From The Associated Press, 3/9/05:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/03/09/us_citizens_data_possibly_compromised/
U.S. citizens' data possibly compromised
By Ellen Simon, Associated Press Writer | March 9, 2005
NEW YORK --
Hackers commandeered a database owned by information industry giant
Lexis Nexis, gaining access to the personal files of as many as 32,000
people, company officials said Wednesday.
Federal and company investigators were looking into the breach at
Seisint, which was recently acquired by Lexis Nexis and includes
millions of personal files for use by such customers as police and
legal professionals.
Information accessed included names, addresses, Social Security and
driver's license numbers, but not credit history, medical records or
financial information, corporate parent Reed Elsevier Group PLC said
in a statement.
"We sincerely regret the circumstances that were recently announced,"
Kurt Sanford, president and chief executive officer of Lexis Nexis
corporate and federal markets, said in a statement.
It is the second such infiltration at a large database provider in
recent months.
Rival ChoicePoint Inc. said last month that the personal information
of 145,000 Americans may have been compromised by thieves posing as
small business customers.
Lexis Nexis will be notifying affected customers in the coming days,
Sanford said.
It will provide them with ongoing credit monitoring "and other support
to ensure that any identity theft that may result from these incidents
is quickly detected and addressed," he said.
The company is also enhancing ID and password administrative
procedures and requirements, he said.
Seisint provides data for Matrix, a crime and terrorism database
project funded by the U.S. government that has raised civil rights
concerns.
In the ChoicePoint scam, at least 750 people were defrauded,
authorities say.
The incident fueled consumer advocates' calls for federal oversight of
the loosely regulated data-brokering business, and legislative
hearings are expected.
"The U.S. law enforcement agencies have asked us not to say too much
as they are in the process of trying to track down the people who are
responsible," said Catherine May, a Reed Elsevier spokeswoman in
London.
The spokeswoman said the breach was discovered during internal
checking procedures of customers' accounts.
Reed said it would contact all 32,000 people affected to offer them
support in detecting identity theft, including credit monitoring.
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And no industry oversight, eh? Wonder how much in campaign
conributions that cost them.
Harry
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