Identity Theft

Noun · Security & Infosec

Definitions

  1. The misuse of someone's personal information or credentials to impersonate them for fraud, access, or other unauthorized activity. In digital environments, identity theft can involve stolen SSNs, account credentials, recovery details, or synthetic identity assembly.

    In plain English: Using someone else's personal information to pretend to be them.

    Example: "The breach notification emphasized identity theft risk because the exposed records included enough data for new-account fraud."

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