Colorado Residents at Risk of ID Theft
July 15, 2008 – 3:00 pm3.4 million Colorado residents are at risk for identity theft due to flaws in the way that personal information is handled at the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The DMV sends large clumps of personal data over the internet without any encryption or protection. They have also failed to limit access to the database properly. There was one point recently that 33 ex-employees were able to obtain names, DOB, SSN and addresses.
The Revenue Department says they are working diligently to employ internal watchdogs to help fight against any leaks and beef up their technology.
However, the state is dealing with budget issues and will not have any extra money to spare for new computer systems and software.
The Revenue Department executive director said, “To tell you that I’m going to have the tools to do what I need to do, I don’t know where they’re going to come from, but we will continue to do the best with the tools that we have.”
Thanks to Homeland Security, a $1.168 million grant will help to purchase some upgrades for their technology. However, exactly how much of that will go directly to keeping personal information safe is still unclear.
Colorado is 8th in the nation for identity theft complaints per person and they rank #1 in the nation for fraud reports.
