CNET reports the U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report citing four government entities that are vulnerable to data breaches and fraud due to a shared security measure. The U.S. Postal Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services each use Knowledge-Based Verification, which calls for applicants to verify identity using personal information, such as birthdates, Social Security numbers and addresses. This form of verification was compromised due to data breaches like the 2017 Equifax breach that exposed the Knowledge-Based Verification information of 145.5 million Americans. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., wrote a letter to the beleaguered agencies, saying that "the government needs to be better and smarter about protecting citizens."
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