A T-Mobile USA employee has lost a laptop with the personal data of 43,000 former and current workers at the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary. The computer disappeared from the employee’s checked luggage during a flight. Experts at InfoWatch point out that when an airline does not allow laptops to be taken on to a plane as hand luggage, it’s better to leave them in the office...
A laptop containing the Social Security numbers and other personal details of 43,000 former and current employees at T-Mobile USA has been lost. As a result, all 43,000 people affected face the threat of identity theft. The company’s clients have not been affected.
The company notified its employees in a letter dated October 14, explaining that their personal data was compromised after an employee’s luggage was lost. The employee is thought to have been on a business trip when he checked in the laptop. It is known that the computer was only password-protected, suggesting it would be easy for tech-savvy criminals to access the private data.
T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, currently employs 22,600 people. This means that about half of those affected by the incident are former employees of the company.
“Flying with a laptop has been a controversial topic of late. On the one hand, laptops should never be handed in as luggage. This should be clearly stated in the instruction for laptops in any corporate security policy. On the other hand, a number of airports and airlines do not allow passengers to take such equipment on to a plane as hand luggage due to the threat of terrorism. I think it is better to do without your laptop rather than checking it in. It’s just too risky,” believes Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: OregonLive
