State Government Records Breached

Previously published April 15, 2008

A security flaw in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections public website reportedly exposed the personal information of tens of thousands of Oklahoma residents for a period of at least three years. The Oklahoma DOC is also concerned that information stored in its database could have been changed.

Alex Papadimoulis, who operates his own website that reviews a variety of internet issues, wrote, “It took me all of a minute to figure out how to download 10,597 records – including Social Security Numbers – from their website.”

Your personal information resides in a number of databases, including government sites. Oklahoma is not alone in its failure to secure public websites. A federal government employee lost his laptop last year. It contained tens of thousands of veterans' records. Florida, where I live, has reported numerous agency security failures.

Learn how you can reduce your risk of loss.