CANADA BC COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE CONTAINING VALUABLE PERSONAL DATA Computer theft triggers banking alertComputer theft triggers banking alert
WebPosted Aug 30 2004 05:55 PM PDT


VANCOUVER - Thousand of employees and former employees of the Coquitlam School District have been warned their personal information is at risk following theft of three computers.
The thieves broke into the school board office and made off with the computers – and the data – a week ago.

LINK: Coquitlam School District notice (pdf)

Since the school district has direct deposit, it advised its 4,400 employees to change their bank account numbers.

Now, it's broadened the alert to include former employees, bringing the the total number of potential victims to 13,000.

Police think the thieves were probably just after the computers, but they still have advice for those affected.

"The main thing is to monitor their bank accounts, their statements that come in and things like that that," says Cpl. Jane Baptista.

"And the biggest one, change your passwords if there are any concerns with the banks at all."

Police say it's unlikely the system has been compromised. But a business systems expert at UBC says it wouldn't be difficult for to get past passwords to mine the data.

"There are tools out there, so that within minutes or so, you can access the passwords on the file, or on the system, easily," says Hasan Cavusoglu. "And by using those passwords, you can easily access the original data."

Computer experts note that while there is a constant emphasis on elaborate defences against electronic attack, there is much less defence against simple physical theft.