The Social Security numbers of thousands of Colorado jurors were exposed on the internet for about a year because of a security lapse at the Colorado Judicial Department.
The mistake came to light when a person in Alaska notified the state court administrator’s office in late July about the potential for massive identity theft. Apparently the person, “through an internet search, found a name contained in samples of Colorado jury files located on the Colorado Judicial Department’s internal website,” according to this Colorado Judicial Branch press release.
As reported by the Denver Post, “Files containing 620,945 names with corresponding Social Security numbers and dates of birth were exposed on the department’s internal intranet. A smaller number, 41,140, names and like data, was exposed externally, available to anyone on the internet.”
If you are a juror residing in the following counties, you should definitely take note, as the externally exposed jury files came from these four counties:
- Crowley (2,260 names),
- Pueblo (15,001 names),
- Rio Grande (8,878 names) and
- Weld (15,001 names)
Upon learning of the exposed information, the Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office (SCAO) shut down internal and external access to all jury files, according to the release.
“As a precaution, every individual on those lists will receive direct communication from SCAO advising them of this exposure and how to monitor their individual credit information,” according to the release.
Rob McCallum, public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, told the Pueblo Chieftain the department mailed letters August 10, 2017, notifying people of the data breach, and “if you do not receive a letter from Colorado Judicial (Department) in the next few days, you were not on the list.”
If you are notified of a breach, you are 11 times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud than those who are not notified, according to the 2017 Identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research.
Data breaches that involve Social Security numbers are considered the most egregious because of all the things someone can do with your Social Security number. If an identity thief gets a hold of your Social Security number, they can use it to open up bank accounts and sign up for credit cards, which they quickly max out and leave you hanging for the bill.
Did you know the average identity theft victim spends upwards of 200 hours repairing the damage? That’s where LibertyID can help. Our subscribers save themselves massive amounts of time and stress by having our service to rely on when something does happen. If your identity is stolen, we assign you a personal recovery advocate who will clean up the mess, no matter what kind of identity theft nightmare you’re facing.
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