Total Bankruptcy Newsroom
Data Breach Update ~ April 28, 2008
Approximately 2.1 million University of Miami patients could be vulnerable to data theft since computer tapes containing personal data were stolen from a van owned by a private off-site storage company. The records of every person who has been a patient of a University of Miami physician or visited a University of Miami Florida facility since January 1, 1999 were likely to have been included on the tapes. The included information could have contained names, Social Security numbers and health information. The Miami Herald reported that the credit card numbers of 47,000 people may have also been included in the data on the tapes. UM says that although not impossible, it is unlikely that a thief would be able to extract any usable data from the tapes due to the complex and proprietary format of the data and the compression technique used on the tapes.
A laptop computer that was stolen from a vendor contained the data of approximately 3,400 current and former students of the Connecticut State University System. The computer was password protected but the data was not encrypted. The files on the computer contained the names and Social Security numbers of some students who attended Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut State universities between September 2001 and December 2004. The university system has notified all current and former students who may have been affected by the data breach. There have been no reports of identity theft related to the incident, according to the News-Times.
A school computer containing the names, test scores and Social Security numbers of between 400 and 800 students who attend three high schools in Stokes County, North Carolina was stolen from a locked closet, according to a WXII 12 News report. The school system has sent letters to parents of the students to notify them of the theft. The computer had been used for grading exams in career and technical courses at West, South and North Stokes high schools. The information on the computer is protected by two separate security systems which require passwords.
The personal information of more than 7,000 students, staff and faculty members of the University of Virginia was contained on a laptop that was stolen from a UVA employee. The university mailed letters to all of the people who were affected by the data breach, and the Albemarle County Police Department is investigating the theft. Officials believe that the private and sensitive data on the computer was not the target of the theft. The Daily Progress reported that there have been no reports of identity theft as a result of this data breach.
It is believed that several current and former students of Williamsville North High School in New York were able to hack into the school district's computer system to copy secure files that contain personal information and Social Security numbers of school employees. This was the third such data breach within a month involving area school districts, according to the Buffalo News. The superintendent of the school district sent letters to the district's 1,800 employees to notify them of the data breach and to advise them to notify the police of any suspicious activity on their credit card or bank accounts.Suspicious activity involving credit cards could potentially lead to bankruptcy if not detected and reported. The students involved could face charges including unauthorized computer use, stealing and possessing confidential information, and using the information to commit other crimes. There has been no reported misuse of the information thus far.
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