Thousands of Social Security numbers exposed in Pierce County

[Jake Kouns <jkouns () opensecurityfoundation org>]

http://www.king5.com/news/cities/tacoma/Private-information-of-Section-8-waitlist-applicants-accidentally-posted-online-223054931.html

The Pierce County Housing Authority is conducting an investigation
into a security breach that impacts all the people on the county's
wait list for Section 8 housing.

The staff does not yet know how it happened, but the names and social
security numbers of all the people on the wait list appeared online.
That is about 1,000 people.

Monique Patterson, an applicant on the wait list, discovered the
breach last week. She searched her name online, and a link appeared to
the Pierce County Housing Authority website appeared. When she clicked
on the link, it opened a spreadsheet showing the private information.

"I just started crying," she said. "I don't know if it was a pregnancy
or just disbelief. You'd never think that a secure site would not be
so secure."

Patterson is a mother of 6, with twins on the way. She has been
struggling to find affordable, adequate housing for her family.

"We're working as diligently as we can to get to the bottom of it, to
assure ourselves that we never have a recurrence," said Karen Hull,
executive director of the county's housing authority.

Hull says it is still unclear how long the information was accessible.
They contract to an outside agency for their IT services.

Her staff is preparing a letter to send out to everyone impacted by
the breach. They are offering free credit reports and free credit
report classes to everyone on the list.
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