This one is an older story from 2007, however, it highlights the vulnerability of even those in high positions and who hold high accountability. This one also comes from the state of Ohio and affected all state employees. The state Governor was also affected. This breach was the result of the theft of a back-up tape that was in the possession of one of the state office interns.

Authorities feel that the thief will not be able to access the data without the proper knowledge or equipment. The state has offered free credit monitoring to all involved, at a significant cost to them. However, if you were affected by this breach, it has now been more than one year. Although you might have checked your credit report recently, the data is still susceptible to identity theft. Once an identity thief gets hold of a name and matching social security number, they are in business.

Why was this information sent home with an intern when it was highly sensitive? To provide an off-site backup of the data should it be destroyed or damaged on the state computer system. Interns had been rotating in taking the data off-site since April 2002. This copy was left in an unlocked car and was stolen along with items taken from 2 other cars in the same parking lot.

If the thieves did not know what they had stolen initially, they might have realized what they had once this news story was released and the Governor addressed the employees of the state. Those involved must take every precaution.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Data Breach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.