Protecting your patterns

Hopefully, it won't come to the point of a breach in the first place. IBM and its partners are layering in "always aware" intelligence. You can't be in two places at once. So, if the smartphone you accidentally left at a restaurant is being fondled by fraudulent fingers, the pervasive system will recognize the offender's different touch pattern (even if your phone is unlocked) and lock your account.

In another example, imagine two purchases: $40 at a gas station, and $4,000 at Tiffany & Co. Today's fraud monitoring might see the diamond purchase as highly suspicious, and ignore the charge at the pump. But your digital guardian will know that your car has a near-full tank of fuel; that you don't usually re-fuel until you're down to about one quarter tank; not to mention that you're at the office when this charge appears. It will also know that you've been shopping for an engagement ring and have been spending your lunch hour window shopping outside the store.

This and other emerging learning systems will know you, help you, and protect you as we continue to generate more and more data, and put more and more of our lives online.

Banks and credit unions have been pushing for years for legislation that would explicitly require the company responsible for a breach to cover its costs, but they have run into resistance from the retail industry, which argues that card issuers should improve their technology so cards can't be compromised.

Shout out to readers -- If credit card technology was more secure  (e.g. smart cards), would identify theft decrease? Lets chat about it in the comments.