LOS ALAMOS LAPTOP COMPUTER STOLEN FROM HUMAN RESOURCES GROUPlamonitor.com: The Online News Source for Los AlamosHeadline News

County employees' personal data at risk

ALLISON MAJURE, lareporter@lamonitor.com, Monitor Staff Writers

A laptop computer, apparently stolen from Los Alamos County's Human Resource group, loaded with sensitive employee data and personal information concerning each of the town's 600 employees and the town's seven county councilors is at the center of a police investigation launched Tuesday.

"We're treating this situation very seriously," said Donna Dreska. "We had to act responsibly, and that meant that we needed to talk to our employees and tell them what we knew."

Dreska, the county administrator, left Los Alamos on Tuesday evening, but not before directing Max Baker, acting county administrator in her absence, to schedule countywide meetings with employees as soon as possible. A series of meetings was set up in 60 to 90 minute intervals at the Golf Course Conference Room today in an effort to reach as many employees as possible.

County Council Chair Nona Bowman, speaking by phone from Virginia, said, "Maybe I'm optimistic, but I feel that it will be found, and we'll take whatever steps necessary to address any problems if it's not found. I think the police investigation will succeed in locating the laptop. In the event it does not, we are going to do everything we can to protect our employees from the problems associated with the event."

Bowman said she possesses two credit cards and will not take any actions yet to cancel or post fraud alerts on the accounts because she feels it is too soon to be alarmed.

Although in possession of further and exact details concerning the alleged theft of the laptop, County Public Affairs Officer Julie Habiger refrained from sharing the data to protect the integrity of the investigation being quarterbacked by Capt. Marla Brooks of the LAPD. It is likely, however, that social security numbers were within the "sensitive employee data and personal information" referred to in the county press release on the subject.

Habiger did explain that the county checks out laptop computers to various departments to keep on hand, to rotate among individual team members on a temporary and as-needed basis. The county's Information Technology group also assigns laptops directly to individual employees on a more long-term basis.

The missing laptop had not been assigned to an individual, but to the Human Resources group, for rotational use. When not in use, the laptop remained in a locked file cabinet, said Habiger. Although the computer was found missing some weeks ago, it took until Tuesday for the county staff to inventory all equipment and determine that the laptop was indeed unaccounted for.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, county staff leaders huddled frequently to determine their action plan, employee notification plan, and public information strategy.

Baker who strongly endorsed Dreska's decision to inform employees of the situation as soon as possible, said, "Our employees trust us to safeguard their personal information. Given that trust, every employer has to be totally responsible when something like this happens, no matter what the circumstances are. We're taking steps right now to protect our employees by being honest and telling them what we know."

Two separate county staff sources, who declined identification, reported independently that the file cabinet that contained the laptop was located in the Community Building, formerly the Teen Center, located on the East Side of Ashley Pond.

The county sometimes conducts software training in that building, the sources said, and the laptop, which had been loaded with staff data to execute and demonstrate various software features, was used at that locale and stored there overnight sometimes.

Habiger was unable to refute or corroborate these assertions due to the ongoing police investigation.

Dreska, who is meeting with the county's congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., is expected to return to Los Alamos Monday. Baker said that the county just finished updating its computer security policy and had begun taking new security precautions for its network.

"The Information Technology department will be looking into the situation, the use of laptops, data storage, policies and procedures, and lessons learned," Baker said in the county's press release.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that the top consumer fraud complaint in 2002 was identify theft at 43 percent of complaints, followed by internet auctions.

Identity theft is America's fastest growing financial crime, according to the FTC. Consumer fraud complaints rose over 70 percent in 2003, with identity thefts again topping the FTC's list.

County Council Vice Chair Diane Albert said Wednesday of the county's employee notification efforts, "It's just good business practice to get out in front of the problem. Regarding my own data; I'm not doing anything about it tonight, I'll deal with it later. I lost my wallet at Smith's a few weeks ago, and they took the cash, and I had to go through all this already."