About counting SSNs
NEW YORK (Associated Press) – The Bank of New York Mellon said Thursday that a security breach involving the loss of backup data storage tapes affects about 8 million more individuals than originally thought.
When the breach was first disclosed in May, the bank estimated about 4.2 million people were affected, said Kevin Heine, a spokesman for the New York-based company. But a third-party re-examination of the analysis applied to the lost tapes has revealed that the affected number of individuals is actually about 12 million, Heine said. The company is in the process of notifying the additional consumers…. (more)
Can’t these people count?
How lucky we are that money and data are no longer physical goods but reside in digital systems that are easily hacked into or lost. Imagine a world where bartering still lives and money is represented by sheep. What would “lost” or “stolen” 12 million sheep look like roaming the streets of South Manhattan?
Residents of Turin Italy know very well. About 700 sheep have now been employed by Turin officials to keep the grass verges and lawns in city parks trimmed.
I am not sure the drivers agree.
BTW – Silicon Valley has its very own sheep-as-lawnmower stories, one of the more famous about Robert Widlar, an engineer at National Semiconductor (and creator of the IC OP AMP) who was irritated that Charlie Spork decided to cut back on the cost of gardening. Widlar drove down to Gilroy, and brought a sheep back to Santa Clara, in the back of his Mercedes convertible. He then tethered the sheep out on the lawn.(more)
And the count continues…