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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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6

Social Security Numbers Guessable From Public Data

Available birth info can ease identity theft

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(Newser) – Social Security numbers can be predicted, making them unfit to be “authentication devices” amid increasing worry over identity theft, researchers warn the Washington Post. Knowing a person’s birthday and birthplace can point the way to the first five digits, a study finds. “If they are predictable from public data, then they cannot be considered sensitive,” argues a co-author of the Carnegie-Mellon study.

The first three digits of the number are tied to an applicant’s mailing address; the next two are specific to a region, and may stay the same for years. The last four are “assigned sequentially," the Post notes. Using publicly-available death records and birth information, researchers could predict on the first try, the first five digits of the SSNs of 44% of deceased people born after 1988 and 7% of those born from 1973 to 1988. They could guess the full SSNs of 8.5% of people born after 1988 in fewer than 1,000 tries.

Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue speaks at a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue speaks at a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, May 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Social security numbers are guessable, researchers find.
Social security numbers are guessable, researchers find.   (Shutterstock)
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For reasons unrelated to this report, the agency has been developing a system to randomly assign SSNs. - Mark Lassiter, a Social Security spokesman

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6 comments
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2-bits
Jul 7, 09 9:34 AM CDT
That's an awful lot of effort given how easy it is to steal someone's identity. Last I checked the average persons identity was worth about $20 on the Ukrainian black market sites. Imagine what the supply/demand must be. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Mr.C
Jul 7, 09 1:10 PM CDT
I knew of a library that had about 100 people's SSNs on a Rolodex on the checkout desk. Not all that many people would know what to do with it if they got it. ------ Similarly, I have access to thousands of credit card numbers.
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IN RESPONSE:
Newser001
Jul 7, 09 8:04 PM CDT
' Social Security Numbers Guessable From Public Data ' - No sh!t Sherlock.
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Mr.C
Jul 7, 09 1:08 PM CDT
THIS ARTICLE ISN'T CLEAR TO ME; IIT SAYS, "Knowing a person’s birthday and birthplace can point the way to the first five digits" AND THEN "The first three digits of the number are tied to an applicant’s mailing address; the next two are specific to a region" ISN'T THAT DECLARING THAT THE FIRST DIGITS ARE PRODUCED BY BIRTHDAY/PLACE AND THEN CONTRADICTING ITSELF BY SAYING IT IS ADDRESS/REGION? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
2-bits
Jul 7, 09 2:24 PM CDT
The article isn't doing a very through job of explaining how the numbers in an SSN work. Yes, the first three digits are an area number. However, usually several numbers are assigned to a region as they are exhausted over time. Therefore, if you know when someone was born, you can make a pretty good guess as to what the first three digits are.
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