Researchers using publicly available data have shown that it is possible to guess a person’s Social Security Number. Although federal officials are working to randomize the assigning of those numbers, the de facto ID code for most people was assigned according to a formula that includes geographic area and numerical sequence. Granted, the researchers at Carnegie Mellon had to do a lot of legwork—and even then, their success rate was less than stellar: They could identify all nine digits for less than 9 percent of the people born after 1988, in fewer than 1,000 tries. But for individuals born in smaller states, the researchers sometimes were able to guess the exact SSN in fewer than 10 tries.

Do you know what your personal information is worth to an identity thief? Here, from the least to the most valuable, are what some pieces of your data are worth: Your name. A name without any other information doesn’t provide anything useful to an identity thief, said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearing House in San Diego.

A Lynchburg woman has been charged with stealing the identities of residents at two assisted living facilities.