Anyone else getting a little worried about how many low paid grunts are running around with laptops containing our personal info?
Make me wonder WHY they have folk's personal info in the first place, and how convient it is that these laptops keep getting "stolen" in home break-ins.

 

I am not in any way for Big Brother watching us, but shouldn't the government who is watching US at least be watching and protecting our personal information?
The technology is already out there.
Sound’s like the gatekeeper is getting kind of sloppy, and why was someone taking that information HOME in the first place? You would expect to see the laptop handcuffed to someone’s wrist like in the movies not sitting on someone’s coffee table.
Who needs spies when out own Government Servants loose the information on their own?

I have a friend who worked for the Red Cross where someone misplaced a laptop with veteran’s information on it just last month.

http://www.absolute.com/

(quote)

• Remotely delete data or disk wipe
• Track laptops & remote PCs

 

Was thinking the same thing when I heard about the latest laptop theft. Why is all that info on a laptop and why is someone bringing it home?
Got a letter from the VA last week "informing" me that a laptop had been stolen with a bunch of veterans info on it. Told me to keep an eye out for suspicious activity on any accounts/new account being opened.
That has been old news for a while now.

~Rob

 

Ditto, I thought the letter was gonna say they needed me to re-enlist!

 

I got a letter from my insurance company- AIG

 

Personally I think it's just the tip of the iceberg and some nice headlines stuff for the media. In the big picture the whole issue of electronic information gathering-processing-storage-retrieval is a very scary scenario! The use of personal Social Security numbers is hugely abused by merchants, government agencies etc. and is 'required' for many transactions where it ain't any of their business. Identity theft is more common than we think and few want the truth of such abuses to get out. That would put a crimp in the 'EZ' business methods, slow the economy when people begin to hesitate to purchase from an insecure company, and would also reveal that there not only isn't a watchdog, but the front door is wide open!

The amount of personal information available about YOU on the Internet is staggering. I've seen a person's entire identity displayed on the web by a pro in a matter of a couple of days, just by knowing the targets ISP address, including a printed map to their house and parent's names, addresses and phone numbers. It's up to us to protect ourselves, as it becomes painfully obvious that nobody else is going to do it for us.

How often do you ask questions about security of information before you give it out? If you're like me, not very often except for reading some 'Security' blurb on a website. Just like the government, it's only going to get worse..... and we're the chumps that take the hit.

JimmieD

 

The corp I work for is literally having a hissy-fit trying to get our fellow employees to keep laptop theft under control! Data encryption and physical theft control is tough to get people to stay on top of. Lots of important mgrs and R&Dtypes flying about the world with laptops under their arms and lo-and-behold, their laptops get lifted within a blink of an eye!!! Frequently they did NOT have encryption enabled or they stupidly use an easy-to-break password key.
The latest corporate IT blurb I read considers China as -THE- #1 recipient of Western technology and personal info stolen from laptop harddrives... Go Figure!!!

You go traveling with all that sensitive/devastating info on a disk inside a laptop and eventually you will have to set that laptop down to reach for your passport, tickets, keys, wallet, etc... Turn back and it's GONE...
One recent theft incident I remember had a high level corporate dude leave his laptop under the table at a restaurant where a big business deal was made...
Here's Your Sign!

People working at home with laptops, with a client's sensitive data on it, they figure "I'm secure in my own home..." Yeah, Right!
We see how secure all those millions of Vets info was...


K.

 

Well said.......

 

I'm working in IT and therefore I assume that I know a bit about the security questions raised.
If a customer accepts my suggestions there is no data about business partners or personal data on the laptop, only temporary data that is wiped at shutdown. Basically the laptop is only one part of three as a key to the lock to access information like this. The second part is an USB dongle that will only work with this laptop. The third part is a one time password, where the user gets a list with a sufficient number of passwords to access the service and the data. Since I know which user has which list, which dongle and which laptop in any case of doubt I can deny access to the data and service. (Usually the customer has the same opportunity, and there's a 24/7 hotline where a user can report the thing as stolen and access will be denied within 30 seconds)
Naturally there are users who will write the username on the list of passwords, and store them with the USB dongle in the laptop carry bag and go for a merry drinking tour in some XXX rated bars somewhere on the globe..... and not realise that the laptop has been stolen for hours...
But reading about the troubles with government agencies computers around the world ( a hard disk from the Austrian ministery for interior was sold on e-bay!!!) still makes me wonder why the governments do not implement readily available technology and some user training to keep the data safe.

AlpineRAM

 

We have two user IDs, a SecureID chip, a PIN, and two different passwords to get on the company laptop & network.

 

"But reading about the troubles with government agencies computers around the world ( a hard disk from the Austrian ministery for interior was sold on e-bay!!!) still makes me wonder why the governments do not implement readily available technology and some user training to keep the data safe.

AlpineRAM"

I think the answer is fairly simple: STEW-PEDDD. Rhymes with "Duhhhh...."

 

And sometimes it rhimes onamatopoetically with government

 

Another Laptop Stolen With Soc. Sec. Numbers

Rich

 

Onamatopoeticaly? Ain't he that there guy with the turbin thang on his head that they been looking so hard fer lately?

 

Noo that's tha enema.