FEMA is taking steps to protect the identity of up to 18,000 Hurricane Katrina victims whose personal identification was erroneously posted online.
Hurricane victims that applied for disaster relief apparently later found their social security numbers, addresses and names posted on two different websites.
The breach was initially discovered in December when 16,857 lines of data about Katrina evacuees from the Gulf Coast region were found in a spreadsheet online.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has contracted ID Experts to provide “fully managed data breach response” over the next 18 months to ensure identity security of those potentially affected.
Rick Kam, president of ID Experts, says “With these FEMA applicants we will monitor all credit and account activity to ensure early detection of identity theft and respond immediately with our restoration services to eliminate any negative action.”
