According to a report from Gartner, about 15 million American were victims of identity theft from mid-2005 to mid-2006. And, based on the headlines -- as well as the improvements in technologies -- it seems like the threat is not abating.

To get some perspective on things, I interviewed Scott Mitic, who is an expert on ID theft and the CEO of TrustedID (he also has a great blog).

What are you seeing with ID theft?

We're seeing increases today in both child identity theft and medical identity theft -- two relatively new ways for thieves to use personal information for financial gain. Of course, the more common forms of identity theft -- credit card fraud and "new account origination" id theft -- aren't going away either.

Some ways for consumers to protect themselves?

Consumers need to be taking proactive steps to protect their identity. Shredding documents and subscribing to a credit monitoring service no longer suffice. TrustedID recommends putting fraud flags on your credit report, checking your kids' credit reports at least once per year, and requesting that your insurance company regularly send you a summary of all medical claims paid in your name.

Talk a bit about the Suze Orman deal?

TrustedID and Suze teamed up together to create a product that offers the broadest and strongest possible protection for a whole family. We've purposely priced it at under $50 dollars to make it affordable to all Americans.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.