File Sharing Threat to Security: Mortgage Data Leaked with SSN

Three spreadsheets containing more than 5,000 Social Security numbers and other personal details about customers of ABN Amro Mortgage Group were inadvertently leaked over an online file-sharing network by a former employee.

Tiversa Inc., a Pittsburgh company that offers data-leakage protection services, traced the origins of the ABN data to a Florida computer with the BearShare software installed.

With such peer-to-peer sharing systems, files are obtained directly from another user's hard drive rather than a central hub like traditional Web sites. As a result, once a file begins to circulate, copies can sit on computers all over the world, ready to be grabbed by other users.

Boback said Tiversa had yet to perform a full analysis to see how far the data had spread worldwide, but found evidence the files already had moved beyond the former employee's computer.
"There is no question in my mind that ... identity thieves have these files, and if they haven't already, they will be acting on them very soon," Boback said Friday.

Earlier this month, a Seattle man was arrested in what federal authorities described as their first case against someone accused of using file-sharing computer programs to commit identity theft.

Protect your Identity...Prevention to Identity Theft
LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.