cyber security: [august 2008]
Published: 07/24/2008
- University of Maryland Students Sign Up for Credit-Monitoring Service
From "Hundreds Sign Up for Free Equifax" by: Holt, Brady, Diamondback - As of July 22, 650 University of Maryland students had signed up for the free Equifax credit-monitoring service after the Department of Transportation Services (DOTS) inadvertently released the Social Security numbers of about 24,000 students. The Social Security numbers, which were printed on address labels of brochures regarding parking on campus, were sent to students by DOTS on July 1. DOTS began receiving complaints a week later and informed students on July 17.
The students who have still not received the parking brochure are in the greatest danger, said Paul Stephens, advocacy and policy director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Stephens added that the mail could have been delivered to someone else who could take advantage of the Social Security number. He described a Social Security number together with a name and address as "basically the key to committing identity theft." Stephens recommended students place a fraud alert on their credit reports to compel creditors or cell phone companies to take extra measures to verify identities.
According to DOTS Director David Allen, employees had used a university database to get the names and addresses of registered students. They then used the Social Security numbers to eliminate duplicate entries, but did not remove them before printing the data on mailing labels.
The Social Security numbers were printed without spaces or dashes, making them less recognizable. Some students are nonchalant about the incident, while others are outraged by it.
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