[attrition] Errata: Data Loss

[security curmudgeon]

with the new wave of volunteers, Errata has a fresh infusion of blood, 
will and insanity! The first of many new pages:

http://attrition.org/errata/dataloss.html

Your secret is safe with us.. promise!

If you get a phone call from your credit card company, do you give them 
your social security number? Your mother's maiden name? The soul of your 
first-born child? Do you think that the company that holds your personal 
information cares more about you than their own bottom line? Of course you 
don't. And of course they don't.

In a one month period, an estimated 40 million credit card numbers could 
have possibly been compromised. What do the companies in charge of your 
personal information have to say about it? Better yet... what is the media 
reporting? You won't get the same story on both sides, will you?

What is becoming a near weekly occurance, large companies are collecting 
your personal information (sometimes without your knowledge or consent), 
and subsequently letting it fall into the hands of the bad guys. This is 
your personal information; name, address, social security number, credit 
card number, and more sometimes. All of this information is invaluable to 
criminals who carry out identity theft crime every day.

[..]