Nebraska businesses are finding more ways to keep personal information out of the hands of criminals.

Today, Attorney General Jon Bruning launched "Guard It", a statewide effort to safeguard secured information.

Guard It is a guide that will help protect businesses and their customers from identity theft. For the 7th straight year, identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission's list of consumer complaints. Last year, more than 240-thousand Americans filed identity theft complaints.

"Many times thieves use personal information to commit identity theft, leaving customers and employees with damaged credit and a long road to recovery ahead of them," Bruning says. "But they are not the only ones who suffer. The average cost for a company to recover is $5 million according to the Federal Trade Commission."

More than 81-thousand copies of Guard It have been mailed to Nebraska Chambers of Commerce and small businesses.