Hackers accessed a reported 43,000 Social Security numbers through an unprotected Google FTP server, according to Gizmodo.com. These numbers belonged to faculty, staff, students, and alumni whose information was found easily through a Google hacking method called “dorking.”
“Most victims are targets of opportunity,” Mike Lloyd, chief scientist at security firm RedSeal, told Gizmodo. “Chances are that anyone who got the data from Yale wasn’t looking for Yale.”
This private data, which mostly belonged to people who worked for Yale in 1999, was reportedly available through a very public search engine for 10 months. The problem was discovered on June 30 and disclosed to the public on August 12 through the school newspaper.
The university has offered those whose data was stolen two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance.
“[Dorkers have] set up a whole database that can be used to get started,” explains Gizmodo. “As awesome and indispensable as Google has been to our lives, they need to patch up these holes pronto.”
Do you think Google has opened itself up to lawsuits following theft of these Social Security numbers?
If you need help with your Social Security Disability benefits, contact the Social Security Disability lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin.
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