A Few Data Loss Incidents Reported This Week...

Lasell College says hacker accessed personal data

NEWTON, Mass. March 20, 2008-- Lasell College says a hacker accessed data containing personal information on about 20,000 current and former students, faculty, staff and alumni.
The college told The Boston Globe on Wednesday it has no evidence that the information, which included names and Social Security numbers, has been misused. But it has sent an e-mail notice to the people who may be affected.

College officials say they discovered the breach on Feb. 6 and notified law enforcement and officials in the states where those affected live. Lasell says the hacker is believed to be an employee. MORE

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Paperwork came from evicted realty company

FLINT -- (03/19/08) -- The personal information of hundreds of local residents is now out in public view.
Social Security numbers and financial records of customers of a Flint-based realty mortgage company have been found in a dumpster.

Affordable Realty occupied office space inside the Ben Agree building on Dort Highway for years.
The company was evicted and all of its sensitive customer information ended up outside in a dumpster or on the ground nearby. Included in the papers are bankruptcy statements, financial records, Social Security numbers and addresses of clients who once did business with Affordable Realty. MORE

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Some BU students' Social Security info e-mailed to others
Source: Press & Sun-Bulletin

VESTAL March 17, 2008 -- The Social Security numbers of more than 300 Binghamton University students were accidentally e-mailed to a list of hundreds of other students on Friday.

A university employee mistakenly sent an e-mail attachment containing the names, grade point averages and Social Security numbers of junior and senior accounting students to another group of 288 School of Management students.
There has been no indication that any students' information has been misused, BU spokeswoman Gail Glover said Monday night.

The e-mail, sent by the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising for the School of Management Brian Perry, was supposed to go to accounting faculty members seeking input on student awards. It also should not have contained "unnecessary information," the university told students in a letter informing them of the situation.
Shortly after the e-mail was sent, Perry sent a second e-mail, saying he had "screwed up in my address book" and advised students to delete the first message. He did not say that the students' Social Security numbers were contained in the original e-mail.

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3/17/08 Blog: Supermarket Chain Security Breach Puts 4.2M Credit and Debit Cards at Risk

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Possibly Thousands Of Patient's Information Compromised With Lap Top Theft from University Healthcare March 15, 2008

Possibly 4,800 patient's information could be compromised, when a laptop with names, social security numbers and personal health information was stolen from University Healthcare over two weeks ago.

The theft happened back on February 25th. The hospital says that someone broke into a locked office and took a lap top and a flash drive. The hospital does not believe that whoever stole the laptop was searching for the patient's information.

The hospital also says that the laptop is password protected and it is confident that the person who stole the lap top will not be able to access the information.

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Utah Division of Finance
State Agency Reports A Security Breach

Salt Lake City March 15, 2008: Computer files containing the personal information of approximately 500 individuals may have been accessed by unauthorized persons during a security breach at the Utah Division of Finance.

However, Department of Administrative Services spokeswoman Vicki Schoenfeld said in a press release an initial investigation indicates it is highly unlikely the person who breached the computer system was able to access the personal information. As a precautionary measure, the Department of Administrative Services will make every effort to contact all individuals whose personal information was potentially exposed, Schoenfeld said. MORE