McAfee Names Top 10 Places Your Social Security Number Is at Risk

McAfee researched significant data breaches involving stolen SSNs to come up with a top 10 list of the riskiest places to give out your SSN.

By  Kara Reeder | Oct 20, 2010
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What's the most dangerous place to leave or use your Social Security number? eSecurity Planet reports that it's colleges and universities, according to McAfee.

As part of its National Protect Your Identity Week, McAfee researched significant data breaches involving stolen SSNs to come up with a top 10 list of the riskiest places to give out your SSN.

McAfee consultant and identity theft expert Robert Siciliano says that of the data breaches that exposed SSNs between January 2009 and October 2010, over 108 occurred at major U.S. colleges and universities. That's more than any other private or public sector industry. In fact, this week approximately 107,000 current and prospective students of the University of North Florida were put at risk after their personal information, including SSNs, was compromised when a server containing the data was breached.

Other risky places to give out your SSN include banking and financial institutions, hospitals, and state and local governments.

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