Wed, Dec 13, 2006
Stolen Laptop Contained Personal Data On 382,000
A laptop containing the personal
information of some 382,000 past and present Boeing employees was
stolen earlier this month. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the
company will inform current employees via email today; ex-employees
will receive notification via post.
Company spokeswoman Kelly Danaghy told the paper, "In the first
week of December, a laptop was stolen from an employee's car. That
laptop had files that contained Social Security numbers for about
382,000 past and present employees, and in most cases it also
included a home address, phone number and date of birth."
Boeing hasn't said whether the information was encrypted or not,
but it does say there is no reason to believe at this point the
data has been used for illegal purposes. An unidentified law
enforcement agency is coordinating with the company in recovering
the stolen laptop.
The company hasn't revealed exactly where the theft occurred
because it says the thief may be unaware of what they have. Boeing
does confirm, however, the computer contains data on personnel from
all Boeing plants.
Like many large organizations with computerized records, Boeing
is struggling with personnel data security issues. This most recent
data theft isn't the first for the Chicago-based company. Last
April a Boeing human resources employee reported the theft of a
computer at an airport with information on 3,600 employees, and
just last November a similar theft jeopardized records on 161,000
employees.
Of the 75,000 laptops in use
by Boeing, the company reported 250 thefts last year. Internal
memos to company workers urged them to encrypt information and
delete old unused data containing employee personal
information.
Danaghy says Boeing has plans to require that all company
computers have encryption software installed and is looking at
other ways to track employee data other than social security
numbers.
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