Government
You are currently browsing the articles from numbrX Security Beat matching the category Government.
If you're new here and like what you read, you may want to subscribe to my email alerts or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
About 133,000 Florida residents are being notified that their sensitive personal information was stored in a stolen laptop. The laptop was stolen last month from Florida’s Department of Transportation inspector general’s office.
The computer contains the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and addresses of 42,792 Florida residents who hold a pilot’s license; 80,667 people in the Miami-Dade County area who hold commercial driver’s licenses; 9,496 people who took personal driver’s license tests or obtained their license from an examining facility near Tampa, the letter said.
Anyone who has been exposed to this breach can call the department’s toll free number at: 800-424-9071. A website has also been setup for more information. A copy of the notification letters can be found below:
Source: Washington Post
Written by MCruz on August 9th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft.
Personal information on 38,000 vets were stored on a computer stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department subcontractor.
Reader, John writes:
Veterans Affairs – Yes, again. A computer containing personal information on thousands of veterans has turned up missing. This time the computer was stolen from a subcontractor, Unisys Corp, who was working with the data to assist the VA with insurance collections. The computer contained names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, insurance carriers, billing information, dates of military service, and claims data that may have included some medical information on at least 5,000 veterans (and possibly up to 25,000). According to the VA the data was password protected but not encrypted. Of course password protected is meaningless, without encryption the data is vulnerable.
Other sources: Mercury News (Thanks John for the news tip!)
Written by MCruz on August 8th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft and Veterans.
A laptop belonging to the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services agency was stolen late last month. Clients are being urged to place fraud alerts on their credit files.
The information includes clients’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers and telephone numbers.
The computer has been missing since July 24, said Tracy Carr, a spokeswoman for the agency in Kanawha County.
Source: Charleston Daily Mail
Written by MCruz on August 2nd, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft.
Navy Recruiting Station offices in New Jersey have reported two laptops with personal information on recruiters and prospective recruits have been stolen. A spokesman from Navy assures that “[t]here have been no reports of illegal usage of personal data identified by these incidents.”
“However, the Navy is reviewing the data contained in the computers, including personal information on approximately 31,000 individuals.” About 4,000 Social Security numbers were included in the data on the laptops. The Navy is in the process of notifying potentially affected individuals by mail.
The laptop in Trenton was reported stolen from the recruiting station in early June, while the one in Jersey City was reported missing earlier this month.
Source: Computerworld
Written by MCruz on July 28th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft.
New Yorkers who have made claims to the special workers’ compensation fund are affected by the breach. A Chicago-based company, CS Stars (subsidiary of Marsh, Inc.) had lost track of a computer which contained the private data. The claims-management firm was hired to install software for the Special Funds Conservation Committee.
The company is offering free credit monitoring up to a year and $25,000 identity-theft insurance to those whose data were lost.
The Special Funds Conservation Committee handles workers’ compensation coverage in New York for about 56,500 disabled workers who suffer a second injury, and about 36,000 old claims that are reopened. In existence since 1938, it maintains records on about 540,000 old and current claimants, said chief executive Steven Licht.
…
All the names in the database, Licht said, had address, date of birth and Social Security number attached, and some also would have employer and accident information, but none had confidential medical records included. Licht also said there were copies of all the data, and claims payments had not been interrupted.
Source: Newsday.com
Update (7/25/06): Those affected by the breach should go to the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board website to obtain more information.
Update (7/26/06): The laptop was just found in a secure location. “The computer has been located and is secure,” said Karen Allen, a spokeswoman for the Special Funds Conservation Committee.” The FBI says they are “reasonably certain” the data was not misused. Mercury News has the report.
Written by MCruz on July 22nd, 2006 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on Employees and Government and Identity Theft and Insurance.
Since the infamous laptop containing personal information of 26.5 million veterans was returned, the Bush administration has withdrawn its offer of free credit monitoring to veterans.
Rob Portman, the White House budget director, wrote House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yesterday withdrawing the administration’s request for $160.5 million to pay for a year of free credit monitoring and citing the June 28 recovery of the stolen laptop and external hard drive by police. The FBI said it had a “high degree of confidence” that thieves had not accessed the files containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of millions of veterans and active-duty military personnel.
Notice that the FBI didn’t say they were 100% sure. In any case, this “saves” the government millions of dollars. Let’s see where they’ll allocate those savings.
Source: Washington Post
Other Links: Free credit report & history. Find out what lenders and employers know about you. It may be more than you think!
Written by MCruz on July 19th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Commentary and Government and Identity Theft and Veterans.
