity verification or face the risk of penalties, fines, and legal issues. For example, in industries such as finance, businesses are required to verify the identities of their customers to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.

These increased legal and regulatory obligations have resulted in businesses needing and choosing to store increasing amounts of sensitive information, putting them at risk of data breaches and attacks – and consumers’ identity data is in the hands of organisations that collect, host and use their personal information (with or without consent).

Every time you give your personal information to a third party – whether a business, government agency or person – you’re putting yourself at risk of identity theft. Yet, in order to protect data and instil trust, current safety and security measures increasingly rely on the provision of personal identity information.

Storing sensitive and personal data is risky business

Traditional methods of identity verification, such as presenting a physical ID or providing personal information (name, address, and date of birth), are outdated. These methods are not always reliable or secure, and they can be easily forged or stolen.

For more than 50 years, companies have been storing large amounts of personal and sensitive data in centralised databases, meaning if a hacker gains access to that database, they can access your details too.

These access points create opportunities for breaches that result in the theft of volumes of customer data, including personal and sensitive data such as passports, driver's licences and other identity data, as well as sensitive financial and medical data. The resulting identity theft causes significant harm to both individuals and businesses.

The traditional centralised data storage system forms a honey pot of sensitive or valuable data, creating an irresistible lure for attackers who attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in existing systems and software.

Once our data is handed over, we lose control of it and simply hope it won't fall into the hands of criminals. We rely solely on the recipients' ability to protect themselves from cyber attacks and data breaches.

Protecting your business and yourself

As the threat of identity theft and fraud increases, individuals and businesses alike need to take action now in order to minimise their risks and maximise protection. By being aware of the potential consequences and implementing security measures to protect personal information, you can safeguard yourself and your business against the damaging impact of identity theft.

Securely store important personal documents, such as your passport, ID and bank statements, and shred sensitive information before disposal.

Be careful about giving out personal information online or over the phone. Do not provide personal information if it wasn't you who initiated contact and you are not absolutely certain as to the identity of the organisation or person.

With identity theft on the rise, you may be considering the risks of having your data compromised and are looking for options to best protect yourself.

A new approach to identity verification

Prove who you are without putting your data on the line.

One of the most compelling solutions today is self-sovereign identity (SSI), a decentralised system of digital identity management that gives you complete control of your personal information while mitigating your risk of identity theft. SSI offers several benefits compared with traditional identity verification methods, including increased privacy and security, reduced risk of identity theft and fraud and reduced risk burden on service providers. You are in charge of your identity and can decide who has access to your data. What’s more, you can revoke it at any time.

SSI operates through a decentralised database and uses digital, cryptographically secure credentials that can be verified through a trust triangle of the holder, issuer, and verifier.

When it comes to SSI, encryption is used to protect your data in what is known as your self-sovereign Identity Wallet. Think of it like a physical wallet that’s stored in an app instead of your pocket. You can grant companies temporary access to this wallet through encryption only when you allow it –then, once the verification is complete, you close your “wallet” and put it away.

By using SSI, individuals and businesses can protect themselves and their customers from new and evolving identity-theft threats, which are becoming increasingly common. SSI is changing the way enterprises are thinking about data and protection. It is worth considering the benefits for individuals and businesses in how SSI eliminates the biggest risks right now.

SSI also eliminates the risk of a single point of failure associated with centrally stored data, which can cause data breaches that result in identity theft.

By putting consumers in control of their personal information via self-sovereign digital identity, your organisation avoids the risks associated with centrally stored identity data, providing greater peace of mind.

What are the benefits of self-sovereign identity (SSI)?

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) offers a host of benefits to individuals, companies and a wide range of stakeholders.

For companies, the benefits of SSI include:

• Lower costs associated with verification;
• More efficient interactions and transactions;
• Improved security with public-key cryptography;
• Reduced risk of cyber attacks and data breaches.

For individuals, the benefits of SSI include:

• Full control over identity data;
• The freedom to choose which data to share;
• Not having personal data stored on centralised servers;
• Reduced risk of data becoming compromised via breaches.

SSI even benefits developers by integrating apps that eliminate the need for passwords, streamlining authentication processes and requesting data directly from users.

BlueKee – identify and protect

BlueKee offers a range of advantages over traditional identity, making it an important tool for businesses and individuals alike. It provides improved security, is cost-effective, convenient, improves the customer experience and helps businesses comply with regulatory requirements. As the digital world continues to grow, the importance of digital identity verification will only increase, making BlueKee a crucial platform for businesses and individuals to use.

With BlueKee, you can be sure the people you interact with are who they claim to be. By defining the minimum verification information you need, you’ll be empowered to reduce privacy risks while continuing to run your business efficiently, allowing:

• Consumers to prove who they are, without compromising their privacy;
• Organisations to be sure that people with whom they interact are who they claim to be;
• Society to exchange information and avoid identity theft.

Once a person’s identity has been verified by BlueKee, a business will need to store only enough information for unique identification, rather than identity, thereby reducing the amount of data that needs to be stored.

No data stored, nothing to be stolen.

BlueKee’s privacy protection app uses encryption on the device, at rest, and end-to-end. As a result, you have the reassurance that data is protected at every stage of every transaction.

BlueKee for individuals helps you to:

Stay in control of your data – a self-sovereign digital identity means you control and own your data without it being stored by a company.

Reduce the risk of identity theft – avoid the threat of data breaches and cyber attacks by retaining ownership of your personal information.

Share only what you consent to – decide what information you consent to share in order to verify aspects of your identity.

Interact and transact with confidence – enjoy the peace of mind that your digital identity is protected from fraud and scammers.

BlueKee for business enables you to:

Reduce your risk – by removing the need to store customers’ data, you can finally put an end to your data-breach worries.

Increase compliance – promptly meet growing cybersecurity regulations and compliance requirements without disrupting your business.

Improve customer trust – give customers the peace of mind that their data is safe and create a greater level of trust in your brand.

Boost efficiency – close deals, complete work and transact faster by removing the hassle from identification processes.