Canada’s BMO Bank has lost a laptop computer with the personal details of 900 of its clients, while two more laptops with private records on 13,000 students were stolen from the University of Minnesota. Experts at InfoWatch believe that many organizations will only understand how important it is to prevent data leaks once they have felt the long-term negative effects that they cause.
A representative from the BMO Bank of Montreal has announced the theft of a laptop computer that contained the personal details of 900 clients. The company is currently trying to restore its image and has released a brochure that offers advice on how best to protect portable computer equipment and confidential data from thieves and malicious employees. The brochure points out a study of 500 US companies that found 81% of them reported a loss of one or more laptops in the previous 12 months. The recommendations outlined in the brochure appear to be the only form of protection from identity theft that the bank has offered those affected by the breach. No offers of free credit monitoring services have been made.
A similar incident has also affected the University of Minnesota. Two computers that contained personal data on former and current students were stolen from the university in August. University officials said that the thieves made off with data on 13,084 students who enrolled in the school as freshmen between 1991 and 2006. The files included such information as names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, the high school they attended, student identification numbers, grades, test scores, etc. The Social Security numbers of 603 students were also on the stolen computers.
“Incidents like this happen virtually every day. It is very easy to safeguard client data in these situations by encrypting all their personal details. However, not everyone does it. It would appear that some organizations have to suffer the long-term effects of a data breach before they understand how important it is to protect their confidential information,” believes Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Ottawa Sun, United Press International
