163,000 Social Security numbers compromised in UNC data breach

Posted by Caitlin on September 28th, 2009

In July, a University of North Carolina researcher was unable to access a server containing information pertaining to a federally funded mammography study. That information included records on a total of 236,000 women, and Social Security numbers for about 163,000 of those women. Further investigation revealed that the system had been hacked as long ago as 2007. This past Friday, UNC began to notify the 163,000 women whose Social Security numbers were exposed. The delay occurred due to the need to investigate the extent of the compromise and determine which participants were affected.

Imagine being told that hackers have had access to your Social Security number for the past two years. Two years is more than enough time for an identity thief to open new credit accounts in your name, max them out with charges, and move on to the next victim. Meanwhile, unless you check your credit report regularly or subscribe to an identity theft protection service, you might be blissfully unaware of the debt that "you" have accumulated. At least, until you are denied a loan for a new house or car, or collection agents begin banging on your door. It's important that data breach victims be notified in a timely manner, but sometimes, as in this case, the breach isn't discovered until years later. The only way to immediately informed about any new, potentially fraudulent lines of credit in your name is to invest in credit monitoring or identity theft protection. A credit report monitoring service will alert you to any chances in your credit file, which will allow you to take action in response to any suspicious activity. An identity theft protection service will go beyond this basic level of protection to help prevent, detect and, if necessary, resolve cases of identity theft.

To learn more, see our reviews and comparison charts for credit report monitoring and identity theft protection services.