Financial expert Suze Orman and TrustedID have launched Suze Orman’s Identity Theft kit, the first identity theft protection solution that protects the financial and personal information of all members of a household.

“The costs associated with identity theft are disheartening, especially when many Americans struggle already to make ends meet in today’s economy,” says Suze Orman. “Protecting your identity has become essential to successfully protecting your money, and I’ve partnered with TrustedID to offer the most comprehensive preventative protection possible.”

Shortly after launching on QVC, the kit will be available online at www.suzeorman.com and TrustedID.com as well as through leading retailers nationwide.

According to Forbes Magazine, the Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments on the effectiveness of credit freezes in fighting identity theft. Consumers can ask credit reporting agencies to freeze their credit reports as a way to prevent identity theft, because most banks and other companies will not extend credit without reviewing a credit report.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have passed laws giving consumers the right to freeze their reports. The three main credit reporting agencies – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – offer them for free.

In April 2007, a presidential task force on identity theft recommended that the FTC study the effectiveness of state’s credit freeze laws to help determine whether a federal law should be enacted. The agency is seeking comments by Feb. 25. Information on how to submit comments can be accessed on the FTC’s Web site.

According to Computer World, part of the Storm botnet appears to have been rented out to identity thieves, who are using to carry out phishing attacks that target customers of a pair of U.K.-based banks.

Two recent phishing attacks — one aimed at customers of Barclays Bank, and the second at account holders of Bank of Scotland – seem to be coming from domains associated with known campaigns designed to build out the botnet of Storm-infected PCs.
Storm’s first-year anniversary is rapidly approaching; the Trojan was first identified Jan. 17, 2007, as the malicious payload in a large spam run that used news of severe weather battering Europe as the bait to get people to open a file attachment.

According to DMNews.com, Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine introduced legislation aimed at standardizing corporate response to data breaches to the state’s General Assembly. In an effort to protect against identity theft and credit fraud, this proposed law would require companies to inform consumers if their personal information is compromised or made public. In addition, consumers would have the right to initiate a freeze to prevent any new accounts from being opened.

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments on the impact and effectiveness of credit freezes on or before February 25.

Jeremy Clarkson, a British TV host for the program “Top Gear,” thought the recent loss of personal records for 25 million people was blown out of proportion. So he published details of his own bank account in a British newspaper to prove that identity theft was not as big of a deal as everyone thought it was.

Oops! He was wrong. Someone took his account number and set up a direct debit of £500 a month to a Diabetes charity. The bank can’t find out who did it because of the Data Protection Act. Now Clarkson writes in a Sunday paper: “I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake.”