ChoicePoint Hacking Puts Californians at Risk for Identity Theft 2/16/2005 - 1,156 views,
|
Previous Article « Click Fraud: It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Google
Read Next Article » Spouse vs. Spouse: Spanked for Spying with Spector Spyware
As many as 35,000 Californians may have had their credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other personal information compromised when hackers accessed identification and credential verification service provider ChoicePoint’s data servers. Hacks into ChoicePoint’s system have already lead to six documented cases of identity theft in California alone. Authorities say that “hundreds of thousands of Americans elsewhere may be at risk”. In addition, Chuck Jones, a spokesman for the Georgia-based ChoicePoint says that “ChoicePoint has not notified consumers in other states, nor is it working with law enforcement agents elsewhere”. California is a special case because it has a law on the books - apparently one of the only in the country - which requires companies which do business with California residents to notify them if their personal information has been compromised in a computer network security breach. It is anticipated that incidents such as these could cause other states, and even the Federal government, to enact similar laws. Explained Matt Stevens, CTO for Network Intelligence, “More of these incidences and people will wake up. Right now you’ve got people in Massachusetts saying, `Hey, why am I less important than people in California?’”
|
|
Email the link for this page to a friend! |
Read more:
» ChoicePoint Sued Over Hacking, Identity Theft
» Identity Theft Insurance Now Available
» ChoicePoint Syndrome: Lexis Nexis Hemorrhages Personal Information of Thousands to Identity Thieves
» Identity Theft - It’s Not Just for Grownups Anymore
For additional similar stories check out our archives on Everything Else, Hacking, Security
