Your social security number may not be as secure as you think

We all know to keep our social security number private, and not share it with the masses, right? After all, if the wrong person gets a hold of it, that could be a very bad thing. Our social security number (SSN) is like the magic little key to our financial world, and other critical parts of our lives. It can open or close doors for us. And if misused by another, like in the case of identity theft, it can break us.

Well, what if that number is not as secret and secure as we would like to think? What if there were a way for wily would-be hacker/thieves to steal our SSNs and have a field day with our identity? And no, I don’t mean just through the old break into an institution and get their records method. Nothing as blase as that. I mean actually being able to figure out what your SSN is, based on your date of birth and where you were born, using a specific algorithm. Yes Virginia, it is possible.