security breaches

Security breaches occur often, in fact more often than we care to realize. Although institutions and organizations that handle personal information that include social security numbers for millions of people , are required to implement strict security policies to prevent social security theft, they sometimes let their guard down and a security breach occurs.

A security breach may happen when an outdated or poorly protected computer network is penetrated by hackers. Other cases involve the employees of these establishments when they transport information via laptops, optical media, USB drives etc and they either misplace the information or it is stolen. However the information is lost, it is left exposed and those who become in possession of it are now able to either act on the information or sell on identity black markets.

How do security breaches occur?

As mentioned earlier inadequate computer network security makes it easy for hackers to penetrate large establishments and steal information. Employees of these establishments may also act carelessly and misplace this information. There are a few other ways that your information may be obtained through a security breach and here are some examples:

Most large businesses and institutions that handle large numbers of data, normally backup their information to some kind of writable media, which is then transported to off-site storage facilities where they may be stored indefinitely. During the transportation of this media, a dishonest employee may decide to access the media especially if it comes from a banking or financial institution.

There are criminal circles (identity theft rings) that bribe and dupe employees of financial institutions and health care organizations for information containing patient health care records, social security records, dates of birth and complete records including addresses and phone numbers. This information is then sold to people who will pay for it, like undocumented workers who attempt to meet government requirements to receive employment by presenting a social security number.

Laptops and other types of media transporting devices may be stolen from representatives or employees of these organizations, and these individuals often do not realize that they could be specifically targeted by identity theft criminals who are keen to follow and strike at the right moment.

How do you protect from security breaches?

Normally when the institution that loses your information realizes that an information security breach has occurred, they’re required by law to contact all those effected. The state of California implemented this law first and other states followed but not all adhere fully to this law, to find out if your state does visit the ConsumersUnion.org site for details. To be notified, you will normally receive written notification that your social security record and other personal information has been exposed. In some cases the organization at fault will extend the offer to cover you for identity theft protection at their expense for a designated period, typically a year to two years.

The truth about security breaches is that consumers have absolutely no control over the security measures of lack there of from the institutions and organizations that handle their information. They can only hope that it doesn’t happen to them, but that’s not at all a proactive approach to protecting your social security number and personal information.

The best thing a consumer can do, knowing that your most important information is widely distributed to so many places is to automate the process of monitoring your social security record. Identity theft prevention services were brought to light with the purpose of doing exactly this, providing a first line of defense against social security theft, credit fraud and all other types of identity theft.

When it comes to the risk of lost or stolen information and protecting your social security number, the challenge is most difficult because of the many fronts that one must cover to cast a comprehensive level of security against the many angles identity thieves and incidents like security breaches can create to expose sensitive information. So it is best left to the professionals to handle.