[Dataloss] SSN's posted on web for months

[Henry Brown]

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=169&sid=1380599

WASHINGTON - A spreadsheet containing a "hidden" column of Social 
Security numbers belonging to about two dozen officers and civilian 
employees of one Army agency was left on the agency's website for five 
months after being notified of the presence of the personal information.

The Army's Acquisition Support Center has temporarily shut down its 
website to scrub the information from the spreadsheet, following 
FederalNewsRadio's request for an interview.

"We regret that this error occurred. We have temporarily taken the web 
site down to make the necessary corrections. We will bring the website 
back online once the corrections have been verified," an Army spokesman 
responded in an email. "We are also in the process of informing the 
individuals on the spreadsheet that their information was made available 
to the public."

The spokesman's email stated that the agency was investigating why the 
information had been included on the spreadsheet to begin with, and why 
it was still on the website five months after ASC was notified of its 
presence.

A computer expert who works for a federal contractor was surfing the web 
while doing research and found the spreadsheet in November. The file 
contained a list of Colonels and civilians who managed programs within 
ASC. Visible columns listed their name, rank, program and organization.

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