Secure computers are less of a problem than secure communications with personal identities being sold inexpensively on the Internet, according to Dr Thomas Wiemers, vice president of strategic marketing at Siemens Communications, speaking at the International Electronics Forum 2008 in Dubai this morning.

“You can trade stolen identities on the Internet”, Wiemers told the forum, “ you can buy US-based credit card information with the card verification value for between $1 and $6 on the Internet and for UK-based credit cards with the verification value for between $2 and $12.”

Wiemers went on to say that a complete personal identity, including US bank account details, credit card details,  date of birth and government-issued ID number can be bought for between $14 and $18.

Furthermore, details of an online banking accounts with balznces over $9,900 can be bought for $300 and details of PayPal accounts can be bought for between $50 and $500.

Asked what could be done to prevent this kind of identity trading, Wiemers replied: “We are preparing something now which is a new way of securing data security.”

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