MICHIGAN FORD COMPUTER WITH EMPLOYEE DATA STOLENNewsday.com: Ford Computer With Employee Data Stolen


DETROIT- Ford Motor Co. informed about 70,000 active and former white-collar employees that a computer with company data, including social security numbers, was stolen from a Ford facility.

In an e-mail sent to "Affected U.S. Salaried Employees," Joe Laymon, group vice president for human resources, told staffers that their personal information may have been compromised, though the company had "no evidence that there has been identity theft or misuse of employee information."

Laymon said in the e-mail, a copy of which was reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires, that the company is taking precautionary steps and urges the affected employees to take steps to help safeguard their personal information.

News of the possible security breach comes one week after the company informed its white-collar employees and retirees that it would reduce their health-care benefits. The company has also announced plans to cut 4,000 salaried jobs by the end of the first quarter of 2006, after trimming about 2,700 this year, as part of a broader initiative to cut costs in its struggling North American operations. Ford has 40,000 salaried workers in North America.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said that she couldn't comment on the specifics of the theft because of the investigation. She said, however, that there was no product, supplier, customer, engineering or financial information on the computer. Vokes said Ford is working with law enforcement on the investigation