Computer and DATA Theft Victims

2012-02-15T15:34:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK COMPUTER STOLEN http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120214/NEWS05/302140054

Computer stolen: A desktop computer was stolen Jan. 30 or 31 from Paychex, 1320 Basket Road.

2012-02-15T15:17:00.002-05:00

US COMPUTER THEFT http://www.fiercemobileit.com/story/stolen-laptop-can-cost-you-49000/2012-02-14

Stolen laptop can cost you $49,000

February 14, 2012 — 10:45pm ET | By Caron Carlson

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Kensington

A laptop is stolen about every 53 seconds, and the average cost of the loss totals $49,000, according to Kensington Computer Products Group. Replacing the devices amounts to just 3 percent of that cost, while myriad data loss-related expenses amount to 80 percent, the company claimed in a recent blog post.

The Kensington post illustrates recent trends in device loss and theft via an infographic. One-tenth of all laptops are stolen or lost over the course of their life. More than half of all stolen laptops are taken from the workplace, while approximately one-fourth are stolen at conferences. The education, research, health and pharmaceutical sectors are most affected.

Smartphones, in contrast, mostly go missing outside of the workplace, Kensington found. Only 7 percent of them are ever recovered, and most don't have mobile security features activated.

Kensington recommends five best practices to protect mobile devices and the data they carry:

Implement a mobile security policy
Invest in physical security
Never leave devices logged into networks, email or websites
Encrypt all data and secure networks
Authenticate users and always know who has access

For more:
- see the Kensington infographic

Read more: Stolen laptop can cost you $49,000 - FierceMobileIT http://www.fiercemobileit.com/story/stolen-laptop-can-cost-you-49000/2012-02-14#ixzz1mU2YVWku
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2012-02-15T15:13:00.003-05:00

UK COMPUTERS STOLEN http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=police-hunt-burglars-who-stole-computers-and-power-tools-in-ellesmere-port%26method=full%26objectid=30337349%26siteid=50020-name_page.html

Police hunt burglars who stole computers and power tools in Ellesmere Port

14:15, Feb 15 2012

by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Ellesmere Port Pioneer


POLICE are appealing for information following a burglary at an industrial premises in Ellesmere Port at the weekend. Between 4pm on February 12 and 8am on February 13, thieves broke into LTG Limited, a sheet metal fabricator on Gibson Court, Ellesmere Port. It is believed the intruders risked their own lives by trespassing on the railway line before forcing their way through a rear door. Once inside, the thieves stole a sat nav, HP desktop computer, Dell laptop, a Makita grinder, a Makita 110v power drill and welding equipment. During the course of the investigation it has transpired that the evening before, February 11, thieves broke into the same building when they attempted to steal the welding equipment. Police are keen to speak to anyone in the area who may have witnessed activity that could assist the police investigation, or anyone who may have been offered the items for sale in suspicious circumstances, to contact Cheshire police on 101.

2012-02-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

ST.KITTS-NEVIS COMPUTER EQUIPMENT STOLEN http://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/2012/02/10/fbi-nevis.html

FBI in Nevis Investigating Robbery of U.S. Judge

By L.K. Hewlett

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Feb. 11 -- An agent with U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is presently in Nevis in relation to the armed robbery of a Judge of the United States highest court.

Police confirmed that on Thursday (Feb. 9) night sometime after 10, a masked intruder wielding a machete robbed a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice at his Golden Rock vacation home.

According to information reaching this media house, the robber stole a total of about US$1200 and fled the scene without further confrontation.

The Judge, The Observer was told, is a regular vacationer to the island and was traveling with his wife and several friends on this sojourn.

The Observer understands that the U.S. Federal Agent arrived in Nevis on Friday, however it was not confirmed if he is observing the local law enforcement’s handling of the case or working in conjunction with Nevis police.

Information reaching this publication is that Nevis police had been notified of the Judge’s presence on the island, as was the custom, however it is unclear if any police officers were assigned as a shadow detail.

The Observer spoke with Assistant Commissioner of Police Robert Liburd who said police are “vigorously” investigating the matter. He informed that no suspects were in custody as of Saturday morning (Feb. 11).

Another foreign national was also the victim of a robbery that same night. An elderly ex-patriot who resides in Morning Star, Gingerland, was beset by three armed masked men and robbed of money and personal items around 9:30 pm, police inform. The homeowner was not injured during the incident.

Police are also investigating a break-in at the Nevis High Court Building on Prince William Street in Charlestown, which occurred between Thursday night and early Friday morning. Reports are that several items, including computer equipment, were stolen.

The Observer was informed that the stolen computer equipment did not contain saved information from the recently concluded high profile Election Petition trial. Friday was the deadline date set by Justice Lionel Jones for the legal teams of the petitioner and the respondents to turn in written submissions before he hands down a decision.

ACP Liburd assured that police were working around the clock to bring these latest and other crimes to swift resolution. He appealed to the general public to come forward with any relevant information or to contact police anonymously via telephone.

2012-02-13T08:35:00.005-05:00

AUSTRALIA COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.bordermail.com.au/news/local/news/general/computers-food-stolen-from-wodonga-school/2453642.aspx

Computers, food stolen from Wodonga school

AISHA DOW

13 Feb, 2012 03:16 PM

LAPTOPS and food were stolen from Catholic College Wodonga during two separate break-ins at the school yesterday morning.

Detective Sen-Constable Murray Sleep said chip packets were taken from the canteen at 12.30am and computers from another area of the school at 2.30am.

“In the canteen they’ve forced the roller door open and in the other (incident) they’ve smashed a window and removed a window,” he said.

Alarms were set off on both occasions.

Police are appealing with anyone with information to contact them on (02) 6049 2600.

2012-02-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

IRELAND COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.techcentral.ie/18287/eircom-computer-theft-exposes-customer-and-employee-data-

Eircom computer theft exposes customer and employee data

Unencrypted laptops stolen, despite company encryption policy

Comment

1385

TechBiz | 10 Feb 2012 : The Eircom Group has confirmed that the theft of three laptops has resulted in the loss of information on 6,845 eMobile and Meteor customers along with 686 employees.

Two of the laptops were stolen Eircom premises at Parkwest, Dublin, with another machine being stolen from an employee's home.

Analysis

Paul Hearns
ComputerScope

Once again we see an organisation that should know better suffering a highly embarrassing data loss that could easily have been prevented, and it begs the question, why?

With a stated policy of data encryption, why were three machines, stolen from two separate locations, unencrypted? It beggars belief.

Now, that said, looking at the situation practically, the most likely possibility is that the thefts were opportunistic and were not targeting data at all. The thieves may simply have been after hardware that was easily converted into cash and, as such, are not likely to be in the Professor Moriarty league of master criminals.

However, with data breaches coverage now so prevalent, it would not take a genius to work out that the contents of the hard drives of these machines would be worth more to certain people than the machines themselves. It would not take a Prof Moriarty to work out that there must be an outlet for such things and endeavour to find to willing buyer. At that point, the situation changes entirely and there is real danger for those whose details are lost.

Coming back to Eircom, one must ask hard questions about why these machines were not encrypted. Whatever about the two machines inside the offices of Eircom at Parkwest, for the machine that was in the home of an employee to be unencrypted is, to put it mildly, unforgiveable. Eircom has long experience of employees working offsite and from home, therefore there can be only two conclusions from this: the first is that there was lax policy enforcement for encryption or company data was taken off site without permission. Either way, there are serious issues to deal with.

Much of this comes back to accessibility and its balance with security. Speculating for a moment, if an organisation has a policy for encryption of devices that carry either employee or customer data that is so onerous as to make working with such data impossible, then people will circumvent it in order to get their jobs done. This is not through any maliciousness, but rather through a desire to simply get on with it. On the other side, if a data encryption policy is stated but not enforced or monitored, then employees will show a similar lack of respect for it and probably disregard it. Either of the above scenarios can result in what has happened at Eircom.

Given that the office of the data protection commissioner actually has fairly distinct powers in this area, I would not be at all surprised if there are serious consequences for the Eircom Group over this incident. However, if the organisation handles it well, with openness and humility, demonstrates its willingness to address the issues involved and develop news practices to prevent any reoccurrence, then it will not be all bad for Eircom. As has been demonstrated in cases such as the RSA hack, a crisis handled well can increase the standing of the organisation at the centre of it. Let's hope Eircom has been watching.

Paul Bradley, head of Communications, Eircom Group, confirmed that the stolen computers were not encrypted, despite a stated policy for such computers to be encrypted.

A statement from the group has said that "the incident was immediately reported to the Gardaí and an investigation is on-going." However, the data protection commissioner, Billy Hawkes was critical of Eircom for slow reporting of the incident. Speaking on RTE Radio 1 show, Morning Ireland, Hawkes commented that it was "very surprising" that it had taken so long for the incident to be reported the commission.

The computer that was stolen from the private residence of an Eircom employee contained "names and addresses of 686 Meteor employees." It has not yet been recovered and Gardaí are investigating.

The computers that were stolen from Eircom offices in Parkwest in Dublin contained "contained personal data for some current and former eMobile business customers," said an Eircom statement.

"Specifically, there is a potential data risk for 6,441 current and previous eMobile business customers, dating from August 2010 until December 2011. The data at risk for the vast majority of customers is personal data including names, addresses and telephone numbers. There is a small group of approximately 146 customers where financial data including bank account details may be at risk. There may also be a range of documentation used to support a customer application such as passport and drivers licence details, various photo ids or utility bills which all may have been used to establish proof of identity. In some cases financial data such as bank account, laser or credit card details is also at risk."

Bradley confirmed that the two machines stolen from the Parkwest office were in current use at the time. "They were used by our sales and support teams on the mobile side, and would have been processing applications submitted by e-mail."

The Eircom statement went on to say, "eircom treats privacy and protection of all data extremely seriously and we have taken the following pro-active measures to address the situation." Similar statements were made on both the Meteor and eMobile web sites, under the heading "Data Protection Update."

TechCentral Reporters

2012-02-07T08:38:00.002-05:00

INDIANA COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xft6KlpfPA

SEE VIDEO................

Laptops loaded with classified and personal information were swiped over the weekend from the Department of Child Services in Hendricks County. The initial concern was identity theft. But DCS put safeguards in place - safeguards you can put on your computer to ensure security.

2012-02-02T18:24:00.001-05:00

TENNESSEE COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.wmctv.com/story/16663946/computers-stolen-from-richland-elementary-school

Computers stolen from Richland Elementary School

By Jerica Phillips - bio | email

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Computers stolen from Richland Elementary School

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MEMPHIS, TN -

(WMC-TV) - Memphis police are searching for the suspects responsible for stealing thousands of dollars worth of computer from students who raised the money for the computers themselves.

Students at Richland Elementary raised $25,000 to purchase the new computers.

"Why would anybody be so selfish and mean to steal computers from kids?" asked fifth grader Joris Ray.

That's the question Ray, the student council president, and his classmates are asking after thieves took 17 computers and a projector from Richland Elementary Monday.

"I would like them to be prosecuted," said Ray.

Because Richland is not a Title I school, they do not receive federal funding. Principal Sharon McNary said the students worked hard for the computers.

"Last year, we started something called 'Tracks for Max,'" said McNary.

As part of healthy choice week, students exercised to raise money.

"We had a walk-a-thon," said fifth grader and student council secretary Amy Lynn Eleogram. "Our parents sponsored us with the money. We walked around outside, we walked around the block."

McNary said given the choice, most students would rather use computers to do their daily lessons. Since the thefts, other classrooms have stepped in to help.

"Teachers from other grades and other classrooms gave the classes that lost all their computers at least one computer to start with until we get the computers replaced," said McNary.

Richland students said they are a family and they are moving forward, even if it takes another fundraiser to buy new computers.

"I think everyone is still really encouraged," said Eleogram.

Neighbors in the area said there have been a rash of break-ins in the Richland community and the thieves are going for electronics.

Police asked if you have information about the computer thefts, please call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.

2012-02-02T18:20:00.004-05:00

CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/01/computers-swiped-from-san-marcos-schools/

Electronics stolen from schools recovered

SAN MARCOS — Computers, video game systems and other items stolen from two San Marcos high schools were seized along with shotguns and drugs when four men were arrested Tuesday, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.

More than 50 items believed taken from Mission Hills and Twin Oaks high schools in the past two weeks were recovered when detectives served a warrant at a duplex home on Charlotte Drive, near Cariann Drive.

Nine people at the house were detained, but four were arrested. Twin brothers Rene and Ricardo Puente Ramirez, 26, Andrew David Farace, 27, and Daniel James Barrett, 26, were booked on suspicion of possessing stolen goods, two shotguns, seven marijuana plants and a pound of marijuana packaged for sales, sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Deese said.

Deese said burglars broke into Mission Hills High two weeks ago and at Twin Oaks High a week ago, taking electronics items including video games, flat screen TVs and DJ equipment. Twin Oaks was hit again Friday, when 14 computers were taken from the computer lab.

Deputy John Delocht, school resource officer, learned where some of the property might be found and detectives got a search warrant, Deese said. He said detectives are hoping to track down the rest of the stolen goods not found at the house.

2012-02-01T15:59:00.004-05:00

MICHIGAN COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kalamazoo_and_battle_creek/Theft-suspect-arrested-after-slide-off

Theft suspect arrested after slide-off

Suspect accused of breaking and entering

Updated: Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 3:53 PM ESTPublished : Sunday, 29 Jan 2012, 3:46 PM EST

KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A man was arrested on breaking and entering charges after his van -- which was full of stolen computer equipment -- slid off the road in Kalamazoo Township.

Kalamazoo Township police responded when the suspect's van slid off the snowy road and into the ditch in the 2100 block of Oak Openings Street, according to police.

A witness who saw the slide-off said that after the accident, the driver fled the scene on foot.

Township officers, with the aid of Kalamazoo Public Safety officers, tracked the man's footprints in the snow to a house in the 700 block of Fennimore Avenue.

When they knocked on the front door, the suspect attempted to flee through the back door. Officers in place near the back door arrested the suspect, a 35-year-old Kalamazoo man, after a brief struggle.

It was soon discovered that the van the suspect had fled from had stolen computer equipment inside. Five laptops, one desktop computer and several computer accessories with a total value of about $2,000 were recovered from the van.

Further investigation revealed that a business in the 3400 block of Gull Road in Kalamazoo had been burglarized. A pick-ax found outside the business appeared to have been used to smash the front door.

The business owner confirmed that computer equipment had been stolen. Officers returned the stolen items to the store.

The suspect told authorities that he had been on a drug binge and was trying to get money to buy more drugs.

He is being held at the Kalamazoo County Jail on charges of breaking and entering, resisting and obstructing police, assault on a police officer and leaving the scene of an accident.

The suspect may have had a male accomplice who has yet to be identified.

Anyone with information about the break-in or accomplice is asked to call Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at 269.337.8994 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.

2012-01-27T09:08:00.000-05:00

CALIFORNIA COMPUTER DATA THEFT http://pacbiztimes.com/2012/01/27/oped-cyber-crimes-and-data-breaches-are-not-just-the-problems-of-big-companies/

Op/ed: Cyber crimes and data breaches are not just the problems of big companies »

By Steve Brooks on January 27, 2012

When a company such as Sony or a government agency such as the Department of Veterans Affairs falls victim to a data breach, it becomes national news. The attention is warranted since the numbers of personal records affected can be astounding. The attention also warns those affected to take caution and to monitor accounts. However, the reporting of cyber crimes being committed against smaller companies rarely makes the evening news, even though it is escalating at an alarming rate.

According to a study conducted by Verizon and the U.S. Secret Service, in 2010 a whopping 63 percent of cyber attacks occurred in businesses with fewer than 100 employees. This was a massive increase from 2009, when attacks on small businesses comprised only 27 percent of the data breaches.

Today, small-business owners are facing a growing number of hurdles in protecting their comapnies from such attacks. The first is a difficulty in affording the level of cyber protection companies such as Sony or Visa may employ (and obviously, these companies don’t have bulletproof safeguards either). And while smaller businesses do have fewer employees, making the threat of a lost or stolen computer proportionally smaller, the fact remains that a lost or stolen laptop can have devastating consequences on a small business. The fall-out can include not only your sustained personal business losses, but potential lawsuits, fines and penalties stemming from third-party losses your business can ultimately be held liable for.

According to The Open Security Foundation and the Data Loss Database (www.datalossdb.org), publicly reported data breaches affected more than 125 million records in 2011 alone. Moreover of the 369 publicly reported incidents, 160 were business breaches, with medical breaches a distant second at 105. That means that businesses are the prime targets of hackers and opportunists looking to commit cyber crimes.

It’s not surprising that insurance companies have taken notice of the increase in cyber crimes, and in most instances now specifically state that data and technology are excluded from their business insurance policies. Moreover, insurance companies have deemed particular businesses “high risk.” This means that unless you’ve purchased cyber-liability which comes in various forms, and at various premiums — and you happen to be a retailer, wholesaler, accounting firm, property management or real estate company, e-commerce company, law firm, or health care business — your data and technology is almost certainly not covered.

Consider you’re a clothing boutique owner. You store not only sensitive client information including credit card numbers on your computer, but you also store all of your business information on your computer. Should this computer be lost, or even hacked, you can be held liable to damages incurred by your clients (to say nothing of your own business identity theft).

In an even more innocuous case, consider you have 12 employees at your accounting firm. Your computer system is hacked. Unbeknownst to you, a virus has been sent attached to an email you send to a corporate client. As unimaginable as it sounds, should that email virus cause any disruption of business for that client, you can be held financially responsible for their loss of productivity, sales and wages.

Sounds like something from a movie, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it is reality, and the numbers of businesses and individuals suffering as a result of the continuing climb in cyber crime don’t lie. But what they do offer is a reminder of just how diligent we need to be in protecting not only the welfare of our own businesses, but of the privacy of our valuable clients and customers.

Just as auto insurance won’t protect you from an automobile accident, neither will cyber liability insurance — which is a relatively new form of business coverage — protect your small business from cyber crime. But it can protect you from lawsuits stemming from personal information being stolen. It will also offset the high cost of having to notify everyone in your database or anyone who may have been affected by the breach, as required by law.

• Steve Brooks is president of B B Premier Insurance Solutions, an independent insurance agency in Southern California. Contact him at (805) 496-4819 ext. 212 or steveb@bbpremierins.com.

Article source: http://pacbiztimes.com/2012/01/27/oped-cyber-crimes-and-data-breaches-are-not-just-the-problems-of-big-companies/

2012-01-26T15:58:00.003-05:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA (UPDATE) COMPUTER DATA STOLEN http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/26/bc-uvic-data-theft.html

UVic hard drives recovered with thieves' note

CBC News

Posted: Jan 26, 2012 11:24 AM PT

Last Updated: Jan 26, 2012 11:44 AM PT

In a bizarre twist, police in Victoria have recovered some of the computer devices stolen from the University of Victoria earlier this month, along with a repentant note from the thieves.

A postal worker found the hard drives and other computer devices in a green garbage bag stuffed in a mailbox in the nearby suburb of Langford on Tuesday.

Also in the bag was a note, apparently from the thieves, that said the information in these bags was not copied, distributed or exploited.

"We want no part of everyday people living in fear that their personal information is being used against them to take their hard-earned money. Criminals are human before they were criminals," said the note.

But police aren't buying those lines, saying most of the information on the hard drives was wiped clean, and the most important hard drive that contained most of the personal information was not recovered.

The computer hardware containing unencrypted banking information and social insurance numbers of up to 13,000 current and former UVic employees was stolen earlier this month from a campus administration building.

Police say they believe at least two cases of bank fraud may have been linked to the theft.

They have urged anyone who was on the university's payroll between January 2010 and 2012 to call their bank immediately and change their passwords and account numbers. Authorities are also advising people call credit bureaus so that their file can be red flagged for any suspicious activity.

2012-01-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA COMPUTER DATA STOLEN http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/09/bc-uvic-banking-info-theft.html

SEE VIDEO.....

Bank accounts of 11,000 threatened by B.C. break-in

2 years of University of Victoria employees' personal data compromised

CBC News

Posted: Jan 9, 2012 9:39 PM PT

Last Updated: Jan 10, 2012 8:03 AM PT

Read 83comments83

Identity theft warning2:37

Stolen identity used2:43

A weekend break-in at the University of Victoria resulted in the theft of personal information — including bank account numbers — for more than 11,000 current and former employees at the university.

Electronic equipment and a safe were taken during the break-in at a campus office on Saturday night, said Gayle Gorrill, the university's vice-president of finance and operations.

What's more disturbing, Gorrill said, is the theft of sensitive personal data belonging to current and former employees and contractors.

The personal data for employees and contractors who have worked at the University of Victoria since January 2011 is potentially compromised. (CBC)

"It included … bank account information needed for direct deposits, social insurance numbers and payroll information," Gorrill told CBC News late Monday.

Gorrill said the university is trying to contact everyone who worked for UVic since January 2010. It's also posted advice on its website and set up an information line.

Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen said a forensics team spent Sunday at the UVic office, trying to collect fingerprints and other clues.

"There's no lucky break, like videos of the culprit or anything like that," Jantzen said.

The university said it plans an internal review of its security and privacy policies.

Corrections and Clarifications

An earlier version of this story said the theft included information about those working at the school since January 2011, but on Tuesday UVic officials said the theft included data dating back to January 2010.Jan. 10, 2012| 8:02 a.m. PT

2012-01-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

NEW JERSEY COMPUTER STOLEN http://www.southjerseylocalnews.com/articles/2012/01/25/medford_central_record/news/doc4f1d6fbba7aa8952718860.txt

Computer stolen from Mount Laurel business

Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

MOUNT LAUREL— Jersey Jets Gymnastics on the first block of Roland Avenue was broken into and a computer, valued at about $500, was taken sometime between 4 p.m. on Jan. 15 and 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, police said, causing about $530 in damage.

2012-01-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN http://walnutcreek.patch.com/articles/burglars-victimize-elementary-school-again

Burglars Victimize Elementary School Again

For the second time in four months, Apple computers are stolen from Indian Valley Elementary.

January 24, 2012

For the second time in half a school year, burglars have stolen computers from the children of Indian Valley Elementary on Marshall Drive.

Sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, someone pried the door to Classroom 6 open and stole six Apple, IMac computers, according to a Walnut Creek police report.

On Labor Day, six new Apple computers were stolen from Indian Valley Elementary School by burglars who apparently used a massive crowbar to break locks, school officials said. The burglars were selective, not taking other older computers and cameras. On the same night, there was a burglary at Valle Verde Elementary on Peachwillow Lane.

Patch has a call into school officials at Indian Valley Elementary School, seeking comment on security.

2012-01-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

CALIFORNIA COMPUTER AND DATA THEFT http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/25/tp-leaky-records/

C3
leaky records
Health care industry’s conversion to digital has led to flood of patient data being compromised or stolen

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By NICOLE PERLROTH NYT NEWS SERVICE
12:01 a.m., Jan. 25, 2012

Also of interest
Stolen LA laptop held 667 patient records
Theft of data on 4M patients part of wider problem
NorCal's John Muir hospital warns of breach
Computer with info on 4M patients stolen in Calif.
UCLA hospital warns patients of stolen records

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32%
Rise in the number of reported breaches in 2011 from the year before. They cost the health care industry an estimated $6.5 billion in 2010.
One afternoon last spring, Micky Tripathi received a panicked call from an employee. Someone had broken into his car and stolen his briefcase and company laptop along with it.
So began a nightmare that cost his small nonprofit health consultancy nearly $300,000 in legal, private investigation, credit monitoring and media consultancy fees.
Tripathi’s nonprofit, the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative in Waltham, Mass., works with doctors and hospitals to help digitize their patient records. His employee’s stolen laptop contained unencrypted records for 13,687 patients — each record containing some combination of a patient’s name, Social Security number, birth date, contact information and insurance information — an identity theft gold mine.
His experience, which proved costly, was hardly uncommon. Large-scale medical data breaches have been on the rise in recent years.
As part of the 2009 stimulus bill, the federal government provides incentive payments to doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic health records.
Nearly 40 percent of U.S. primary-care doctors and about 25 percent of hospitals now use electronic patient records.
An unintended consequence is that as patient records have been digitized, health data breaches have surged as hospitals adopt electronic medical records and mobile technology without spending enough on security to ensure patient privacy.
The number of reported breaches was up 32 percent in 2011 from the year before, according to the Ponemon Institute, a Michigan-based information-security research group.
Those breaches cost the industry an estimated $6.5 billion in 2010. In 49 percent of the cases, lost or stolen phones or personal computers were responsible.
Fifty-three percent of the organizations surveyed by the group said that inadequate funding was the biggest barrier to preventing data breaches.
Fallout can be severe
When mistakes occur, the fallout can be more severe than the typical breach of email addresses or credit card numbers.
In the wrong hands, health records also can be used for blackmail and public humiliation. The information can also be used by insurance companies to inflate rates, or by employers to deny job applicants.
Tripathi, of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, didn’t find the stolen laptop, and the incident cost his nonprofit $288,000 — not to mention 600 hours dealing with the fallout and the intangible cost of repairing the reputational damage that followed.
In many ways, it got off easy. In October, a desktop computer containing unencrypted records on more than 4 million patients was stolen from Sutter Health, a nonprofit health system based in Sacramento. A rock was thrown through a window to gain access to the computer. The theft is now the subject of two class-action suits, each of which seeks $1,000 for each patient record breached.
The stolen computer did not contain patient financial records, Social Security numbers, health plan identification numbers or actual medical records, Sutter said.
Many major breaches
Since federal health care data-breach notification rules took effect in 2009, Health and Human Services records show that the Sutter theft was exceeded only when the U.S. military’s health insurance program lost backup tapes in September containing information on more than 4.9 million patients.
More
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Computer and DATA Theft Victims

Stolen laptop can cost you $49,000

Computers, food stolen from Wodonga school

Analysis

SHARE THIS

Computers stolen from Richland Elementary School

NEWS

Electronics stolen from schools recovered

UVic hard drives recovered with thieves' note

Posted: Jan 26, 2012 11:24 AM PT

Last Updated: Jan 26, 2012 11:44 AM PT

Bank accounts of 11,000 threatened by B.C. break-in

2 years of University of Victoria employees' personal data compromised

Posted: Jan 9, 2012 9:39 PM PT

Last Updated: Jan 10, 2012 8:03 AM PT

Corrections and Clarifications

Computer stolen from Mount Laurel business

Burglars Victimize Elementary School Again

C3

leaky records

Health care industry’s conversion to digital has led to flood of patient data being compromised or stolen

By NICOLE PERLROTH NYT NEWS SERVICE

12:01 a.m., Jan. 25, 2012

Also of interest

Fallout can be severe

Many major breaches