A laptop computer with the private details of almost 200,000 HP employees has been lost by the company Fidelity Investments. The data appears to have been unprotected leaving those affected open to identity theft. It is the third incident involving a stolen laptop (Ernst &Young, and Vermont State College) that InfoWatch has reported on this week.
The laptop computer with information on nearly 200,000 former and current HP employees was stolen last week, Silicon.com reports.
The stolen computer belonged to Fidelity Investments, a company that provides services for HP. It was being used by Fidelity employees during a business trip when it was stolen. The laptop contained details on 196,000 former and current workers at HP. Their names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth and other information is all now in the possession of the thieves. Fidelity did stress, however, that the PINs required to log on to Fidelity services were not on the stolen computer.
The company has informed the police who are conducting an investigation. There is no information as yet to suggest that the data on the laptop has been used illegally.
The laptop had no built-in protective measures other than a special application which expired a day or so after the laptop was stolen. Without it the data would be difficult to interpret and generally difficult to read or use, a company spokesperson said.
Both Fidelity and HP began sending out letters of notification last week. All those affected have been offered free credit-monitoring services.
Laptop thefts are becoming more and more common. In the most recent incidents Ernst & Young lost a laptop with the private details of 40,000 workers at the oil giant BP and Vermont State College lost a laptop with the personal details of 14,000 staff and students.
“Today, companies in all fields and sectors are suffering private data leaks. Energy, IT and education – these are just three areas that were affected last week. It proves that every firm, regardless of its line of work, has to think about protecting its confidential information," believes Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Silicon.com
