McAfee today made an entrance into the identity theft protection services market with the launch of “McAfee Identity Protection.” The identity theft protection market is a crowded space but also a fast growing market with significant demand.
McAfee Identity Protection, co-developed with Experian’s ProtectMyID.com, features proactive identity surveillance to help keep consumers’ identities safe by providing multiple layers of protection, including monitoring the major credit reporting agencies and public records as well as Internet scanning for indicators of identity theft.
“There have been more victims of identity theft in the last year than any other time in the past six years1 and consumers repeatedly rank identity theft as a top concern because of the substantial remediation costs,” said Todd Gebhart, executive vice president of McAfee consumer, mobile and small business. Javelin Research reports that individuals who took six or more months to detect fraud suffered more than 14 times the cost of those victims who discovered fraud in its early stages.2
Identity Theft Statistics
• 59 percent of identity theft happens through lost or stolen wallets and criminals ‘dumpster diving’ to get financial records and other sensitive personal information3
• The average fraud amount per victim is $4,841 4
• 50 percent of victims do not discover that someone has stolen their identity for several months or years, according to the 2009 ITRC Aftermath Study
• For as little as $20, criminals can purchase a fake Social Security card at “ID mills” around the country5
• Every year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) receives eight to nine million earnings reports where the name doesn’t match the Social Security number6
McAfee Identity Protection service provides a full range of identity protection services including credit and public records monitoring, Internet scanning, alerts, lost wallet protection, identity restoration services, Internet security products to address online identity theft, and a $1 million product guarantee.
The Web-based McAfee Identity Protection requires no software installation. McAfee Identity Protection is priced at $109.99 for an annual subscription, or $9.99 on a monthly basis for an individual account. A family option is also available which includes coverage for the subscriber, another adult in the household and children for an annual subscription of $199.99 or $16.99 on a monthly basis.
McAfee expects to offer product bundles of McAfee Identity Protection with McAfee core security products later this year.
Sources: 1-4 Javelin Strategy and Research – 2009/2010 Identity Fraud Survey. 5-6 Good Housekeeping – November, 2007.
