"Immediate National Security Risk" ... ?

You may not have heard, but ChoicePoint Inc, one of the nation's largest collectors of consumer data, announced today that thieves infiltrated their computers and stole - in a year-long scam - sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and credit reports from over 100,000 Americans.

ChoicePoint has an estimated 10 billion pieces of data on virtually every American - they sell this data to companies and have contracts with numerous government agencies.

The obvious response to this news is check your credit reports ... as well as the obvious why does this company have all this data, and why don't they have adequate security measures?

But the other, more alarming question is, what will these thieves do with this data?

Armed with the kind of information taken from ChoicePoint, criminals will easily be able to obtain authentic, government-issued driver's licenses ... only in your name, or perhaps mine. And we all know what can be accomplished with a driver's license - yes, they can get lines of credit or commit mortgage fraud. But there could be more sinister motives at work here ... more than one 9/11 terrorist had a driver's license.

This story is just breaking today, but so far no news organizations have made this terrifying connection ... that this is a massive national security risk, not just an elaborate plan to make a buck.

But one organization, the National Notary Association, has made the connection, calling this theft an "immediate national security risk".

There are natural "alarmist" out there ... who panic first, then think later. But the folks at the Notary Association don't fall into this category - the theft from ChoicePoint may be one step in a very elaborate front of the War on Terror.