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Microsoft Security Blog
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Introducing Identity Theft Monitoring in Microsoft Defender for individuals

JornLutters's avatar
JornLutters
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Oct 03, 2022

Attempting to impersonate someone is an activity as old as humanity, and has been used to great comedic effect by comedians and jesters throughout the ages.

 

Sadly, the crime of identity theft (in which a criminal uses someone’s identity details for fraudulent purposes) is very much not a joke. Not only because it can destroy someone’s finances and credit, but can even lead to false arrests and other life-altering consequences for the person whose identity is being abused.

 

Even less funny than that, is that the number of these crimes is currently at an all-time high. According to identitytheft.org1 the number of identity theft incidents are up 70% compared to 2020, with the yearly number of reported identity theft incidents clocking in at 5.7 million in 2021 for the US alone.

 

Figure 1 - Source: FTC annual data book 2021 (ftc.gov/data)

And along with the number of incidents, the median cost of these identity theft incidents is also on the rise, reaching an estimated $500 USD per incident based on the 2021 data2. This is in direct correlation with the ever-increasing number of devices and services people use in their daily lives, and the strong shift to conducting life online (from work, shopping, and entertainment), which have all served to increase exposure to this type of crime.

 

All of this means that, on average, someone’s identity is stolen every 22 seconds in the US, and 33% of Americans will become a victim of identity theft at some point in their lives3. In fact, 1 in 4 have been victimized by identity theft before they turn 184. In all, this is most certainly not a laughing matter, especially when you consider that this type of crime costs the US economy 5.8 billion USD per year5.

 

Hopefully, after hearing the above numbers, you’re wondering what can be done to stop this. Or, at the very least, what you can do to prevent yourself and your family from becoming identity theft victims.

 

The answer to that question is both simple and very hard; it starts with implementing all the common security advice you’ve probably heard thousands of times before: Use strong passwords, do not reuse credentials, enable multi-factor authentication, do not post personal data on social media, monitor your credit cards, bank accounts, and credit history for anything out of the ordinary, etc.

 

But the problem with this is that securing your identity is not just solely your responsibility. What makes it hard is that every company, government body, institution, etc. that holds your information is also participating in this game of staying ahead of the identity thieves. And, when we remember that data loss incidents by those entities have been on a steady rise for years with no signs of stopping, it’s an almost statistical certainty that someone, somewhere, will expose your data at some point.

 

As a result, all too often people that follow the commonly espoused advice about account and identity security to the letter still become a victim of identity theft, through no fault of their own.

 

Introducing identity theft monitoring

Which brings us to the core topic of this article; Microsoft is excited to announce that identity theft monitoring is available today to Microsoft 365 subscribers (for both Personal and Family subscription plans) in the United States.

 

Figure 2 - Microsoft Defender with identity theft monitoring enabled

This solution addresses one of the biggest challenges in preventing identity theft: visibility. We’ve partnered with Experian® to leverage their powerful identity monitoring technology to detect, track, and alert you whenever we find any identifying information on the internet, the dark web, and less common sources like file sharing, chat rooms, and many other places.

 

By showing exactly what details are compromised and/or publicly available, Microsoft empowers you to take control of your personal identity security and make informed decisions. Once you know what’s out there, you can take action by resetting passwords for compromised services, enabling multi-factor authentication for services that support it, placing a credit freeze to avoid malicious actors affecting your credit, contacting your bank or card provider to report potential fraud on your account, etc.

 

Identity theft monitoring can currently track and report up to 64 different types of identity details per breach, from usernames and passwords to credit card numbers and even Social Security numbers. And it does so intelligently; whenever a match is found on any monitored information, it will also alert you to any of your other personal information that was found in that same breach.

 

For example, when identity theft monitoring is tracking your email address, it will report all associated data it finds in a breach where your email was found. So, if you had a credit card on file with the breached company or service, it will not just report that it found your email, but also the credit card that was registered on your account there. Even if you never added your credit card number to your monitored identity details!

 

And, if the cause of the breach is known, identity theft monitoring will even tell you what happened to cause your data to be lost.

 

But knowing your identity has been compromised is only half the battle. While most people we surveyed were perfectly familiar with how to reset a password, many indicated that they wouldn’t know where to start if more sensitive information like their Social Security Number or driver’s license got exposed. Furthermore, many shared their struggles with looking up instructions online due to conflicting information and insufficient clarification of nuances like the difference between placing a credit freeze and a credit lock.

 

Identity theft monitoring helps answer these questions with contextual recommendations for each individual breach, as well as in-depth guides on how to perform more complex tasks. And, because we want to empower you to make informed decisions about your identity security, it will also inform you of the risks associated with each identity type. This way you can take the action that works best for your situation and risk tolerance.

 

That’s all well and good, but what if you need further help? Or if someone is actively trying to take over your identity, right now? For those cases Defender includes access to a 24/7 support team of restoration specialists that can guide you through the appropriate next steps for any situation regarding your identity and can even take action for you if time is of the essence.

 

This means, regardless of the situation, you are never left wondering what the appropriate next steps to resolving your identity breach are or having to fend for yourself in trying to get everything sorted.

 

This extends to the damages caused by identity theft too. Identity theft monitoring subscribers are insured for the costs associated with restoring their identity (document fees, legal fees, etc.) up to $1M USD and stolen funds caused by the identity theft up to $100K USD6.

 

So even if the worst should happen, Defender users who have identity theft monitoring enabled can rest (a little bit) easier, knowing that they have access to insurance that will help them in recovering their identities and the associated fallout.

 

And, as mentioned in the beginning, identity theft monitoring extends to family members in your Microsoft 365 family. These features and benefits can be set up and managed by the family organizer for all members of the family7. Once set up, family organizers will then receive alerts for all managed family members8 through the Defender app on any device they’re signed in on, as well as via email. This helps the organizer stay on top of not just their own identity security, but their families' as well.

 

Figure 3 - Managing breaches for multiple family members

And of course, all of that can be easily managed from the central dashboard provided by the Defender app.

 

Getting started

To get started with identity theft monitoring today, visit https://mydefender.microsoft.com, sign-in with the personal Microsoft account (@gmail, @outlook, etc.) linked to your Microsoft 365 subscription, find the identity theft monitoring card on the dashboard, and select “Get started.” You can also download the app from the Microsoft, Google, and Apple app stores or download the MacOS app here (if you haven’t already)!

 

For more details and answers to frequently asked questions, visit: Getting started with identity theft monitoring in Microsoft Defender

 

References

1,2,3,5. 2022 Identity Theft Facts and Statistics - https://identitytheft.org/statistics/

4. Experian® Identity theft statistics https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/identity-theft-statistics/

6. The identity theft insurance is underwritten and administered by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an Assurant company. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions. Review the Summary of Benefits.

7. All family members need an active Microsoft 365 subscription, and any user over the age of 13 need to explicitly consent to being monitored and managed by the family organizer.

8. Requires alert sharing to be enabled. Users over the age of 13 need to explicitly consent to sharing their alerts with a family organizer.

Updated May 18, 2023
Version 4.0
  • BendSkier's avatar
    BendSkier
    Copper Contributor

    I'm a 365 subscriber and I downloaded and installed the Defender app to several of my computers.  However, I can not find any identity protection "tabs" within the app.  I've been on chat with Microsoft as well as telephone support to no avail.  Where is this feature and how do I find it.

  • Dennis_14900's avatar
    Dennis_14900
    Copper Contributor

    I've been signed up on 365 for a few years now. Lately, since I'm not writing books anymore I began to think it might be too expensive to keep. Now, with the defender, I am confident that it is worth the $. 

  • PetrWinkler's avatar
    PetrWinkler
    Copper Contributor

    Microsoft defender for Android does not show other devices connected in the family group.

     

    Hello

    Microsoft defender for Android.

    I have a new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, I installed Microsoft Defender and logged into my Microsoft 365 premium account. The program works, but does not show me the status of other devices connected to the family group. I can see the phone on the other devices in defender, but none show up on the phone. I've tried just about everything and it still doesn't work. I can see the other connected accounts in the family group on the phone in the program settings, but the "Other Devices" are not showing up in the program.

    Can you give me some advice ?

  • Darach Nugent's avatar
    Darach Nugent
    Copper Contributor

    AndyK I think it’s more a consumer feature, as in you own your identity, not your employer. Scans for personal identifiers like social security number and driving license number.

  • AndyK's avatar
    AndyK
    Copper Contributor

    Does anyone know if there are plans to release this feature in the business-grade licensing? I see from the support articles for this service that it currently requires the personal or family licensing.

  • Darach Nugent's avatar
    Darach Nugent
    Copper Contributor

    Signed up and gave this a go, then realised it's only available in US currently 😞