Data Breach Sunday: University of Virginia Laptop Stolen
April 20, 2008
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Do you use a notebook computer at work? What is on it’s hard drive? Any data on there that could be considered sensitive, either to your customers or employees? A University of Virginia laptop sure did.
Laptops are one of the most popular things to steal because they are portable, easy to conceal, and fetch a relatively high amount of money. Unfortunately for organizations, too often there is confidential data that goes with it.
That is exactly what happened to UVa. A laptop was stolen that had personal information (at least names and Social Security Numbers) of about 7,000 employees and students.
The police doesn’t think the confidential information was the target of the theft, and I agree (without knowing the details it was probably some crackhead looking for a quick buck), but still this type of breach is unacceptable, but unfortunately all too common.
The University sent out a letter to everyone affected by the breach, but I haven’t been able to find out if they are paying for any sort of identity theft protection. I would hope so.
Victims are understandably upset, like this education student Brian Reed:
Reed said he was “frustrated” that a UVa employee would keep his personal information on a laptop. Too many similar incidents have occurred at other universities and government agencies, he said, for UVa to store sensitive data anywhere other than on secure servers.
“This has happened many times before,” he said.
The University says they are “constantly reviewing and renewing its security procedures” (whatever that means).
Do you have any examples of scary stuff that you have heard stored on employee laptops?
Source: Dailyprogress.com via The Breach Blog
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April 21st, 2008 at 4:57 am
I would suggest you visit http://www.Namesafe.com and look into the services. This is the most comprehensive identity theft service available and includes a prosecution service should the thief be caught. You can also call 1-866-NameSafe. The price is reasonable (right now $89/year for an adult if you take a short demo on the website) and something you can’t afford to be without if you have been a victim of an identity breach.
If you happen to have the contact informatino for UVA’s person handling this issue, please provide it. Perhaps if they get enough phone calls requesting that they provide a service - it will be done.