One in 10 social security numbers guessed with public info
Filed under: Credit, Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud
We all know not to give out our Social Security number on social networking and other websites, but new research indicates that it is possible to determine one out of every ten social security numbers knowing only a place of birth and birthdate! In states with lower numbers of births the odds are even better. Technology has made it cheaper and easier than ever for others to find out when you were born, but sadly it won't be to send you a present on Facebook. The study points out that birth information can be found on numerous social networking sites, or purchased cheaply, for "almost every adult in the United States".
Even worse, most credit card issuers will still process an application even though two digits of a Social Security number are wrong, as long as the birth information is correct. Hackers who know how to use this prediction method may succeed up to three out of ten times in guessing the Social Security number of people born in the 25 least populated states. The lax standards of the credit card companies makes their job even easier.
The study estimates that in a large-scale attack in a small state like West Virginia, criminals could, "harvest credentials at rates as high as 47 per minute, obtaining ~4,000 credentials within 2 h(ours) before his or her IPs are blacklisted." After being blacklisted, the attacker could simply rent another group of infected computers for as little as $1,000 and keep going.
The study also suggests that the ability to accurately predict the first five digits for six out of ten Social Security numbers could lead to new, more targeted email scams in which the scammer would include the first portion of the victim's social security number to gain trust and obtain more personal information.
Unfortunately this isn't any easy problem to fix; even if the government randomized all digits of new Social security numbers, as the authors suggest, it would still leave the rest of us with predictable and therefor vulnerable social security numbers. Yet another reason to check your free annual credit report regularly.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)
7-07-2009 @ 2:47PM
FreedomRider said...
socialist "security" was never secure or anythiing but gov't fraud from the beginning
Reply
7-07-2009 @ 6:09PM
Spider Jerusalem said...
Timmy? Does your mommy know you're on the interweb again? Jeez you give your 2 year-old a computer and an attitude and they think they're the authoritarian on everything. Can you give examples? I dunno... support your theories? Delve? Explore? Explain? Instead of using cute terminology or buzz words to say nothing? How about punctuation? Or spelling? Tell you what. Go to wikipedia and look up "Social Security" and come back with something thought out that's not a blurb. I'll be sitting right here.
7-08-2009 @ 2:53AM
Mimi said...
So I can count on your refusing to apply and accept your Social Secuirty when you retire or become disabled. Good. That will help keep SS afloat.
7-08-2009 @ 4:21PM
Cyplesma said...
OK, OK, people listen up.
Does ANYBODY remember the Privacy Act of 1974?
That is the law that says no company or organization is supposed to ask you your SSN for any reason other then TAX Purposes.
The formula for the SSN is not that hard. It used to be defined on the SSN website. ALL Lawyers and everyone having anything to do with insurance or other financial data think they have right to know your SSN, they DON'T.
By the way the first 3 digits defines what state you were issued your SSN. The second 2 digits usually refer to the county, the last four are supposed to be random.
7-07-2009 @ 2:47PM
HappyMike said...
WOnderful, th emost important number you will every have, more important than your drivers licese, telephone number, credit card numbers and what do they print it on, a piece of paper, and probably with a printer that has been obsolete for 30 years. Why can't they issue it like a passport??? Even driver liceses and credit cards are more secure....Wonderful government job!!!!!t
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7-07-2009 @ 2:47PM
Mike said...
Who gives a crap my credit rating sucks anyway. But for those can be heard, Demand that computer crimes be made a capital crime. The same for computer viruses and identity fraud. The government won't do it on thier own so force them to do it. If we kill a few of these people the game will go out of style.
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7-07-2009 @ 4:27PM
jennigirl said...
pretty amazing how ss# 's were created for social sercurity purposes only and not for identification!
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7-08-2009 @ 3:33AM
Stacey said...
That's what I'm wondering, too. I was drawn into this article because I wanted to know if my state was one of them, and it doesn't give you a list. False advertising.
7-07-2009 @ 2:59PM
cantbeme said...
I'm tired of all this splashed everywhere like the media is trying to make this worse for the average American. All we ever get to be are victims without any recourse. The government, the wealthy, foreigners and all those who aren't white Anglo Saxon protestants think they have the right to take what they can from us. My question is, when there's nothing left of the middle class American, who are they going to take from?
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7-08-2009 @ 1:48AM
EX said...
Foreigners! White Anglo Saxon protestants are the foreigners that started all this BS and still screw the middle class in the ass (of any nationality). White Anglo Saxon protestants brought over Black people, Asians against their will, and open the door Jews, Italians, Middle Eastern. Indians and Latin Americans have been here for hundreds of years before you. If you want to point the finger at a one nationality that has done more damage to humanity that all others combined - LOOK IN THE MIRROR!
7-07-2009 @ 3:00PM
Evilyn said...
And sometimes they print your SS# on your driver's license and military ID.
DUH
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7-07-2009 @ 3:01PM
Brian said...
If the article is correct, maybe a good hacker could find Barack Hussein Obama's true birth certificate information?
Millions of Americans want to see it.
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7-09-2009 @ 1:05AM
popswuzrite said...
That is a damned fine comment.
7-08-2009 @ 3:47PM
Ralph said...
You scare me.
7-07-2009 @ 3:32PM
JustinOpinion said...
Wow, you people really are frightening.
Reply
7-07-2009 @ 4:27PM
Grey said...
Well, if our social security numbers cannot be protected, then the Big Brother will make the next step, that is, to install the microchip inside YOU. That means the complete loss of your privacy permanently. You will become a number scurrying among millions of numbers on the radar received by the GPS satellites. The can type down your microchip numbers that will show every location you ever made. To think they can backtrack a record of your previous paths, that show you that you have no private life anymore. I remember reading a quote that warns us not to trade our liberty for more security.
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7-07-2009 @ 4:28PM
Colleen said...
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
7-07-2009 @ 4:27PM
Roger said...
And you want these people, (guvment), to do your
health care and other things!!!!! We are in deep do-do!!
Reply
7-07-2009 @ 4:27PM
Curt said...
Anyone know of the significance of having a picture of the enigma machine on the same page as the article about hacking SS numbers?
Reply
7-07-2009 @ 4:28PM
salome said...
we're already "comprOmised" due to the bs from our own governments' refusal to return to a nation of LAW. For whatever reasoning and agenda,they've REFUSED to enforce the already EXISTING federal laws on immigration which worked very well---ask anybody that entered legally--
Thank them for this as THEY ARE 100% RESPONSIBLE for the present mess.
and if you have the time and inclination google "e verify"and see who's for /against it---who supports border control etc.
P.S. if you live in nyc,orlandO or sa franfreaKo and lose your social security card,you NOW must report to a different"special" office for a replacement and be able to prove YOUR identity---too bad the political whores refuse to demand THE SAME from all and any foreignors walking into hospitals,schools,clinics and job sites,welfare offices,your department of motor vehicles etc.--
WHY IS THIS CRAP CONTINUING ?
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