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Posts Tagged ‘laptop’

University of Victoria loses banking data of 11,000 accounts during a break-in

January 11th, 2012

Universities and schools have wealth of data and thus are vulnerable to data thefts. It is of utmost importance to store this data, either online or offline, in a safe place.

Today’s news story revolves around data theft at the University of Victoria, B.C. Canada.

Over the weekend electronic devices like laptops, mobiles and storage devices were stolen from the University. In addition, cheques and a small amount of cash was stolen too. The stolen information contained names, payroll information and social insurance numbers of UVic employees dating back to Jan. 1, 2010. The disturbing aspect of this case is that the information stolen belonged to current and former employees and also contractors. Also disturbing is the fact that some of this information, especially the names, social insurance numbers and banking information was unencrypted.

According to Gayle Gorril, the univerity vice-president “It included … bank account information needed for direct deposits, social insurance numbers and payroll information,” Gorrill told CBC News late Monday. She further added that an information line has been set up on the website and that employees are being contacted. The affected individuals will be reimbursed bank fees and new checks, promised Gorrill.

Saanich police and a forensic investigator are working on the case. According to the Police this work is of more than one person.

What the Privacy commissioner has to say about the theft?

According to Elizabeth Denham, the privacy commissioner, sensitive information must be encrypted at all times. Also public and private organizations must take measures to protect personal data. Denham further said. “A social insurance number is a sensitive piece of information because it’s a key to many other data about individuals, and it’s one of those numbers you can’t change,”. ”We are concerned because this type of information can be used for identity theft and fraud — it’s potentially harmful for individuals.”

UVic employees are constantly calling the Coast Capital Savings credit union’s call centre for information. They have been requested to close their accounts and set up new ones. The employees have also been asked to track their credit card transactions.

Employee reactions

“Number of credit alerts successfully placed on my credit report: None.”

Caitlin Morrison, a graduate student and employee, said, “You would hope that an organization like the university would have better systems in place to avoid such a widespread problem.”

Janni Aragon, a political science instructor, feels that the university should have informed employees immediately.

“I know a lot of my colleagues are angry we found out at the end of business day [Monday],” she said.

More about laptop security from Alertsec

Laptops generally get stolen from the work place, conference centers, hotel rooms, cars, airports and train stations. It is difficult to prevent theft as opportunists are everywhere in our society.

Best bet would be to make sure having a fresh back-up on a server or back-up device.

Lastly, by using encryption software, you greatly enhance the laptop security as there is no way that the information is compromised if lost or stolen.

University of Victoria sign at campus entrance...

Data stolen from the University, suspects at large

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Posted in Computer security, Data Protection, computer security software, data breach, data encryption

Tags: Canada CBC News Coast Capital Savings Data theft Employment Gorrill laptop Monday Theft University of Victoria

Another unfortunate coincidence for Telstra – Data breached again!

January 3rd, 2012

Heard of the same company becoming a victim of data breach twice within weeks? Well, it is certainly strange and unheard of but the recent breach at Telstra breaks the pattern! Telstra has experienced another data breach, it is yet to recover from the earlier one!

How did Telstra manage to become a victim for the second time?

The Australian reports that the breach took place Friday morning. Customer data was seen online via a spreadsheet that was deployed by one of the company’s consultants on Editgrid.com. As soon as Telstra learnt about it, the site that contained the sheet was taken down and access to Editgrid was disabled. The company admits that thousands of emails addresses, phone numbers and postal details were leaked but passwords, credit or financial information was not compromised. A total of 1500 customers were affected by this breach.

What did the spreadsheet contain?

The spreadsheet held records of BigPond clients who contacted the telco’s customer service department for technical assistance. In addition the spreadsheet contained ticket numbers and job descriptions of complaintss lodged by Telstra customers. The online file also had details of customer callbacks and information about faulty equipment. According to a Telstra spokeswoman “Our customers’ privacy is paramount and the site was disabled within an hour of Telstra being made aware of it”.

What is Telstra doing about the incident?

Telstra is reaching out to the customers and informing them about the incident. The customers will also be trained about data security.

Telstra back in news for another data breach

The earlier breach

The Privacy Commissioner is currently working on the earlier breach and now has been notified about the second one. No doubt, he is going to be a busy man. In the last breach around 80,000 customers were affected when private information was exposed through a website search tool. Passwords had gotten exposed and Telstra had to reset all of them. Mr Pilgrim, the commissioner, had to look into Sony PlayStation and Vodafone’s major breaches.

Customer data was seen online via a spreadsheet that was deployed by one of the company’s consultants. As soon as Telstra learnt about it, the site that contained the sheet was taken down. The company admits that thousands of emails addresses, phone numbers and postal details were leaked but passwords, credit or financial information was not compromised. A total of 1500 customers were affected by this breach.

As per the latest update, Telstra customers have not yet been contacted about this latest breach. No wonder they are angry and are waiting to hear from the company.

Data security with Alertsec

Alertsec is here to take care of our security issues especially for anyone working with PCs. Alertsec Xpress is the service that automatically protects ALL information you store on your PC. The fact that we now buy more laptops than desktops shows that the information we all store is increasingly more vulnerable to be exposed. It is a much higher risk to lose a laptop than a desktop computer.

Encryption is the only secure method for complete protection of data stored on your hard disk. Today laptops are overtaking desktop PCs as the major source of computing and media storage, laptops frequently store an organization’s most valuable information. Thus laptop encryption is becoming more and more important.

Alertsec Xpress offers full disk encryption and is therefore superior to other encryption methods when comparing security, performance, robustness and ease-of-use for both administrators and users.

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Posted in Computer security, Data Protection, computer security software, data breach, data encryption

Tags: AlertSec Xpress BigPond Customer Customer service data breach data security EditGrid laptop privacy Privacy Commissioner of Canada Spreadsheet Telstra

Former Middletown School contractor accused of Laptop theft

December 5th, 2011

Not one or two but 400 laptops missing! A recent case of laptop theft saw 400 laptops being stolen from Middletown schools by a former contractor. A Butler County grand jury is currently reviewing the charges. If convicted, he faces 5 years prison time.

According to the Middletown police Larry A. Osborne Jr., 29,has been charged with third-degree felony theft on Nov. 9 in Middletown Municipal Court. He is accused of stealing computers since 2008. Osborne, a computer technician, was a former contractor of the Butler County Educational Service Center. The approximate value of the 400 laptops is $123,000. Osborne used to sell these computers on ebay. He sold around 350 computers to a man in PA who had no clue that these computers were stolen property. The PA man has not been charged. The machines were either used ones or non-working.

Former school contractor stole 400 laptops

The first theft was reported on Nov. 8 where eight Apple laptop computers were stolen from the district’s warehouse, 110 Baltimore St.

So far the department has recovered 46 of the 400 laptops. According to Lt. Scott Reeve. “The investigation is pretty much done. We’ve recovered all we’re going to recover,”. He further added that the thefts were discovered when the owner of 1 Stop Shipping Shop on Vail Avenue became suspicious about the no of computers Osborne was shipping. 18 laptops were recovered from 1 Stop Shipping Shop and 28 from Hallstead, PA. Lt. Reeve added “He wasn’t just taking them from one location,”. “He was taking them from multiple locations. I think that is part of the reason he got away with it for so long. He is an information technology guy and it’s not unusual to see him walking around with a computers in his hands, and they weren’t all being stolen from one location. He was spreading out the thefts at various schools throughout the district.”

Apparently Osborne was a full time IT worker with the district and lost his job a month ago when the theft came to light.

The modus operandi was that Osborne stole laptops that were left unattended while making service calls. Inspite of the fact that the district conducts general audits of its systems on an annual basis, the laptops were stole. The reason being Osborne was the employee in charge of this district.The district is revamping its security policy to make sure such thefts do not take place in the future.

Alertsec and data encryption go hand in hand

Information has become highly mobile. There are netbooks, laptops, iphones and blackberries. You leave any of these unattended and the next thing you know is that they are stolen!

To lose any of the above device means losing valuable information! Especially when this information includes not only your personal data but that of hundreds and thousands of people.

Encryption is the best security solution to data breaches and laptop thefts. Alertsec helps you keep your info secure.

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Posted in Computer security, Identity and Information loss, Lawsuits and settlements, computer security software, identity theft, laptop encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Apple Baltimore Counties Hardware Information Commissioners Office insurance laptop laptop theft LoJack Notebooks and Laptops security Theft United States

The case of 50 stolen laptops from Massabesic High School in Waterboro

November 24th, 2011

Looks like stealing laptops from school is very easy. Every other day we are hearing news about missing laptops and that too from schools. Time to tighten school security policies!

The case of the missing laptops and their recovery

The York County Sheriff’s Department has succeeded in recovering 50 Apple laptop computers that were stolen from Massabesic High School this week. Where exactly were they found is not revealed as yet, only that it was a good distance away from the school.

According to Sheriff Maurice Ouellette the laptops are in good condition and had been placed inside two, large plastic tubs with covers on them at the time of recovery.

“This was stuff that kids used to study with … That’s something I take personally,” Ouellette said.

How did the thieves manage to steal these computers?

It appears that the thief or thieves pried open a window to gain entrance to the school. The thieves entered the East Building of the school and did away with the computers and a projector.

“I’ve been working for this school district for a number of years and this is certainly the largest theft of any equipment that i’ve ever experienced or that i know of”, said RSU 57 Technology Director Bob Stackpole

School staff and students were interviewed in detail by the police in hope of getting clues about the theft.

A TV viewer caught this piece of news item on TV and got in touch with the authorities. The total value of the computers was around $60,000.

To catch the thief

Authorities have requested anyone with info about the thieves to get in touch with them. “We’re certainly interested in that, how that took place and at the end of the day we take a look at what transpired, how it transpired, who would have access and who would know, things to that nature”,said Sheriff Maurice Ouellette. The laptops were white in color and had identifying stickers. Currently the laptops are with the police. As soon as the investigation is over, they will be returned to the school.

Alertsec equips firms with encryption software

Alertsec is here to take care of our security issues especially for anyone working with PCs. Al

Stolen Laptops from Massabesic School recovered

Aertsec Xpress is the service that automatically protects ALL information you store on your PC. The fact that we now buy more laptops than desktops shows that the information we all store is increasingly more vulnerable to be exposed. It is a much higher risk to lose a laptop than a desktop computer.

Encryption is the only secure method for complete protection of data stored on your hard disk. Today laptops are overtaking desktop PCs as the major source of computing and media storage, laptops frequently store an organization’s most valuable information. Thus laptop encryption is becoming more and more important.

Alertsec Xpress offers full disk encryption and is therefore superior to other encryption methods when comparing security, performance, robustness and ease-of-use for both administrators and users.

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Posted in Identity and Information loss, identity theft, laptop encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Apple Hardware IPhone laptop LoJack Massabesic High School Notebooks and Laptops security Sheriff Theft

Southwark Council faces heat from ICO for data breach

November 23rd, 2011

If you remember, last blog post talked about a laptop theft incident that occurred years ago but was reported only recently. This post is based on the same lines.

Details from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

The Southwark council failed to manage its paperwork and a computer that contained data of 7,200 individuals when it moved from its site at the Spa Road Complex in December 2009. When the new company moved in, it found this data that contained addresses, names and information relating to medical history, criminal convictions and ethnicity.

Sally Anne Poole, Acting Head of Enforcement at the ICO, said “The fact that thousands of residents’ personal details went missing for over two years clearly shows that Southwark Council’s policies for handling personal information are below standard. As this information was lost before the ICO received the power to issue financial penalties we are unable to consider taking more formal action in this case,”.

Investigation report

The investigation revealed that this data was unencrypted and that the protocol supposed to be followed while moving was not up to the mark. Had this incident taken place recently, Southwark would have been fined by the ICO. Thus Southwark Council had breached the Data Protection Act.

According to an Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) spokesman”The computer was an old Apple iMac,”. “It had some security features, like password protection, but no encryption. The vast majority of details were on the computer.”

More details emerge

It appears that the unencrypted iMac and other papers were left in the vacant building for two years. The new tenants discovered these documents in June and threw them into a skip.

What is Southwark doing post incident?

The Council is in the process of revamping its data security procedures and ready to be audited in 2012. It plans to join the other 105 councils, schools, trusts and businesses that have signed undertakings with the Commission since January 2010. The ICO has in addition, issued three enforcement notices, conducted two prosecutions, and has issued fines to six organisations ranging from £1,000.

A Southwark Council spokesman said: “As soon as this incident was reported to us, we instantly launched an internal investigation and worked closely with all other relevant authorities to ascertain exactly what had happened.

“We treat any reporting of a possible breach of data very seriously indeed. Throughout this issue the council advised and co-operated with the Information Commissioner’s Office and has now put in place a number of measures to improve its handling and storage of personal data.”

Southwark council in trouble for data breach

Secure your Data with Alertsec

Following the essential guidelines is very necessary for data security in any organization. This news exemplifies the need for data protection applications. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.