MARYLAND (UPDATE) COMPUTERS STOLEN Stolen laptops held data of 1,300 state employees -- baltimoresun.com:

Stolen laptops held data of 1,300 state employees

By Nick Madigan | nick.madigan@baltsun.com
November 22, 2008

Police are investigating the theft of two laptop computers containing the names and Social Security numbers of more than 1,300 people formerly employed by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The laptops were reported stolen from the state office building at 300 W. Preston St. in Baltimore on Nov. 12, a spokesman for the MDE, Robert Ballinger, said in a statement yesterday.

The Maryland Department of General Services police, which is investigating the theft, has no evidence that personal data were retrieved or misused.

Still, officials are trying to notify, by mail or e-mail, the 1,367 individuals who worked at the environmental agency from January 2000 through October 2006 and whose names and Social Security numbers were on the computers.

Ballinger said that because some of the information is more than eight years old, officials may not have current addresses for everyone on the list.

The Department of Information Technology has created a Web site, http://doit.maryland.gov/mdealert, for individuals who are concerned that their information might have been on one of the stolen computers.

The department has also set up a phone number and e-mail address for the same purpose: 410-260-7778 and servicedesk@doit.state.md.us.