August 2006
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A software glitch on the Education Department’s website has exposed federal direct student loan borrowers. Users who accessed the site between Sunday and Tuesday were able to see other people’s information such as Social Security number and date of birth.
The Education Department said Wednesday it would arrange for free credit monitoring for as many as 32,000 student loan borrowers after their personal data appeared on its Web site.
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Education Department officials blamed the breach on a routine software upgrade, conducted by Dallas-based contractor Affiliated Computers Services Inc., that mixed up data for different borrowers when users accessed the Web site. Since Sunday, 26 borrowers have complained.
Source: CNN
Written by MCruz on August 24th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft and Students.
A break-in at the Beaverton School District administration office’s storage shed exposes their employees’ personal data.
Beaverton school officials have notified about 1,600 employees that time slips revealing personal information were missing following a July 24 break-in.
School officials sent letters home late last week, notifying staff members of the theft. The school district will provide a year of credit reporting to the full-time teachers, substitutes and other staff whose Social Security numbers were printed on the slips.
Source: The Oregonian
Written by MCruz on August 22nd, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Employees and Identity Theft.
Vassar Brothers Medical Center has sent out a follow up letter to help patients whose personal data was on a laptop computer stolen from the hospital in late June.
The letter, dated Aug. 16, says the hospital understands the difficulty patients have had in contacting the credit bureaus to place fraud alerts on their credit reports. “In an effort to ease this process for those who encountered difficulties contacting the credit bureaus, we have prepared a form in conjunction with Trans Union that can be filled out and sent back to Trans Union via U.S. mail,” the letter says.
Source: Poughkeepsie Journal Thanks to Larry for the story!
Written by MCruz on August 19th, 2006 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on Hospitals and Identity Theft and Patients.
An unidentified accounting firm had lost a laptop which contained unencrypted sensitive data belonging to US payroll employees of Chevron. The company is being tight-lipped on the details of the incident.
The San Ramon oil giant sent an e-mail to U.S. workers Monday warning that a laptop computer “was stolen from an employee of an independent public accounting firm who was auditing our employee savings, health and disability plans.”
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Kent Robertson, a spokesman for the company, declined to provide details about where the laptop theft occurred or the number of Chevron employees affected by the security breach.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Written by MCruz on August 19th, 2006 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Businesses and Employees and Identity Theft.
Several personal personal computers and laptops were stolen from a regional office operated by the Hospital Corporation of America. This affects patients at Methodist Hospital, Metropolitan Methodist, Northeast Methodist and Methodist Ambulatory Surgery hospitals.
During a break-in at an HCA regional office, 10 computers were stolen, which held thousands of files listing unpaid bills from Medicare and Medicaid patients for hospitals in eight states. The records were required for government reports. The computers were stolen from a secured building, protected by keypad lock technology and video surveillance. All required a password for access. An analysis is ongoing, but law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have launched an investigation of the theft.
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Data on the stolen computers included some patient social security numbers, and in a small number of cases, codes used by the government to identify patient groups.
To find out if you are affected, visit the Hospital Corporation of America site or call (800)354-1036.
Source: WOAI San Antonio News
Written by MCruz on August 17th, 2006 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Hospitals and Identity Theft and Patients.
About 1,200 Williams-Sonoma Inc. employees are receiving notice that their personal information is at risk to identity theft. A Deloitte & Touche employee was performing an audit of the company when the laptop containing the personnel data was lost.
The personal and financial information on the employees included payroll data such as names and Social Security numbers, Patricia Sellman, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma, said.
After the laptop went missing, Williams-Sonoma sent a letter to staff who were affected, including some former employees, she said. These people have been offered free credit monitoring, Sellman added.
Source: MarketWatch
Written by MCruz on August 15th, 2006 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Businesses and Employees and Identity Theft.
