A bag containing a laptop computer and a printout of personal data belonging to 350 US Agricultural Department workers was stolen and later returned, though someone had obviously rummaged through the case. Experts at InfoWatch point out that many organizations only begin to worry about their private data after such incidents.
A laptop case containing private details on 350 employees was stolen from a US Department of Agriculture worker’s car in Kansas, reports Chron.com. The data included the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 350 US citizens living in 30 states.
The stolen bag contained a laptop computer and printouts of the private data. The stolen items were later returned to a meat plant, but as a department spokesman said, someone had obviously rummaged through the bag.
Local police and the department are investigating the theft. Government officials are also looking into why sensitive employee data was left in a car.
“The laptop has long been a channel for leaks of confidential data. Thieves specifically target the computers of senior managers to gain access to corporate secrets. Other laptops tend not to have such sensitive data on them, but they may contain the private details of the employee and their colleagues. Therefore, the theft of a corporate laptop almost always leads to a data breach. It’s a pity that organizations only start to worry about protecting the classified data on a laptop after it is stolen,” says Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Chron.com
