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Cybersecurity Researcher Addresses 'Misplaced' Fears: Q&A with Professor Fred H. Cate

BY ALM Staff
December 19, 2006

The Privacy and Data Protection Legal Reporter spoke recently with Professor Fred H. Cate, distinguished professor of law and adjunct professor of informatics at Indiana University, in Bloomington, IN, about what he sees as the hyperbole that, at times, overtakes the public discussion about ID theft and electronic security. As the director of Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Cate is a leading researcher and consultant on issues such as phishing, consumers' use of passwords, and cybersecurity.

Privacy Reporter: In The Washington Post in October, you wrote that the general public and lawmakers are developing an overblown and misplaced fear about security breaches. Can you explain what you mean?

Cate: 'Misplaced' is a very good word to reflect what is going on today. This is not to say that the threat of identity theft isn't real, nor that the impact for the people who really suffer from having their identities stolen isn't terrible. But identity theft is not occurring with the frequency we often hear about in the press; in fact, studies suggest it is actually declining.

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