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ID theft industry thriving

The identity theft industry remains robust as demand and provision of stolen debit and credit card data including social security numbers continues to hold up, according to new research.

Keeping the supply chain replenished are phishing scams, which are being used by cyber crooks to siphon the information from consumers, according to research by online security firm Symantec Corp.

The recession is also contributing to the thriving performance of the internet security threat, as increasingly weary consumers are targeted by a rising number of related phishing scams.

According to Alfred Huger, vice president of Symantec Security Response, cyber crooks and the underground economy have not been affected by the recession.

"There's no pricing pressure at all, it's not dropping, they're not negotiating down," he said, adding "that tells us that there are still the same number of buyers".

Consumers are advised to steer clear of unsolicited emails, which can open a door for cyber crooks to infect a computer with information stealing Trojans that can then lead to identity theft.

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