Internet security and the Secret Service. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. The U.S. Secret Service has been stepping up its involvement in fighting Internet crime. The agency…along with Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft….partnered in the 2006 E-Crime Watch Survey from CSO Magazine. CSO stands for chief security officer. The survey found a decline in security events…but an increase in financial and operational losses caused by electronic crimes. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge of the criminal investigative division, Craig Magaw, says problems such as identity theft…can often be traced to vulnerable corporate or business computer networks…

"I think the individuals, in a lot of cases, become the victims in the crime, for instance if your identity information is being stolen from businesses. The businesses aren't only the victims, but individuals, identifiers in the information that is compromised, are also the victims. That's how it ties in to the individual citizen out on the street. A lot of times some of the information that is stolen from businesses are identifiers and personal information and the individual that ends up losing in the long run as well…is the individual citizen out there."

The Secret Service is advising businesses to adopt more stringent safeguards on their networks…making sure their employees only have access to the information they need. E-crimes committed by employees or insiders…are a growing concern. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.