The Social Security Administration has issued a notice of a widespread phising email. The email message has the subject “Cost-of-Living for 2007 update” and purports to be from the Social Security Administration.

The message provides information about the 3.3 percent benefit increase for 2007 and contains the following message “NOTE: We now need you to update your personal information.” The reader is then directed to a website designed to look like Social Security's Internet website.

It is unlikely anyone reading this newsletter would fall for such an obvious phishing email but you may need to notify your friends who are a bit too trusting.

Every holiday season we get the mall decorated and dozens of news stories about protecting your identity. We found the first one of the season this week at Market Watch.

To sum it up and every one that is sure to follow: keep your guard up as you hit the stores for that perfect gift.

According to attendees at this years Computer Security Institute's annual conference the priority for security is shifting form blocking external attacks to protecting information.

The goal is to track internal access to data in an effort to prevent the data breaches that have plagued IT departments in recent years.