Alltel Data Security Problems, Alltel claimed they were HACKED.

Alltel data security was extremely poor (and probably still is) and I should know.

I personally would not trust any of my personal data with Alltel since I do not believe that it is safe in their hands. I have personally seen how it is handled.

I worked as a Sr. Data Security Analyst for them for two years.

Before that I worked for two years as an Alltel data recovery analyst (and business recovery was just as bad). For years, they used a flawed recovery software product that simply would never work in their environment.

I was fired the same day I wrote a multi-page internal memo describing 15 major security and recovery problems to upper management (i.e.. CEO Joe Ford, VP Scott Ford and many others).

After I was fired, they (an Alltel Division VP and HR Director) contacted me via email to see if I knew of other security problems. I mistakenly decided to show them exactly what I meant concerning these security problems.

I logged on to their systems without having an account just to show them it could be done, and I was prosecuted for my efforts. I logged on to my ex data security manager's account because he used ALLTEL as his password.

Would you use the name of the company as your password if you were the person that was supposed to be enforcing data security?

Additionally, Alltel had an intranet application that would let you reset anybody's password (via an incompetent software program) so I decided to reset Joe and Scott Ford's intranet passwords just so they would be aware that their own flawed software allowed it to happen.

You can read about this from the federal government's own press release located at:

www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/rayburnIndict.htm

Of course Alltel would not want you to know that their computers were "hacked" (their words, not mine) but they made the charge that they were "hacked" serveral times over multiple weeks. Apparently Alltel did not have the ability to stop it.

Jimmie Rayburn