New algorithm guesses SSNs | Hacker News Reader

New algorithm guesses SSNs

arstechnica.com

53 pointsfogus19 comments

Most of the problem with SSNs comes from credit fraud identity theft. If you freeze your credit file it prevents lenders from running credit checks without specific authorization. And with a blocked credit check the thief will be unable to borrow money in your name. I've had my files frozen for several years.

http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484ind...

They need to make SSN # assignments more random. Right now it seems like its pretty much a consecutive set. You can just add +x to your social security #, and get a valid number

Unfortunately, the namespace is very small: there are 900 million possible SSNs (100-00-0000 - 999-99-9999) and approximately 300,000,000 Americans.

why not add a 2nd #(like a 4 digit pin) for each social security #. Credit cards have them, why not something as important as your official government id?

Interesting, especially if you could set that PIN yourself. So if you were the victim of identity theft (or suspected you would be) you could change the PIN on your SSN.

Of course, they'd have to have some kind of retrieval mechanism for your PIN if you forgot it, and it would probably ask your mother's maiden name...

not necessarily, they can use your driver license official address to send you a letter with a temporary pin #

Passports in Belgium have a PIN code.

It's actually even smaller than that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_number#Structur...

There are odd and even rules and no number starts out higher than 772.

No, they just need to not be used for authentication, but only for identification. Everyone's SSN should be published by the government to force people to realize that they aren't (and never have been) secret information.

that'll work, frankly I don't understand why the social security card does not come with a photo

Because photographing infants is not an especially good ID technique.

You can get a US Passport or state driver's license, and that usually has its own ID number on it and a photo, but that doesn't help your SSN.

people update their driver license photos all the time. + infants etc can be issued the regular card, and when they turn 16, they can be required to get the photo and then be required to update it every 10 years.

But it does need to be treated as secret information - that's the problem. Your SSN is can cause you a great deal of frustration and expense if it is abused. It would be nice if that were not the case.

But that is beside the point! Social Security cards/number were NEVER designed for identification... It is funny how things change overtime.

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/ssn.htm

They are unique. So you can use them for identification. Just do not use them for authentication.

New York Times reporting on same research discussed here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=690538

Reply on news.ycombinator.com