[All Press Releases]

Federal Grant to Study Identity Theft Patterns Awarded to Utica College


CIMIP to Examine Federal Law Enforcement Cases

Written By Christine Leogrande

Utica College/CIMIP Awarded Federal Grant from US Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs

Contact
cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (09/28/2006)
- The United States Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has awarded a grant for $173,948 to Utica College. The grant, Identity Fraud Trends and Patterns: Building a Data-Based Foundation for Proactive Enforcement, provides funding for Utica College’s Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP) researchers to perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of a sample of closed federal law enforcement criminal cases that include identity fraud.

Current and emerging criminal groups will be studied, with a focus on their methods of operation. Patterns related to identity fraud and theft will be detected and synthesized to develop actionable solutions.

“This assessment will provide law enforcement officials with information that will assist them in combating identity fraud and theft,” said Assistant Attorney General Regina B. Schofield. “What’s most exciting is that the study will provide cutting-edge content for federal, state, and local law enforcement training, and help corporations develop prevention and detection strategies, allowing them to shift from being reactive to proactive in facing these threats,” Schofield said.

Launched in June, CIMIP brings together an unprecedented alliance of leading corporate, government, and academic institutions, including LexisNexis, IBM, the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Utica College’s Economic Crime Institute, Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute’s CERT/CC, Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, and Syracuse University’s CASE Center.

Gary Gordon, executive director of CIMIP and Utica College’s Economic Crime Institute, said the OJP grant is the Center’s first award. The study encompasses a major component of the Center’s research agenda, Gordon said, focusing on the causes, early detection, and prevention of identity fraud and theft, as well as the evolving threats from cyber criminals and organized crime groups.

The Center’s research agenda also includes:

• The impact and role of policy decisions, legislation, and regulatory actions.
• The improvement of identity authentication systems to reduce fraud and improper payments, and protect national security.
• The role of enabling technologies to protect information, facilitate privacy, and share information.

Visit www.cimip.org for further information on the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection.


Contact: Christine Leogrande, Coordinator of Media Relations, Utica College (315) 223-2519
cleogrande@utica.edu

About Utica College – Founded in 1946, Utica College is a comprehensive private institution that grants the Syracuse University baccalaureate degree and the Utica College master’s and doctoral degrees. The College, located in central New York, currently enrolls approximately 2,900 undergraduate and graduate students in 31 undergraduate majors, 13 master’s and two doctoral degree programs.

# # #