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Countrywide loses customer data!

grateful1

grateful1

Oh My!
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
19,799
Location
CT
I just got a letter from Countrywide.

An employee(former) sold personal info including my SSN to a third party.

They gave me 2 free years of coverage with the 3 big credit companies.

BIG FRIGGIN' DEAL.

Now I have to check everything forever...and this guy may get a max. 5 years...all for $50-70K!

LINKY

What an ass!
 
Yes, we have heard about this taking place weeks ago.
We are currently taking more precautions to monitor suspicious behavior.

Sadly I do not think we can actually stop this activity, there will always be a way around they system.

Notice, he used a flash card. How do you stop that?
 
Nimrod said:
Yes, we have heard about this taking place weeks ago.
We are currently taking more precautions to monitor suspicious behavior.

Sadly I do not think we can actually stop this activity, there will always be a way around they system.

Notice, he used a flash card. How do you stop that?
Click to expand...

1) no flash drives
2) Login's to database information for folks with levels who NEED to see SSN's.
.....better tracking that way.
3) SSN info encrypted or xxxx'd out first 5 numbers for all other areas.

Based on what they sayhe did...some SPECIFC searches in the database were done.
Those search can be logged and audited for the customers protection.

Counrywide screwed up!
 
grateful1 said:
Nimrod said:
Yes, we have heard about this taking place weeks ago.
We are currently taking more precautions to monitor suspicious behavior.

Sadly I do not think we can actually stop this activity, there will always be a way around they system.

Notice, he used a flash card. How do you stop that?
Click to expand...

1) no flash drives
2) Login's to database information for folks with levels who NEED to see SSN's.
.....better tracking that way.
3) SSN info encrypted or xxxx'd out first 5 numbers for all other areas.

Based on what they sayhe did...some SPECIFC searches in the database were done.
Those search can be logged and audited for the customers protection.

Counrywide screwed up!
Click to expand...


They did catch the guy right?
As for the flash drives, I can put one in my pocket and walk into work and plug in the USB. Seems pretty simple to me.

I agree about everything else. Rumor has it, the person was being watched, so they set up a STING and caught the thief.
 
Nimrod said:
grateful1 said:
Nimrod said:
Yes, we have heard about this taking place weeks ago.
We are currently taking more precautions to monitor suspicious behavior.

Sadly I do not think we can actually stop this activity, there will always be a way around they system.

Notice, he used a flash card. How do you stop that?
Click to expand...

1) no flash drives
2) Login's to database information for folks with levels who NEED to see SSN's.
.....better tracking that way.
3) SSN info encrypted or xxxx'd out first 5 numbers for all other areas.

Based on what they sayhe did...some SPECIFC searches in the database were done.
Those search can be logged and audited for the customers protection.

Counrywide screwed up!
Click to expand...


They did catch the guy right?
As for the flash drives, I can put one in my pocket and walk into work and plug in the USB. Seems pretty simple to me.

I agree about everything else. Rumor has it, the person was being watched, so they set up a STING and caught the thief.
Click to expand...

Yea...watched after 2 years!

As far as the thumb drive...yes you can bring one in...but the penalties for using one(if the company says you cannot) would be more serious.
 
Copied from the link in first post:

"Many systems can be configured to control what a person can do with their password once they get it, i.e., viewing data only, not exporting, and downloading."

This would stop flash drives.

The problem seems to be this would cost the company more money, so they didn't use it. They offer this token crap to their customers, and business goes on. The company knows that if any identities are stolen, it would be impossible to prove that the information stolen from them was the direct reason behind the theft, so they won't be held liable for it.
 
Countrywide looses customer data!

Probably one of the most commonly mispelled words in the English language. ;)

Hope the theft doesn't impact you too much. There are several good Identity Shield programs available out there and the bigger insurance companies are now offering it as part of their homeowner insurance policies.

I have the Farmers Identity Shield coverage and within a few hours of my buying a new car recently, I received a notice from them that my credit report had been accessed and prompting me to log in and view the information to verify it was an authorized access.
 
Fact of life, bruddah... If you don't want anyone to get a hold of your information - sell all you own and move to the mountains of Montana - pay cash for everything - don't get phone/electric/water/tv from public utilities - don't go to the doctor...

Hate to say it - your information is far more at risk than you think and there's little you can do about it other than to continually watch your credit report.

BTW - if you're truly worried about it - you can opt with the credit bureau's to have none of your information available at all. So - when someone attempts to open credit in your name (including yourself), nothing will be available to evaluate. It makes it impossible for anyone to get credit using your info. Of course the downside is that you'll have to let the credit bureau know to give your info out when you want to apply for credit - and it costs money to put the block on your name - but it is very effective at preventing identity theft.
 
George, you may know the answer to this... Does that service LifeLock really work? I've heard mixed things about it.
 
Rod said:
George, you may know the answer to this... Does that service LifeLock really work? I've heard mixed things about it.
Click to expand...


If you don't want to pay - use www.ftc.gov/idtheft as a resource (that will give you just about all you need to do the same thing for yourself). Otherwise - LifeLock (and others) charge to keep an eye on things for you.

Whether it really works or not? I've heard mixed things about it as well...

Edited to add....

Hmmm... Went to the FTC website and low and behold....

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt05.shtm
 
I had the same problem a year or so ago. The problem was not with my bank per say but with the third party they contracted with who keeps customer archives files. Apparently their servers were hacked into. They gave me the same 2 year no fee subscription to all three credit monitoring agencies. Big deal. I have not had any problems so far. Knock on wood.

Bob
 
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