We asked people on the streets of San Francisco about what they do online, how many passwords they have, and whether they think their personal information is safe.

"Any bill that I pay, other than my rent, I pay online"
"There's probably a lot of sites out there that have my personal information."
"Sometimes even with secure sites, hackers get through"
"Every time I use a credit card, I hope that's the only place it gets used."

Find out how VeriSign can help keep your online identity safe.

Posted by Fran Rosch, VP of VeriSign Identity and Authentication Solutions

Living in California, I have tried to become as environmentally conscious as possible given the grim reports on climate change and rising sea levels. The major steps I have taken along with my family include installing brand new energy efficient appliances and significantly more insulation as part of our home remodel. We also implement smaller initiatives such as maximum recycling, eating organic and locally grown products and composting as much as possible. I have even given up coffee and my favorite Irish oatmeal because of the carbon required to ship these products such long distances. We also try (but usually fail) to restrict ourselves to bicycle-only transportation on weekends.

I know there is lots disagreement on whether these small actions actually make an impact but they do make us feel better. I also travel extensively for business which blows my personal carbon foot...

Whenever anyone talks about typical authentication use cases, they inevitably use a financial institution as an example. "The user logs into his bank to perform a transaction." or "The bank issues the user a credential to protect his account." We use financial institutions as an example because it's an easy situation to explain -- you have a place with a lot of money, criminals like money, so we protect the money from the criminals. Simple, right?

But we should look beyond the "obvious" places where additional security is needed. If someone breaks into your online bank account and steals your money, it's almost certain that your bank will eventually cover your losses. It may be a giant headache for you, take a ton of time and effort, and it probably reduces your faith in online banking, but you will most likely be made "whole." But now what if someone breaks into your online health record? Or your email account? Or your social networking profile? Or your blog? Who's going to...

By Yohai Einav, Senior Fraud Analyst

I have six friends that serve me true
Their names are Why and What and When
and How and Where and Who.
-- Rudyard Kipling

Why quote Kipling in an online identity blog? According to all his biographies, Kipling was never a victim of identity theft, nor did he ever write a blog.

But Kipling knew something about the 6 W's, something that we, in the security industry, often forget: starting with the "Why."

Have you noticed the phenomenon: every discussion about identity theft, security and online fraud - starts with the How and What questions:

"How do fraudsters attack banks?"
"What technologies are fraudsters using?"
"What is the damage to customers?"
"What can we do to protect ourselves?"

All good questions. But, the first thing we should ask is "why?"

"Why am I being attacked?"
"Why...