Identity theft is among the fastest growing crimes in the United States. According to a Harris survey, victims of identity theft increased by 20% between 2001 and 2002, and 80% between 2002-2003. Another study, by the Identity Theft Resource Center, found that victims spend an average of 600 hours undoing the damage caused by identity theft. And as the crimes become more sophisticated, the time it takes for victims to fix their credit ratings, call their banks and clear their names is increasing dramatically.

"It's a complete hassle," said Josh Pennell, the chief executive of IOActive, an information security consultancy in Seattle.

Pennell said users can spend $30,000 rectifying problems that come with identity theft, and stealing data in a wirelessly networked world is a relatively easy crime to commit. Pennell said there are a number of strategies for stealing information from people's computes having a level of sophistication well beyond simply stealing data shared on hard drives. He said one tactic involves hijacking data transmission sessions between wireless users and web sites. An identity thief captures data being sent to say, a bank, and then after acquiring the account numbers and passwords, transfers money to his own account. The user never knows anything is amiss until the next time the account is accessed.

Some users can get data stolen simply because of the web sites they visit. Disreputable sites can download programs without the user's knowledge, that, among other things, record user keystrokes. That data is then transmitted to thieves over the Internet during some other data session, where the keystroke information is broken down into account and password information, and anything else a user might have typed. The trick is to use some common sense and stay away from shady web sites.

But despite the dire information age warnings. Pennell said that defending against identity theft is easier than many people think.

"If I was a person in a wireless caf/, I'd have a firewall, make sure all my antivirus and patching are up to date. Then you make sure the web sites you use are credible," Pennell said.

He also said that users could go to a data security company and take a class to get smarter about how people steal data, and what can be done to stop it.

But even if your computer is 100 percent secure, there's no guarantee your personal information is. That's because corporations have your personal information too, and there's little you can do to protect that data.

After several well-publicized events where companies lost or had stolen confidential customer data, states, including Washington, enacted security breach notification laws requiring companies to inform customers that their data may have been stolen. Washington State's law also has a provision for civil actions against companies who fail to provide the proper notice.

"I know if it was me and a financial institution lost my data and I had to pay for their incompetence, I'd be upset. That's why there's class action lawsuits," Pennell said.