Choicepoint - 3743 Words

Introduction Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, ChoicePoint was formerly a struggling insurance services unit of Equifax. Derek Smith successfully trimmed its labor-intensive operations and replaced them with technologically based ones, which resulted in both higher growth and higher margins. This allowed the company to spin off from Equifax and become publicly traded in 1997. The company’s initial focus was data services for the insurance industry. As its business matured and expanded, ChoicePoint also entered into non-insurance markets and was able to consolidate fragmented industries through acquisition and integration. ChoicePoint tapped various public and private sources to gather data, assembled it into proprietary databases, and†¦show more content†¦Criticism 2: Data Inaccuracies Another issue from critics focused on inaccuracies in the industry’s records. Examples show that based on false information provided by ChoicePoint one employee had been fired from a company and another applying for job have been denied employment. â€Å"Another incident involved a ChoicePoint subsidiary charged with having supplied the state of Florida with a list of individuals mistakenly identified as felons. The state used the list to purge its voter roles in the 2000 presidential election—thus depriving individuals of their constitutional right to vote.† (CP, 5). Organizational Security Gaps: Organization Critical Infrastructures ChoicePoint claims that they gave employees (but not independent contractors) a training manual which taught â€Å"investigatory procedures,† but when this was examined during a court case, the process was declared to be â€Å"opaque.† Clearly, if ChoicePoint had procedures in place that only applied to employees and not independent contractors working for the company, they left a big gap in the organization cornerstone. It would appear as though â€Å"senior management’s role to provide the leadership that establishes security as an important issue in the organization,† (Dutta, 77) was not in place. In addition, the proper scrutiny was not given to security procedures, to ensure that they would serve their purpose. Also, basedShow MoreRelated$55 Million Dollar Data Breach at Choicepoint1077 Words   |  5 Pages$55 Million Dollar Data Breach at ChoicePoint Abstract Personal data breaches have become epidemic in the U.S. where innocent citizens sensitive information is being left unprotected and subsequently disseminated between hackers. ChoicePoint is an organization that is a premier data broker and credentialing service in the industry. The company was guilty of failing to fulfil their own policy of thoroughly evaluating prospective customer organizations which resulted in a major breach. TheRead MoreChoicepoint Case Analysys1748 Words   |  7 PagesChoicepoint: A Case of Privacy in the 21st Century Introduction Since its founding in 1776, America has been a country where the rights of individuals are one of the most important issues. As time has passed and the country progressed, this issue has evolved and taken different forms; the Civil War was fought over whether people of all colors had the right to freedom, in the early 20th century women finally demanded their long overdue right to vote (Wikipedia, 2003), and most recently, inRead MoreWeaknesses Of Choicepoint Information Security Management Practices1522 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion 1. What weaknesses in ChoicePoint Information Security Management practices likely contributed to their data breach? Please explain how they contributed and what Choice Point could do to strengthen these areas. Answer: From the beginning, ChoicePoint took steps to protect its data from risks such as theft, computer hacking, and misuse. Its facilities were outfitted with numerous security cameras, and all visitors were required to be photographed. Employees had to use ID cards, personalRead MoreChoicepoint: A Case of Privacy in the 21st Century Essay1723 Words   |  7 PagesChoicepoint: A Case of Privacy in the 21st Century Introduction Since its founding in 1776, America has been a country where the rights of individuals are one of the most important issues. As time has passed and the country progressed, this issue has evolved and taken different forms; the Civil War was fought over whether people of all colors had the right to freedom, in the early 20th century women finally demanded their long overdue right to vote (Wikipedia, 2003), and most recently, inRead MoreWeaknesses Of Choicepoint Information Security Management Practices1431 Words   |  6 Pages1. What weaknesses in ChoicePoint Information Security Management practices likely contributed to their data breach? Please explain how they contributed and what Choice Point could do to strengthen these areas. In the ChoicePoint case study, By the end of 2004, ChoicePoint was running a business in the personal data industry with almost $920 million annual revenues. Beside Acxiom and Lexis-Nexis, ChoicePoint was either first or second in that industry. Although ChoicePoint s focus was on securingRead MoreAnalysis Of Choicepoint s Information Security Management Practices1484 Words   |  6 PagesInformation Security Management practices that likely contributed to their data break are: †¢ Verification Process †¢ Access to virtually any data †¢ Recognition of Fraudulent Activity Verification Process While reading this document I realized, if ChoicePoint would have taken adequate measures to verify who their customers were some of the resulting consequences could have been mitigated. Though various checks were put into place to authenticate their customers, identity thieves still managed to circumventRead MoreCp Case Study962 Words   |  4 Pages------------------------------------------------- MISM 2301 1. Itemize the nature of the information security breach at ChoicePoint and how this adversely affected the organization. Be sure to include both tangible and intangible losses in preparing your response. [table] Security Breach | Effect on ChoicePoint | A pass of the authentication of customers | * Data soon became available after authentication breach * Revealed hole in ChoicePoint security system * Trust of security standards instantly lost | Social securityRead MoreEssay on Pre-Employment Screening Industry Report1529 Words   |  7 Pageslarge companies accounting for almost 25% of the industrys total revenue. Total revenue for the pre-employment screening industry is forecasted to be approximately $4 billion in 2007 with the top five playersÂâ€"U.S. Investigations, First Advantage, ChoicePoint, Kroll and ADPÂâ€"accounting for approximately $900 million in annual revenue. HireRight, Axciom, and Accurate Background are examples of some of the more prominent mid-size companies in the industry. Pre-Employment Screening Pre-employmentRead More Snakes of Time in Dantes Hell Essay1314 Words   |  6 PagesIn 2005, they revealed a new face, Olatunji Oluwatosin, an identity thief. From his base in Los Angeles, Olatunji Oluwatosin stole private information, such as credit card numbers, of hundreds of United States citizens from the national database ChoicePoint. Oluwatosin, utilizing the snake’s deceptive arts, remained undetected when he began; however, as his crimes progressed, people became aware of his crimes, leading to his eventual capture. Oluwatosin’s crime shows the complex relationship betweenRead MoreThe Verichip and Its Use Essay1790 Words   |  8 Pagesdatabases make complete profiles on any person who has the VeriChip implant. Included in these biographical sketches may be the consumer’s name, address, social security number, credit reports and even the medical records. An example of this is at, ChoicePoint Inc., a data broker, aggregates and sells personal informat ion to insurance companies, firms looking for improved marketing insights and even the federal government. The company tracks information regarding consumer behavior and maintains databases