Identity Defense establishes presence in Syracuse

SYRACUSE - Identity Defense, LLC - a firm offering assessments for the prevention of identity theft - has taken space in the Hothouse at the Syracuse Technology Garden.

The Hothouse is shared office space designed specifically for small start-up companies, says Michael Durnack, president and CEO of Identity Defense.

"We are just launching and trying to get things off the ground," Durnack says.

Identity Defense officially introduced itself to the public when it exhibited at the 2007 Greater Syracuse Chamber Business Show on March 22.

The company is focused on preventing theft before fraud happens, Durnack says.

"Consider it fire prevention versus fire fighting," he explains.

Identity Defense provides a proprietary assessment of a customer's risks for identity theft through an online riskassessment and reporting system. The online risk survey determines the level of risk a customer faces and advises if the individual should purchase the customized personal report.

"We cover the gamut and think all about you and your personal habits," Durnack says. "This is something new and something no one else is doing."

It takes five to seven minutes to complete the online assessment survey at www.IdentityDefense.com, which is free, Durnack says.

The risk levels range from critical, high, elevated, moderate, to low.

"If you have low to moderate risk, you probably don't need a report," Durnack says. "People with elevated, high, and critical risk should look into purchasing the report."

The personal report costs $3.95, highlights your specific vulnerabilities to identity theft, and gives advice on what personal habits you should change to prevent identity theft.

In January, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its annual report examining consumer complaints about fraud and identity theft for 2005.

According to the report, complaints about identity theft accounted for 255,000 - or 37 percent - of more than 686,000 total complaints. It was the seventh year in a row that identity theft topped the list of consumer-fraud complaints.

"Statistically, the FTC says you have less than a one in 50 chance of becoming a victim of identity fraud," Durnack says. "But I talked to a cross-section of people at the Chamber Show and I was amazed at the percentage of people that experienced identity theft...it was in the double digits."

Durnack says that identity theft is here to stay, and he anticipates outgrowing the Hothouse soon and moving into a section of the Technology Garden for more established firms.

"We are already in the planning phase of establishing a permanent residence here," Durnack says. Companies are allowed to remain in the Syracuse Technology Garden for three years.

Company background

Identity Theft currently employs three full-time workers. Durnack, a native of Auburn, graduated from the State University of New York Institute of Technology with a degree in engineering and spent the past 19 years at three Fortune 500 companies. COO Terry Zarnowski is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and an entrepreneur Chief Technical Officer Barbara Milialas earned a doctorate in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Colorado and previously worked at Syracuse University. Milialas is credited with writing the code for the first Web page to ever run an application, Durnack says. She is currently working on the predictive aspects of Identity Defense's business.

Identity Defense employs six part-time people, including J. Sean Branagan, vice president of sales and marketing. Branagan is a professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, from which he also graduated.

Durnack is the majority partner and owner of Identity Defense; however, the remaining employees also own shares in the company. Durnack declined to break down the shares, but indicated that everyone employed by and involved with Identity Defense has either a direct partner/mernber share or another equity-share arrangement. Identity Defense currently has three partners - Durnack, Zarnowski, and Mihalas.

Durnack has been developing Identity Defense's product for the past several years, once he realized identity theft companies were not addressing human methods and modes.

"There are lots of products out there for what you should do after identity theft," Branagan says. "It's better to secure you identity early."

Branagan and Durnack are confident Identity Defense will succeed because of the company's ability to match the constantly changing dynamic of identity fraud.

"From development to launching, we went through three revisions of the assessment test to keep it current because identity theft is so dynamic," Branagan says.

Durnack describes the current local and regional launch as the company's "soft" launch - a time to get feedback from users and tweak the Web site.

Durnack declined to disclose annual revenue or start-up costs. He anticipates major revenue generation in late May, when Identity Defense is launched nationally.