The Secret Service has issued a security warning regarding a new service being offered by the U.S Postal service that allows residents to view all scanned images of their mail before it is delivered. While Informed Delivery sounds like a great service, the Secret Service says identity thieves are already using it to steal credit cards and other information.
Don Duncan, Security Engineer at NuData Security:
“The government or other online companies should alert their customers when they sign up for a service such as Informed Deliver and also allow them to opt out easily if they want to. Customers should also be immediately alerted if there is a change to their account or file or if a new file is opened under their name. Transparency is the first step to prevent fraudulent activities such as this one. Additionally, to verify the user who is requesting Informed Deliver, USPS would require to update their authentication framework and implement layered security that includes biometrics technologies. These solutions verify customers by how they behave instead of relying on names, addresses or Social Security numbers which may have been compromised.”
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