Data Breaches for May continued the month to month trend of the past few years that increasingly leaves our personal information exposed to identity thieves and other criminals. May 2008 had a couple dozen companies or institutions reporting breaches. The Bank of New York Mellon data breach, summarized below, affected the most Americans with estimates of up to 4.5 million people having their personal and private records lost or stolen in this breach. It has gotten to the extent that consumers can no longer bury their heads in the sand and must realize that they have no choice other than to protect themselves from the steadily growing crime of identity theft. Here is a sampling of May data breaches attrition.org (now datalossdb.org). Please visit their site for further information including direct links to original and updated articles.
State Street Corp
Names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 45,500 customers on stolen computer
HealthSpring
Stolen laptop believed to contain names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth of 9,000
Bank of New York Mellon / Archive Systems, Inc.
Missing tapes contain Social Security numbers and other personal information of 4.5 million
Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Server sold at auction compromises more than 5,000 Social Security numbers
Northeast Security
Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, canceled checks of customers thrown in dumpster
WESTPAC
Visa cards recalled after 2,000 customers account details may have been compromised
Iredell County Tax Administration
Bank accounts, routing numbers, names, addresses of 468 taxpayers stolen from bank courier
Lunardi’s Supermarket
More than 100 customers lose debit and credit card information to ATM scam
BB&T Insurance
Social Security numbers, names, and dates of birth of school employees on stolen laptop
Pfizer
Salary information, names, and addresses for 13,000 on stolen laptop / flash drive
Dave & Buster’s
Credit and debit card account numbers of 5,000 customers hacked from cash register terminals
The following breaches occurred at schools during May 2008.
Spring Independent School District Texas
Stolen flash drive contains Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and other information of 8,000
University of California, San Francisco
Compromised computer contains names, medical information, and some Social Security numbers of 3,569
Downingtown Area School District
Student steals names, addresses, Social Security numbers of 55,000 people
Pocono Mountain School District
Personal information including names, addresses, Social Security numbers of more than 11,000 hacked
Las Cruces Public Schools
Staff member posts personal data for 1,800 students and staff on web site
Oklahoma State University
Breached server contains names and Social Security numbers of about 70,000
Dominican University
Students accessed staff records, exposing names, addresses, Social Security numbers of more than 5,000 students
University of California, San Francisco
Patients medical records, names, addresses for 6,313 exposed on vendors website
Staten Island University Hospital
Social Security numbers, names, and insurance numbers of 88,000 on stolen computer
Has your name been exposed? I hope not. I find myself checking attrition.org each month hoping my personal information has not been exposed in the ongoing breaches. I do this even though I have identity theft protection. It just amazes me how many people are put at risk each month and who unwittingly go about their lives without identity insurance. Yes, most get letters advising of the breach but how many actually take action and do something to protect their identity. Not enough, thats for sure.
What should they do? Place a fraud alert. Congress gave us the power through the FACT Act, use it. Is it full proof? No, but it is the most effective protection available. Is that all I need to do? Absolutely not, don’t make this mistake. There are a number of steps that are essential and they can be found in our article titled “Identity Protection Do I really Need it?”.
If you don’t have the time to educate yourself about identity theft let alone take the necessary steps to protect your good name then consider purchasing an identity protection service. Read our reviews and see which service appeals to you. Then visit the company website and learn more about them so that you can make an educated decision. Identity theft can bring untold heartache and turmoil to ones life so educate yourself, demand better security of your private records, and most importantly protect yourself and your loved ones.