Feds Website Leaks Student Loan Data
This past Wednesday, the U.S. Department of
Education arranged for 21,000 students to
get free credit monitoring after a government
website exposed their personal information.
The website, dedicated to servicing student
loans, leaked the unlucky individual's sensitive
personal information after a contractor's
routine software upgrade mixed up different
borrowers data.
The highly confidential data exposed included:
- Names
- Addresses
- Social Security Number (ssn)
- Phone Numbers
- Account Information (for some)
The individuals impacted by this latest
government data breach are in the process
of being notified via postal mail.
So, our tip for today is if you or anyone
you know logged onto the following
website last Sunday through Tuesday
contact the Department of Education's
help desk immediately for more information
on their "free" credit monitoring:
http://www.dlssonline.com/
The toll free number to call is 1-800-848-0979.
Finally, forward this "alert" to any friends or family
you think should be made aware of this security
breach.
posted by agent99 @ 11:51 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Aargh!
I'd gladly trade "free" credit monitoring for having my personal
data secured properly.
Any novice computer geek knows you
should thoroughly test out a software
upgrade on a non public url for these potential type of data security breaches b-e-f-o-r-e you go "live" to the entire world.
You would think any diligent company or organization would
practice basic testing against this type of leak.
That is.....if they truly cared about your personal data
like it was their own.
Since your chances of that happening are less than getting
hit by a bolt of lightning, we argue the point for you to
seek out your own identity theft protection through denial
and detection methods.
Denial meaning opt out or remove your name from the various
credit and marketing list sharing practices widely utilized
that open up the potential for data security breaches due to
transportation by couriers and other 3rd parties.
Detection we typically define as credit and account monitoring.
However, periodic snaphots of your credit and alarmingly an ever increasing threat of your public information profiles are also a
requirement to your total information protection strategy.
So, do both and you dramatically minimize your potential identity
theft odds.
Thanks, what a nice back to school present from Uncle Sam!
I'm sure glad a friend forwarded this post to me so at least I know how to beat the identity thieves before something worst happens.
Keep it Real
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