US COMPUTER STOLEN http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/bp-suffers-damaging-data-spill-of-personal-data-0648/

BP Suffers Damaging Data Spill of Personal Data

Mar 30, 2011 | 11:34 AM ET | By Matt Liebowitz, SecurityNewsDaily Staff Writer

Oil giant BP is again in dangerous waters for losing a company laptop that contained the personal information of tens of thousands of people who filed claims for compensation after last year’s devastating Gulf Coast oil spill.

The laptop, stolen from a BP employee during a March 1 business trip, contained roughly 130,000 claimants’ names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses, NPR reported. On Monday (March 28), BP mailed letters to those whose data was stored on the stolen computer.

“We’re committed to the people of the Gulf Coast states affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill, and we deeply regret that this occurred,” BP spokesman Curtis Thomas told NPR.

Thomas said no one who received a letter will have to resubmit their claim. As an added security measure in the stolen laptop data is misused, BP is offering to pay for those affected to have their credit monitored by Equifax.

BP said the laptop was password-protected, but the sensitive data was not encrypted. So far, no reports of fraud have been filed.

The Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig exploded April 20, 2010 off the coast of Venice, La., killing 11 people and sparking the largest offshore oil spill in United States history.