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MANAGING DIRECTOR, INSURANCE MEDIA GROUP Sandra Parente sandra@canadianunderwriter.ca 416-510-5114
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David Gambrill
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The sin of SIN numbers
The feds aren’t changing the SIN system, which will put insurers on the hook for cyber data breaches forever
Insurers, be afraid: as long as your clients’ stolen Social Insurance Numbers are sitting on the Dark Web, your cyber exposure may as well be unlimited. Under the oversight of the federal government, SIN numbers are basi- cally the ‘password’ to a person’s financial information. The numbers are
required for obtaining child care benefits, student loans, employment insur- ance, pensions and death benefits.
Insurance professionals, following the advice of cyber experts everywhere, constantly advise their clients to change passwords to protect their data and identities. And yet the feds want to keep a one-SIN, one-person system. Basi- cally, they don’t want to change your clients’ passwords even after a breach.
“The main reason we do not automatically issue a new social insurance number in these circumstances is simple: getting a new social insurance number will not protect individuals from fraud,” the feds told the Federal House of Commons’ standing committee on public safety and national se- curity in July. “The former social insurance number continues to exist and is linked to the individual. If a fraudster uses someone else’s former social insurance number, and their identity is not fully verified, credit lenders may still ask the victim of fraud to pay the debts.”
The feds say SIN numbers alone are “never sufficient to access a govern- ment program or benefit, or to obtain credit or services in the private sector.” But let’s face it: they are a pretty significant way for cyber criminals to get their foot in the door. That’s because other forms of ID – such as names, ad- dresses, dates of birth, and telephone numbers – are pretty easy to obtain.
When cyber thieves steal your clients’ information, it sits in a marketplace on the Dark Web for years without being used. The going rate of a SIN num- ber on the Dark Web these days is one loonie — or $30 if it’s part of a “Fullz info” package (a bundle of information sold to fraudsters).
Basically, our stolen SIN numbers are ticking time bombs, open for ex- ploitation at any time by fraudsters. By not changing the SIN number system, the feds are basically handing cyber criminals the passwords to Canadians’ financial data. Insurers should be working with the government to change the current system, which is far too easy for cyber criminals to exploit.
david@canadianunderwriter.ca
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ISSN Print: 0008-525 ISSN Digital: 1923-34
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canadianunderwriter.ca | September 2019 9
FROM THE EDITOR