Identity Theft: Only 6% From Data Breaches?

It’s not exactly a newsflash that identity theft is reaching public consciousness. My mortgage company is selling identity theft insurance, consumer magazines are running articles about the trials of getting your identity back, and those Citibank commercials….they really target consumers well. And of course, those of us who watch the technical articles see regular notifications of laptop thefts and security breaches.

Given all the hoopla, imagine my surprise when I read this article today on Computerworld. According to the research, only 6% of known identity thefts are from data breaches. I’ve always assumed most breaches (particularly the random laptop thefts) don’t have anything to do with identity theft. If only we knew which ones… What I’d really like to know is the trend; what the percentage was 3 years ago compared to now.