Police search for laptop with airport-screening information

This is what will happen to your SSN, DOB, address, and other
personal information when the gubbermint finally is allowed to
create an international database. Identity theft? You ain't seen
nothin' yet!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast....ap/index.html

Casey muttered....

This is what will happen to your SSN, DOB, address, and other
personal information when the gubbermint finally is allowed to
create an international database. Identity theft? You ain't seen
nothin' yet!


Has it not occurred to you that clumsy and outdated though it may be, the
"Gubmint" already has a national data base with all that info already
loaded? Of course, it's not as good as the ones maintained by the credit
reporting bureaus or the medical risk data sources...

TMO

This is what will happen to your SSN, DOB, address, and other
personal information when the gubbermint finally is allowed to
create an international database. Identity theft? You ain't seen
nothin' yet!


Has it not occurred to you that clumsy and outdated though it may be, the
"Gubmint" already has a national data base with all that info already
loaded? Of course, it's not as good as the ones maintained by the credit
reporting bureaus or the medical risk data sources...

Such articles make me wonder how these unbiased news sources select their
stories. It would not be to promote some sort of public opinion - would it?

Has it not occurred to you that clumsy and outdated though it may
be, the "Gubmint" already has a national data base with all that info
already loaded? Of course, it's not as good as the ones maintained
by the credit reporting bureaus or the medical risk data sources...

Of course it occurred to me. However, that's not the real problem.
Access to these databases is somewhat limited. Just wait until our
fearless leaders allow any law enforcement agency, even those with
marginal credentials, to access the data.


Casey

(Paul Middlestat) wrote in message . com...

Such articles make me wonder how these unbiased news sources select their
stories. It would not be to promote some sort of public opinion - would it?

I think the content of the article accurately reflects the greatest
area of security risk - human foibles. I don't see it as promoting
much of anything - it is reporting an event, with current interest
implications.

As I stated, the biggest recognized security risks are basic human
weaknesses. We can be con'd, bought, corrupted; we forget, are
careless and make mistakes (intentional and accidental); we don't
follow procedures; all loopholes are eventually exploited.

alt.conspiracy is down the hall on the left...

--
Alan Erskine
alanerskine(at)optusnet.com.au

The U.S. Government is in the
peculiar position of toppling foreign
governments in the name of democracy.

Oh, how democractic!

"Casey" wrote in message
nk.net...
This is what will happen to your SSN, DOB, address, and other
personal information when the gubbermint finally is allowed to
create an international database. Identity theft? You ain't seen
nothin' yet!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast....ap/index.html

Casey muttered....

Has it not occurred to you that clumsy and outdated though it may
be, the "Gubmint" already has a national data base with all that info
already loaded? Of course, it's not as good as the ones maintained
by the credit reporting bureaus or the medical risk data sources...

Of course it occurred to me. However, that's not the real problem.
Access to these databases is somewhat limited. Just wait until our
fearless leaders allow any law enforcement agency, even those with
marginal credentials, to access the data.


The access to the various "commercial" data bases which contain far more
sensitive data than you might imagine is far less limited than you imagine.
Any half-baked investigator can put together a "profile" on you using only
a handful of subscription services, quite inexpensive, and a few hours,
said profile being enormously sensirive info-crammed.

Credit files? A few bucks and a storefront rental will bring them to your
desk. Medical/health files are a bit more sensitive, but a few bucks in
the hands of a hospital clerical employee or an insurance company
underwriter's assistant may work wonders....a recent case with which i was
familiar involved a risk analysis service's employee with a bit of a coke
habit.

The problem for governments and civilians is too much info available, and
not enough skilled folks to read, much less analyse it. As an old NSA hand
once put it to me: "As long as you act only once and quickly, the chances
are an act will go undiscovered for long enough for you get away."
Analysis and response are far greater problems than data collection.

With few exceptions (a couple of specialized departments), the US
government is classified among the clumsiest and most inept of data
handlers, likely well behind your local utility companies.

TMO

alt.conspiracy is down the hall on the left...

I never wrote that there is a conspiracy. alt.govt.incompetence
is a more appropriate newsgroup.


Casey

Olivers writes
The access to the various "commercial" data bases which contain far more
sensitive data than you might imagine is far less limited than you imagine.
Any half-baked investigator can put together a "profile" on you using only
a handful of subscription services, quite inexpensive, and a few hours,
said profile being enormously sensirive info-crammed.

Credit files? A few bucks and a storefront rental will bring them to your
desk. Medical/health files are a bit more sensitive, but a few bucks in
the hands of a hospital clerical employee or an insurance company
underwriter's assistant may work wonders....a recent case with which i was
familiar involved a risk analysis service's employee with a bit of a coke
habit.

It may be easy enough to amass a fair amount of data on a single
individual. It's a different matter to combine a number of data sources
and systematically trawl through them.

This thread started with a stolen laptop. A while ago a UK Ministry of
Defence official had a laptop stolen which contained some fairly
sensitive data.

The moral for all road warriors is to consider encrypting or removing
anything stored in your laptops which might cause embarrassment if said
laptop went AWOL.
--
Simon Elliott
http://www.ctsn.co.uk/

"Casey" wrote in message
nk.net...
This is what will happen to your SSN, DOB, address, and other
personal information when the gubbermint finally is allowed to
create an international database. Identity theft? You ain't seen
nothin' yet!


And what, exactly, makes you think that the government doesn't already have
all of your information?


Yankee Bob Inc.
(At a loss for something clever to say here)