Kansas Database Hack Exposed 5.5 Million SSNs
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    12 years
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You've been warned!
Governments around the world are managing ever-increasing amounts of data. This is supposed to allow for more effective governance, but it also puts the personal information of millions of people at risk. Case in point: The hacking of a Kansas data system exposed the Social Security numbers (SSNs) of 5.5 million people from 10 states; data from another 805,000 people who didn't share their SSNs was also compromised.
The Kansas News Service revealed those figures after filing an open records request with the Kansas Department of Commerce. According to the report, the hacked system was used by people in 16 states to find jobs. (Not all of the states were affected by the hack.) Now millions of people who used those websites could have their identities stolen, their personal information auctioned, or their safety endangered by the hackers.
Prease to read more here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/kansas-database-hack-social...
What's sad is...
What's sad is that our federal/state/local government (you remember them - they're the folks who work for we the people) try to hide the facts from us. In this case it took a law suit to have Kansas own up to the truth. What I don't understand is that with all of the money gov't has (and wastes), why can't they build an intrusion-proof computer system. Probably because of: lowest bid, cronyism, laziness, non-accountability, etc. (pick your favorite).
Okay, I'm done.
Phil
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."
With technology comes risk
Our whole life story is out there. nothing is secure anymore.