Virginia Board of Elections mails completed absentee ballots
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
9/28/08
Organization:
State of Virginia
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Board of Elections
Location:
Richmond, Virginia
Victims:
Absentee voter registrants
Number Affected:
"close to 400"
Types of Data:
Names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank statements, and other personal information
Breach Description:
"State Board of Elections officials are investigating how a Petersburg church received absentee voter registration forms with personal information, including Social Security Numbers."
Reference URL:
WRIC Channel 8 News (Original)
WRIC Channel 8 News (Follow-up)
Report Credit:
WRIC Channel 8 News
Response:
From the online source cited above:
State Board of Elections officials are investigating how a Petersburg church received absentee voter registration forms with personal information, including Social Security Numbers.
Nikkia Goforth was baffled when she went to set up for her church's voter registration drive and instead of finding blank voter registration applications sent to her by the Virginia State Board of Elections, she found hundreds of absentee ballots and voter applications already filled out.
the church ordered blank registration forms to distribute during a weekend blood drive.
"We don't have to worry about people dumpster diving, if I were a terrible person, I have people's socials security numbers and bank information on my table," said Goforth.
we found were bank statements, copies of drivers licenses, and passport information from voters in Richmond to Arlington to Chesapeake
[Evan] Are bank statements required in order to register as an absentee voter? Seems odd.
Nikkia and her church members are making sure the information gets into the right hands
[Evan] The right hands? I presume that she is referring to the Board of Elections, but they don't seem worthy to be the "right hands".
"The scary thing is they don't even know that they have done it because we haven't been contacted by the State Bboard [sic] of Elections. So there are over close to 400 applications that they don't even know that have sent us," said Goforth.
[Evan] If Ms. Goforth had not reported this breach, there is little doubt that the Board of Elections would not have ever noticed it nor would they have corrected the cause of the breach in any kind of short order. I have to wonder if this has happened before with the Board of Elections, and if so how many others may be affected.
State Elections officials will continue investigating the incident Monday.
Commentary:
How in the world does this breach happen? It is mind-boggling. Anyone who knows me knows that my mind is boggled enough!
Past Breaches:
State of Virginia:
August, 2008 - Maryland courts web site displays Social Security numbers (still)
Date Reported:9/28/08
Organization:
State of Virginia
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Board of Elections
Location:
Richmond, Virginia
Victims:
Absentee voter registrants
Number Affected:
"close to 400"
Types of Data:
Names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank statements, and other personal information
Breach Description:
"State Board of Elections officials are investigating how a Petersburg church received absentee voter registration forms with personal information, including Social Security Numbers."
Reference URL:
WRIC Channel 8 News (Original)
WRIC Channel 8 News (Follow-up)
Report Credit:
WRIC Channel 8 News
Response:
From the online source cited above:
State Board of Elections officials are investigating how a Petersburg church received absentee voter registration forms with personal information, including Social Security Numbers.
Nikkia Goforth was baffled when she went to set up for her church's voter registration drive and instead of finding blank voter registration applications sent to her by the Virginia State Board of Elections, she found hundreds of absentee ballots and voter applications already filled out.
the church ordered blank registration forms to distribute during a weekend blood drive.
"We don't have to worry about people dumpster diving, if I were a terrible person, I have people's socials security numbers and bank information on my table," said Goforth.
we found were bank statements, copies of drivers licenses, and passport information from voters in Richmond to Arlington to Chesapeake
[Evan] Are bank statements required in order to register as an absentee voter? Seems odd.
Nikkia and her church members are making sure the information gets into the right hands
[Evan] The right hands? I presume that she is referring to the Board of Elections, but they don't seem worthy to be the "right hands".
"The scary thing is they don't even know that they have done it because we haven't been contacted by the State Bboard [sic] of Elections. So there are over close to 400 applications that they don't even know that have sent us," said Goforth.
[Evan] If Ms. Goforth had not reported this breach, there is little doubt that the Board of Elections would not have ever noticed it nor would they have corrected the cause of the breach in any kind of short order. I have to wonder if this has happened before with the Board of Elections, and if so how many others may be affected.
State Elections officials will continue investigating the incident Monday.
Commentary:
How in the world does this breach happen? It is mind-boggling. Anyone who knows me knows that my mind is boggled enough!
Past Breaches:
State of Virginia:
August, 2008 - Maryland courts web site displays Social Security numbers (still)
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