Friday, September 28, 2012

Defense contractor had 518 decorated heroes social security numbers online!

UPDATE October 14, 2012

Army vows to help heroes after data breach

Decorated soldiers’ SSNs exposed online
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Posted : Friday Sep 28, 2012

The Army is investigating how a defense contractor’s data breach left vulnerable the Social Security numbers of Army’s most highly decorated soldiers since 2001, when a comprehensive awards database was posted online.

The exposed database contains the 31 Social Security numbers for six Medal of Honor recipients — including former Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry and four posthumous recipients — and 25 Distinguished Service Cross recipients.

“That super sucks,” Giunta told Army Times when contacted about the breach Sept. 28.

“Just the people it encompasses and who’s included, it’s like an attack on America. But people make mistakes. I wish it wouldn’t have happened.”

The database, which contains 518 records of award recipients, appeared to have been posted online by an employee of Brightline Interactive, a creative services firm in Alexandria, Va.

The database also included records of Silver Star recipients, including their names, ranks, unit information, and the date, place and a description of their action. But the Social Security numbers for the 487 Silver Star recipients were not included on the website.

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