* Other editions: * Mobile | * RSS | * E-Newsletters | * Subscribe * Find it: * Jobs | * Real Estate | * Apartments | * Shopping | * Cars | * Classifieds | * Dating | * Place an Ad | * Grocery Coupons shreveporttimes.com Sponsored by: The Times * Your browsers security settings are preventing some features from appearing. See instructions for fixing the problem. FEMA's Katrina evacuee info on Web sites spurs probe By Mike Hasten • mhasten@gannett.com • January 11, 2009 2:00 am * * * Print this page * E-mail this article * Share + Del.icio.us + Facebook + Digg + Reddit + Newsvine + * What’s this? BATON ROUGE An investigation into a security breach in Texas has found that an agency providing services to Hurricane Katrina evacuees inadvertently allowed the names and personal information of more than 16,000 evacuees to be posted on two Web sites. Advertisement The Federal Emergency Management Agency was not responsible for the breach but has taken steps to prevent the evacuees from becoming victims of identity theft, said spokesman Andrew Thomas, of FEMA's office in Baton Rouge. An evacuee notified FEMA in mid-December that he had seen his name, mail and e-mail addresses and telephone and Social Security numbers on the Internet, Thomas said. An investigation found 16,857 lines of data had been posted on a site publicly displaying information about evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who had been transported to Texas. "We immediately worked to have it removed from public view," Thomas said. A few days later, FEMA found another Web site had the same information. The agency was able to get that information pulled down, too. "FEMA did not release this information," Thomas said. It was released to a yet unnamed Texas agency that provided assistance to evacuees, and that's where the security breach occurred. "We regret it," Thomas said. "It was an action that we took that allowed this to happen." Regardless, FEMA notified all of the 16,857 people by telephone and later by letter that the breach had occurred. The federal agency purchased identity theft insurance and enlisted the services of an identity theft protection service. "So far, we haven't had any problem," Thomas said. The paid service will monitor each evacuee's accounts and credit rating for the next 18 months. Mike Prusinski, vice president of public affairs and identity theft expert for Lifelock, an identity theft protection service, said the FEMA information release is an example of a growing problem. "The sad thing is that you have to hear it from a news report or a letter that your personal information is posted on a Web site and you could possibly be victimized," he said. "We see this quite a bit. All it takes is a slip of a finger" to send the information to an unsecure place, Prusinski said, "or a laptop is stolen or something that's supposed to be shredded falls into the wrong hands. You're left holding the bag and worrying." Lifelock and other companies like it try to teach people how to avoid problems and then how to untangle the mess that occurs when someone gets access to credit and debit cards, Social Security numbers and other information that can be used to steal an identity, he said. Besides the data leak, criminals posed as Red Cross workers and stole evacuees' information at shelters providing housing, Prusinski said. "Bad times like that bring the worst out in some people. "Realistically, if something is on a Web site a couple of days or hours, there's a slim chance it could be used. The point is, it shouldn't be there in the first place." Some people might notify credit rating agencies to "put a freeze" on their credit so no one, including themselves, can access their credit rating, Prusinski said. But there's a cost to freeze and thaw access to that information, which is needed to get a job, apply for a loan or anything else that requires a credit check. Getting coverage through Lifelock and similar companies is not inexpensive. Lifelock charges $10 per month per adult and $2.50 a month for those age 16 or younger. Many people don't think about protecting their children's identity, Prusinski said. But that's something criminals like to do because it can take years before the victim tries to do something that requires a credit check. The service of a credit monitoring company is not going to stop thieves from trying to steal your identity, Prusinski said. "I put it in the category of a home alarm system." At least 100 companies provide similar services; and anyone interested in hiring protection which includes immediate payment for losses "and then we fight with the bank" should look at options, he said. "If it happens, we're going to deal with it for you." More than 8.3 million people in the United States were victims of identity theft last year. "It's the crime of choice in America right now," said David Caldwell, an assistant attorney general who deals with identity theft in Louisiana. From 2000-06, identity theft in the U.S. rose 791 percent, resulting in $65 billion in losses. In 2006, Louisiana was 35th among states in identity theft, which cost Louisiana banks $10.3 million, Caldwell said. In your voice Read reactions to this story [Newest first] Add your comment (max {maxchars} characters) You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login | Register ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ characters left [BUTTON] {staffMark} {authorIcon} {authorHandle} wrote: {commentBody} {commentTimestamp} {recommendLink} {newpostLink} {replylink} {reportAbuseLink} Report item as: (required) X [Obscenity/vulgarity.] Comment: (optional) [BUTTON] Missing input fields. You must fill out the comment body in order to submit a comment. Comment too long. The comment you have entered is too long. Please limit your post to {maxchars} characters or less. Protect yourself Place a fraud alert on your credit report. Contact one of the three major credit rating companies --Experian, Equifax® and TransUnion. They share the alert. Get a free annual credit report from all three, but space them four months apart so you get the whole year covered. Get a shredder for anything that has your personal information on it. Hire a credit monitoring company. Source: Mike Prusinski, vice president of public affairs and identity theft expert for Lifelock Advertisement More News headlines * Jury selection resumes today in murder trial * Jennings woman in jail for tainting punch * Nov. trade deficit drops to lowest level since '03 * Bernanke: Obama stimulus would lift economy * Tell us what you're doing for MLK Day Latest headlines * Jury selection resumes today in murder trial * Jennings woman in jail for tainting punch * Nov. trade deficit drops to lowest level since '03 * Bernanke: Obama stimulus would lift economy * Tell us what you're doing for MLK Day * Gannett Co., Inc. * USA TODAY * apartments.com * cars.com * CareerBuilder * Dating * HomeScape * shopLocal.com * Partners: * Jobs: CareerBuilder.com * Cars: Cars.com * Apartments: Apartments.com * Shopping: ShopLocal.com * Home | * News | * Sports | * Opinion | * Lifestyles | * Weather | * Entertainment | * PHOTOS/VIDEOS | * Post, Blog, Share | * Obituaries | * Classifieds | * Customer Service | * Site Map * Terms of Service | * Privacy Policy | * Contact Us | * Subscribe Copyright ©2007 ... 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