Data Stolen on Elderly Washington, DC Residents - An ACCESS Fraud Alert

A server belonging to Georgetown University, and which was used to store data belonging to the DC Office of Aging (DCOA) was hacked into in late February. The server contained the names, dates of birth and Social Security Numbers of more than 40,000 elderly Washington, DC residents.

 

DCOA coordinates services for Washington, DC’s elderly population. They use certain facilities belonging to Georgetown University to host their data. On February 12th the server containing the breached data was hacked into, and the data was apparently downloaded. The hacking was noticed due to a routine review of the university’s network security.

 

Georgetown has not given an explanation but the theft was not reported to DCOA until February 24th. DCOA then filed a report with the United States Secret Service.

 

On February 28th, the Secret Service seized the computer that had been hacked into and began a forensic analysis of it. They are attempting to determine exactly who hacked into the system.

 

Georgetown has setup a hotline to answer questions about the data theft. It can be reached at 866-740-2548.

 

ACCESS is advising any Washington, DC residents that believe that their data may have been included in the files stolen to call the hotline. Although residents of Washington, DC don’t have the ability to place a freeze on their credit file, anyone who believes that their data may have been compromised should also contact the national Credit Reporting Agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) and place a fraud alert on their credit file. And finally, we are urging those who may have been impacted by this breach to check their credit report.

 

In an ironic twist to this story, Georgetown University is known for being able to provide experts to companies and the government to deal with matters of privacy and data breaches. Among the universities professors is Marc Rotenberg, who regularly testifies before Congress on matters concerning identity theft, and who is president of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center).

 

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