CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF WATERNews - Laptop computers stolen at state Department of Water Resources - sacbee.comLaptop computers stolen at state Department of Water Resources
By Dorothy Korber -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 4:53 pm PST Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Three laptop computers were stolen and files were rifled overnight Monday at the Sacramento headquarters of the state Department of Water Resources, according to California Highway Patrol investigators.
There were no signs of forced entry, said Chief Mike Nivens of the CHP's protective services division. The theft was discovered at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning at the building at 1416 Ninth St.

"Several cubicles - 15 or 20 - on the fifth and sixth floors had been ransacked, desk drawers opened, papers rifled through, and three laptops were missing," Nivens said Tuesday. "We don't know what was on those specific computers or the sensitivity of the information loaded on them. We're investigating that now."

By late Tuesday afternoon, Nivens said, the laptops could no longer be used to access the water resources department's computer system.

"Our main concern was to shut down their remote access capabilities," he said. "Once that's severed, those laptops are just paperweights."

The CHP was called in because state buildings are under its jurisdiction.

For more details, see Wednesday's Bee.