The State of California is resorting to good old-fashioned U.S. mail to notify 1.4 million California residents that their personal information may have been compromised as a result of a hacking incident.

The warning was made necessary by a hack-attack on the computer systems at U.C. Berkely, through which the hacker gained access to the names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers of approximately one-half of 1.4million participants in California’s “Home Supportive Services” program, a program through which caregivers provide in-home care to the sick and elderly.

The information had been sent to a researcher at U.C. Berkeley, presumably to assist in a research project… [Continued…]