Well, this sucks. My personal information (SSN/financial stuff) now in China's database

I was granted a "Secret" security clearance in 2007, so my data was stolen in this hack... dammit!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/09/social-security-data-breach_n_7764812.html

---

---

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said on Thursday that hackers had stolen sensitive information - including Social Security numbers - of about 21.5 million people who have undergone background checks for security clearances since 2000.

Those exposed included 19.7 million people who applied for the clearances, plus 1.8 million non-applicants, mostly spouses or co-habitants of applicants, OPM said.

The 21.5 million affected is in addition to information about 4.2 million current and former federal workers stolen in a separate but related incident. There is significant overlap between the two groups.

The United States has identified China as the leading suspect in the massive hacking of the U.S. government agency, an assertion China's Foreign Ministry dismissed as "absurd logic."

The incidents have outraged members of Congress and worried the millions of Americans affected since they were revealed last month. Some lawmakers have called for the resignation of Katherine Archuleta, the OPM director.

Background investigation records contained some information on mental health and financial history provided by security clearance applicants and others contacted during their investigations. OPM said there was no evidence that separate systems storing information on health, financial, payroll and retirement records of federal employees were affected by the hacking.

OPM said it is highly likely that anyone who went through a background investigation after 2000 was affected by the cyber breach. Those who underwent background checks before 2000 might be impacted but it is less likely, the personnel agency said.

I had to get a new Debit card last year, because Home Depot got hacked and my card data was stolen.

AND, last year, we found out that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia was hacked and our data was stolen then as well. They have paid for a monitoring service (ALL-CLEAR) that lets us know if anyone has applied for credit. (It works. Christine got a used car this year and the service alerted us that a credit application was made in our names.)

We already pay for a separate service with Equifax. They lock our credit info and work with the other credit reporting companies to lock our info there as well. No one can even get a credit report on us, unless we get Equifax to globally unlock it temporarily, like when we bought the car.

Sigh. At least someone hasn't filed income tax reports in our names... yet. Apparently, it is a real chore to straighten out THAT kind of mess.

Mine taken too. While I have just one credit card, apparently enough hacking has resulted in it being changed three times in the last two years.

The new EMV cards have chips and as usual, the card readers haven't caught up to the new card technology. I think all this paranoia just gives people something to do. Americans love nothing better than to sit behind their castle walls and stew over an impending personal attack, spending their days and nights making those walls more impenetrable.

I've got Lifelock, but I'd rather go with the law of averages than make monthly calls to my bank for, without my knowledge, having inactivated a card that I am trying to use AT THE TIME. Why is it criminals can use our credit cards but I can't seem to use my own?

Life was easier when we traded for beads and labor.

So now how do you feel about Hillary having a personal email accounts on a non-government, privately maintained server.

polecat wrote:

So now how do you feel about Hillary having a personal email accounts on a non-government, privately maintained server.

Has nothing to do with the topic, but what the hell.

Lately, every other topic seems to evolve into Dem bashing...

Well, bless their hearts, they have my info, too.  Won't do them much good.  My financial institution has stopped their antics on my debit card, credit card x2.  One idiot was dumb enough to send a junk email that told me they were hitting my card for $xxxxx.  Hacking may be a talent to otherwise brainless entities.

Gosh I miss those days of driving around town with my Dad paying bills with cash.  He was never hacked that I knew of...  

The new RFID (radio-transmitting) "chip 'n PIN" cards, pic below, can be hacked.  This pic shows the chip symbol.  A hacker in close proximity to your card can get your card's info with a scanner of some sort.  I have my chip 'n PIN card in a sleeve that has metal in it.  This blocks the radio waves and keeps hackers from obtaining my card info.  Vendors also make wallets that have metal shields in them to keep hackers at bay.



Sleeves: A vendor at Amazon

Wallets: http://records.com/upgrade-your-wallet-to-protect-you-from-hackers


If you just want to do something NOW or go on the cheap, just make simple sleeves out of aluminum foil to keep your cards in.