Identity Crime: The Need for an Appropriate Government Strategy

Identity Crime is a serious problem in today‟s society costing individuals, organisations and governments millions of dollars in prevention, control, detection and prosecution. This paper aims to provide an introduction to the problem of identity crime in cyberspace together with a discussion of Government strategies for managing this problem. Critical components of a Government strategy to manage identity crime include: legislation, public vigilance and awareness programs, information protection, identity management, law enforcement and justice systems, education and training, reporting procedures, collaboration and alliances, and victim support. The enactment of legislation, as a strategic policy instrument to mitigate identity fraud and related crime (money laundering, terrorism, trafficking), is a critical aspect of current and future strategies of governments (both nationally and internationally). With appropriate legislation, organisations may act with increased certainty of policy and laws to aid prosecution, recovery and remediation, both civil and criminal. This paper draws from our research into identity fraud with a number of Australian government and private organisations, and particularly investigates strategies and policies for supporting the enactment of legislation to manage identity fraud and related crimes in cyberspace. Our framework for management of identity fraud in organisations involves a number of phases, stages, and steps. The policy, recovery, and remediation stages