Hacking: What CLT is doing to Protect Your Identity

[gtxvideo vid=”ArzRUlzf” playlist=”” pid=”Bbt3TRDe” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/ArzRUlzf.jpg” vtitle=”hacking concerns”]

CHARLOTE, NC — Logged on, your identity and your money are at stake in what hackers consider an online war.

“In most situations on identity theft, you can’t get any of that back,” said Hakeen Reed. “Your life is gone.”

For just $12, professional hackers say the “bad hackers” could sell your social security number on the black market. 

“Everyone in the city is at risk,” said Stephen Chapman.

Companies hire Chapman to hack their systems and report any weak spots. He says government data is a gold mine for hackers. Once in, they could have access to social security numbers, drivers license numbers and birth dates. They target public schools, police departments, even utility companies.

“There’s a definite marked out there for data,” said Rany Moulton.

Moulton is the City of Charlotte’s Chief Security Officer.

“We’re doing audits. We’re testing ourselves,” said Moulton. “We try to be as proactive as possible.”

In December, WCCB Charlotte sent public records request to the City of Charlotte, asking for documentation of any hacking within city offices, schools, and the police department, even utility pay boxes where you swipe your card. We asked what information hackers took and what the city did to fix the problem.

 “In the past five years, we have not lost any private information,” said Moulton.

Moulton says his team finds significant vulnerabilities, weak spots, and holes up to twice a week.

“Sure, absolutely, but specifically what it was, what we did to fix, we want to kind of keep that to ourselves,” explained Moulton.

Whether a hacker saw residents’ information and wrote it down before the city noticed, no one can be certain, professionals say. That’s because they say hackers are skilled at covering their tracks. 

“Once someone has your social security number, they can use that at any time throughout your entire life,” said Chapman. 

“So if someone does take my social security number from the city, I feel like the city should be at fault for it if anything,” said residents like Reed.

Not exactly the case. With hackers always willing to prove a point on how soft city systems can be, as long as the city is up to industry standards, the government doesn’t blame it.

“Sometimes info just gets stolen like that,” said Chapman.

By law, the city says it would provide you with one year of free credit monitoring if a hacker stole your identity. However, Chapman says it’s commonplace for someone to wait years before using your social security number.

WCCB Charlotte reached out to Mecklenburg County in a public records request. Officials would not talk about what they are doing to protect against cyber attacks. They say the county has not been hacked in the past five years.