social security

Millions of Americans have had their most sensitive personal information exposed by hackers who bypassed the security of several major data companies. The attacks were launched by hackers who ultimately sold the stolen data to a group called SSNDOB, ... which stands for Social Security Numbers, Dates of Birth. The hackers infiltrated servers belonging to major data brokers, including LexisNexis, Kroll Background America, and Dun ... (view more)

The digital photocopier in your home or office could offer a hacker a gateway to your personal or sensitive data. Unbeknownst to many, nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive -- similar to the one in your personal computer ... -- that stores images of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine. Company Warns of Risks Associated with Digital Copiers Digital Copier Security, a Sacramento-based business known for their hard-drive scrubbing software 'INFOSWEEP', has been trying to warn people about the potential risk with little luck. A CBS News investigation ... (view more)

Researchers have discovered that it's easier to predict social security numbers than previously realized. The discovery means giving away too many personal details online is even more dangerous. A report by Carnegie Mellon University, published in ... The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says that social security numbers were never intended to be used as a way of confirming somebody's identity. Instead they were meant purely as a way of keeping track of an individual's tax and benefit payments. The researchers were investigating a theory that there was a distinct pattern to the ... (view more)

Hackers have reportedly infiltrated restricted computer databases at the University of California Berkeley, putting the private data of 160,000 students, alumni, and others at risk. According to UC Berkeley, computer administrators determined that ... electronic databases in University Health Services had been breached by overseas criminals on April 21, 2009. UHS electronic medical records, including details of patients' diagnoses, treatments and therapies were not affected in this breach because they're stored on a separate system. (Source: http://datatheft.berkeley.edu ) Social Security Numbers ... (view more)

A criminal has successfully answered a security firm chief's challenge to steal his identity -- and it could be a particularly costly defeat. Todd Davis of Californian company LifeLock was so confident of his fraud prevention service that he ... published billboards and filmed TV adverts displaying his own social security number. (It's 457-55-5462 in case you were wondering.) At least 87 people have attempted to steal his identity; at one stage people were trying to use his social security number under the names 'Joe Blow' and 'Jabba The Hutt', while another would-be criminal listed his address ... (view more)