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 FBI Probes Hacks on Ford, Experian
By Beth Cox
http://www.internetnews.com

The FBI is investigating a hacker attack against credit reporting agency 
Experian and Ford Credit that resulted in the theft of personal information 
about 13,000 consumers in affluent areas around the country.
Ford Motor Credit, the financing arm of the car company, sent certified letters 
to all of the consumers involved cautioning them to be on the alert for signs 
of identity theft.

The hackers accessed an Experian database and downloaded the information, which 
included Social Security numbers, addresses, account numbers, creditor names 
and payment history -- everything needed to commit credit fraud.

"There was fraud perpetrated on these consumers, on Experian and on Ford 
Credit," Richard Van Leeuwen, Ford Credit executive vice president, was quoted 
as telling the Detroit News.

Ford apparently was contacted by Experian in February after the agency received 
numerous calls about unauthorized credit checks, which appeared as though they 
were made by Ford Credit's Grand Rapids, Mich., office.

FBI special agent Dawn Clenney told the Associated Press that the matter is 
under investigation but declined to give details.

Ford Credit said in a letter to the victims that the hackers used an 
authorization code from Ford Credit to get the credit reports from Experian, 
one of the top three major reporting agencies.

Ford Credit spokesman Dan Jarvis told InternetNews.com that it was the Experian 
credit reporting system that was hacked. "We don't have a system in which we 
keep people's credit reports," he said.

Only about 400 Ford Credit customers had data stolen, but the company decided 
to alert all of the victims by certified mail, Jarvis said. Once into the 
system, the thieves took data on residents of more affluent areas around the 
country.

How did it happen? "There are theories, but we're waiting for the FBI to tell 
us," Jarvis said. "They left a footprint that said Ford Credit was there ... we 
made a decision that these folks should know."

"This is not just a credit card number; this is the whole kazoo," Richard 
Power, the editorial director for the Computer Security Institute, an industry 
trade group, told the New York Times. "A criminal could use the data to make 
credit card charges or even open bank and credit card accounts in the victim's 
name."

Experian, which had no immediate comment, is a subsidiary of GUS plc and has 
headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, Calif.

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article/0,,10_1136531,00.html




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