Data Breach Exposes 27 Million Texas Driver's License Records (thehill.com) 34
"A software company that provides services for insurance groups disclosed this week that about 27.7 million Texas driver's license records were exposed in a data breach earlier this year," reports The Hill:
The company, Vertafore, said in a statement posted on a website set up to address the breach that the data was exposed between March and August and affected licenses issued before February 2019. Exposed data included driver's license numbers, addresses, dates of birth and vehicle registration history, according to the company. The group said that no Social Security numbers or financial account information were compromised.
The breach happened after three files were accessed by an unauthorized user after the files were "inadvertently stored in an unsecured external storage service," Vertafore said in its statement....
Vertafore said that it is providing a year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services to all Texas residents whose driver's license data was exposed... Vertafore emphasized in disclosing the breach that it was taking steps to enhance employee cybersecurity and privacy training, reinforcing security procedures and policies, and further enhancing the security of its systems.
The breach happened after three files were accessed by an unauthorized user after the files were "inadvertently stored in an unsecured external storage service," Vertafore said in its statement....
Vertafore said that it is providing a year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services to all Texas residents whose driver's license data was exposed... Vertafore emphasized in disclosing the breach that it was taking steps to enhance employee cybersecurity and privacy training, reinforcing security procedures and policies, and further enhancing the security of its systems.
The Govt wants to restric our encrypting (Score:1, Informative)
But THEY are too stupid to use it in the first place.
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and yes.
you have to have lived there in order to understand
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what i find fascinating is that texas even bothers to keep those kinds of records in the first place. and yes. you have to have lived there in order to understand
I did, and I do.
Seriously, Cullen Baker Defense?
Why? (Score:5, Informative)
From TFA:
The files were maintained to support a specific product within Vertaforeâ(TM)s insurance rating solutions.
What were they doing with DL records? When I log on to one of our states databases, there is a specific disclaimer that I have to check stating that I am not to use the data for 'business purposes'. So when Vertafore asks Texas for a dump of drivers license records, why doesn't Texas just tell them to f*k off.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)
From TFA:
The files were maintained to support a specific product within Vertaforeâ(TM)s insurance rating solutions.
What were they doing with DL records? When I log on to one of our states databases, there is a specific disclaimer that I have to check stating that I am not to use the data for 'business purposes'. So when Vertafore asks Texas for a dump of drivers license records, why doesn't Texas just tell them to f*k off.
Maybe because the state gets paid for the data?
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Maybe because the state gets paid for the data?
I can opt out of Google/Facebook. I can't opt out of the state.
It's probably not from the state (Score:3)
The data probably didn't come from the state. It probably came from other insurance companies.
Assume Bob buys insurance from Allstate and three months later totals his car. Six months after that he has insurance from Farmers and he hits someone, causing an $18,000 claim. Three months later he gets cancelled for not paying his bill. Bob applies for insurance from GEICO. Geico is going to quote him a price based on his risk history because Allstate and Farmers informed Vertafore about his tendencies.
Re: It's probably not from the state (Score:1)
Damage payment offer creates umbrage (Score:5, Informative)
Vertafore said that it is providing a year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services to all Texas residents whose driverâ(TM)s license data was exposed.
That and four dollars will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Data breach lawsuits often fail because proving harm is nebulous, and despite repeatedly routine carelessness with other peoples private information, penalties for security sloppiness never seem to get ramped up by our governors.
Until penalties for these infractions become much more severe, there will be no industry willingness to spend on security... something like if the penalty for a breach is credit card related, you can't accept those for payment for X months or until you sort it out to an oversight board's satisfaction.
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Until penalties for these infractions become much more severe,
Severe? You could ask for a monetary penalty, but that's literally chump change. How about something seemingly more effective?
Let's "let" the CEO of the company literally visit each and every user in their exposed database (it's not like the names and addresses are unknown) and personally apologize to each and every one. Every. One. Of. Them. Personally. Not a proxy, not his secretary, HIM.
He shouldn't be upset -- at least that'll get him out of meetings for awhile. But driving's a hassle, so
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It used to be "shoot all the lawyers", but can we also now go after incompetent DBAs, and their bosses up the chain to the CEO and Board of Directors?
Or as a less violent alternative, we release ALL their personal information into the wild including the SSN, stock broker and bank accounts numbers and their home, vacation house addresses and their license plates and tax returns over the last 5 years including all sub schedules. In the case of the CEO / BOD or Governor/President and the
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My Data (Score:3)
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Don't worry though, if some lender cuts funding for borrower verification you're still 100% on the hook for any fund they lend out to a fraudster. We can't let you get away with escaping your debts after all.
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My experiences with the online is about the same.
Change the UI for the sake change even if it takes the user 20 minutes to figure out how to do the same thing they did yesterday. "Just for he hell of it, let's do it ever week so no one knows how to use this advertising platform. The user is too stupid to go anywhere."
Unilaterally change T&S for their own future ability to resell data or to harvest ideas or to deny any responsibility for their malfeasant
To
Great (Score:2)
Because insurance is state-regulated, so segregate (Score:2)
Different states have different laws about car insurance.
Therefore companies that operate in different states have to separate the operations for different states in some ways. The documents you need to comply with the laws about selling insurance in Texas aren't the same as what you need in Vermont.
Not a day goes by (Score:1)
That's weird (Score:3)
because Texas doesn't appear to be at fault here. The breach occurred with a company based in Colorado. Driver's license numbers were included, and it's my understanding that the Texas DMV doesn't sell those - so the data probably came from insurance companies, not the state.
If you're looking for your daily excuse to yell at Texas, this probably isn't it.
Population (Score:2)
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15 and a half to apply for the DL to be active the day you turn 16.
14 if you live on a farm (10+ acres) and drive Farm equipment (Truck or Tractor) on Farm-to-Market designated roads.
Consider all of this data public info (Score:2)
Lenders and others who use this info as proof of identity are the ones who've done something wrong!
I never believe this statement (Score:2)
Seems a lot (Score:2)
Why does one Texas driver have 27.7 million licence records?
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And before anyone complains, yes I'm sorry I spelled licence in the English way rather than the American one. Apostrophes however work the same for both the English and the Americans.
Identity Theft (Score:2)
I had some identity theft earlier this year, and this data breach seems to be a likely explanation. The thief had (and maybe still has) a driver's license with my name, birthdate, and driver's license number that he used to rent a car (never returned), apply for various loans (thankfully never issued as I had locked down my credit), and apply for unemployment in my name (never issued as my employer notified me of the claim). They needed my social, but I'm sure that's not terrible difficult to find on the da