Your Soc Sec Number: I Know It

[JTWood]

Now, with just a little bit of public information, you, too, can wreck Art's life forever.

Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the nine digits in an individual's Social Security number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States.

Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's birth data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.
...
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon set out to see if they could discover people's numbers by first exploiting what is publicly known about how the numbers are derived.

The Social Security number's first three digits -- called the "area number" -- is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form. The fourth and fifth digits -- known as the "group number" -- transition slowly, and often remain constant over several years for a given region. The last four digits are assigned sequentially.

As a result, SSNs assigned in the same state to applicants born on consecutive days are likely to contain the same first four or five digits, particularly in states with smaller populations and rates of birth.

[Dan Lambskin]

it's cool...i have Life-Lock

[markj11]

Now, with just a little bit of public information, you, too, can wreck Art's life forever.

Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the nine digits in an individual's Social Security number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States.

Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's birth data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.
...
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon set out to see if they could discover people's numbers by first exploiting what is publicly known about how the numbers are derived.

The Social Security number's first three digits -- called the "area number" -- is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form. The fourth and fifth digits -- known as the "group number" -- transition slowly, and often remain constant over several years for a given region. The last four digits are assigned sequentially.

As a result, SSNs assigned in the same state to applicants born on consecutive days are likely to contain the same first four or five digits, particularly in states with smaller populations and rates of birth.

Not sure they would be telling how the SS is figured b/c I'm pretty confident that this incorrect.

[Tavish]

Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed

Really, they can be guessed? Hope nobody is planning on writing their college thesis based on this, my 5 year old knew this.

Is your SSN 000000001?
No? How about 000000002?

[dream_017]

Wow, I also found this

Researchers: Phone Numbers Can Be Guessed

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the ten digits in an individual's phone number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States.

Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's geography data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.
...
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon set out to see if they could discover people's numbers by first exploiting what is publicly known about how the numbers are derived.

The phone number's first three digits -- called the "area code" -- is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form. The fourth, fifth and sixth digits -- known as the "prefix" -- transition slowly, and often remain constant for a given region. The last four digits are assigned randomly.

As a result, phone numbers assigned in the same state to applicants living on the same street are likely to contain the same first five or six digits, particularly in states with smaller populations.

[Neato Torpedo]

Wow, I also found this

Researchers: Phone Numbers Can Be Guessed

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the ten digits in an individual's phone number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States.

Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's geography data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.
...
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon set out to see if they could discover people's numbers by first exploiting what is publicly known about how the numbers are derived.

The phone number's first three digits -- called the "area code" -- is issued according to the Zip code of the mailing address provided in the application form. The fourth, fifth and sixth digits -- known as the "prefix" -- transition slowly, and often remain constant for a given region. The last four digits are assigned randomly.

As a result, phone numbers assigned in the same state to applicants living on the same street are likely to contain the same first five or six digits, particularly in states with smaller populations.

[Metroid]

it's cool...i have my phone number blocked.

[acsguitar]

Identity theft is caused by being stupid not by someone knowing your social security number.

[StlSluggers]

Identity theft is caused by being stupid not by someone knowing your social security number.

That's not true. A guy got my SSN 7 years ago, and without my name, birth date, or address, managed to get a $1,500 CC issued to him. He almost had a $2,000 Mac coming his way, too.

[Tavish]

Identity theft is caused by being stupid not by someone knowing your social security number.

That's not true. A guy got my SSN 7 years ago, and without my name, birth date, or address, managed to get a $1,500 CC issued to him. He almost had a $2,000 Mac coming his way, too.

That's the troubling thing about SSN, not so much that they can be guessed but that they have become so much more than they ever were intended to be.