Why Social Security Numbers Make Us Vulnerable

Businesses and financial services companies use them as “authenticators,” as well as identifiers. That’s a problem, according to this analysis from Bloomberg writer Elaine Ou, written shortly after the Equifax hack.  It’s a recipe for cybersecurity failure, and it’s not necessary. Another and a far superior method of authentication has been implemented in Estonia, she says. To facilitate the authentication process you use a private “key.” Everyone has one, and it’s never made public. The theory is that, although a hack could steal your private key, there’s no way someone could in one fell swoop steal 143 million of them. Maybe it’s time to retire the SS# for everything except paying taxes.