Boston.com / Business / Technology / ID thieves get access to records of 32,000 — Does anyone but me find it amsuing that all he doom-and-gloom mavens from years ago all said that the government would have all these personal files and use them to exploit the public. Instead it’s jokers like this who cannot even keep it secure.
Computer thieves used stolen passwords to access data on 32,000 Americans at a Florida database company, the firm’s corporate parent said yesterday. The break-in is the most recent in a series of identity thefts that have federal lawmakers calling for tougher regulations on data collection companies.
ADVERTISEMENTThe company, Seisint Inc. of Boca Raton, was acquired last year for $775 million by database company LexisNexis, which in turn is owned by the Anglo-Dutch publishing company Reed Elsevier Group PLC. Seisint specializes in collecting records on individuals and making them available to businesses and government entities, including law enforcement agencies.
During a security review conducted in the past two weeks, LexisNexis officials found indications that an intruder had gained access to the data. In addition, a customer complained that his LexisNexis bill was too high. The company found that an unauthorized person had used the customer’s account.
Assume that almost everything is cracked or at least insecure. After all of this time has passed, the tech industry has been bickering over music sharing and building word pyramid advertising gimmicks and the security problems kept mounting. We have click fraud, ID theft, phishing schemes, worms, viruses and God knows what’s next. Maybe it is time to think about security and actually do something about it and stop the games. The way things are going, it looks like it will only get worse.
There is a simple solution to this whole problem. A handful of states enacted laws which allow you to lock down your credit history. In other words, no one can get your credit history, which makes it impossbile to get any credit using your name. That’s true if they have your original social security number, your original drivers license, your original birth certificate, and had a plastic surgeon change their appearance to look exactly like you.
The reason all states don’t do it is because corporate america is against it. They like the fact that credit is easy to get. That’s why nearly every place you shop nowadays offers credit while you’re in line. “Would you like a McDonald’s Credit Card with those fries?”
I’d rather have a choice. While I young person might not want to have their credit history locked, a person like me who already owns his house and buys a car only every several years, would love it.