Shostack + Friends Blog Archive

Shocking News of the Day: Social Security Numbers Suck

The firm’s annual Banking Identity Safety Scorecard looked at the consumer-security practices of 25 large banks and credit unions. It found that far too many still rely on customers’ Social Security numbers for authentication purposes — for instance, to verify a customer’s identity when he or she wants to speak to a bank representative over the telephone or re-set a password.

All banks in the report used some version of the Social Security number as a means of authenticating the customer, Javelin found. The pervasive use of Social Security numbers was surprising, given the importance of Social Security numbers as a tool for identity theft, said Phil Blank, managing director of security, risk and fraud at Javelin. (“Banks Rely Too Heavily On Social Security Numbers, Report Finds“, Ann Carrns, New York Times)

Previously here: “Social Security Numbers are Worthless as Authenticators” (2009), or “Bad advice on SSNs” (2005).

Originally published by adam on 9 Jan 2012
Last modified on 29 May 2017
Categories:   ID Theft   information security   National ID   privacy   Risk   Security   Uncategorized