Technorati Tag: Security Breach

Date Reported:
10/1/07

Organization:
Invision HR Staffing Group

Contractor/Consultant:
None

Victims:
Job applicants and candidates

Number Affected:
Unknown*

*As many as 500 files

Types of Data:
Names, addresses, copy of driver's licenses, and copies of Social Security cards

Breach Description:
A worker at a strip mall in Morrow, Georgia was throwing away garbage when he noticed as many as 500 files containing sensitive human resources information.  The files reportedly came from Invision HR Staffing Group which recently relocated to College Park.

Reference URL:
Follow-Up 11Alive Story
Original 11Alive Story

Report Credit:
WXIA TV, 11Alive.com

Response:
From the resources cited above:

"Nicolas Campbell said he was throwing some trash into a dumpster Sunday behind the strip shopping center where he works when he noticed some alarming items inside. He found possibly as many as 500 files from a job agency that had recently moved out of the strip mall"

"A sign on the door of Invision HR Staffing Group says they have since moved"

”The file folders had copies of people’s drivers license, social security cards, and their addresses. "

"The documents were apparently dumped by someone with The Invision HR Staffing Group."

"Campbell said a police officer came to the scene, but only suggested that Campbell shred the files himself. Instead, Campbell called our newsroom and we called Morrow Police. On Sunday night, they sent some more officers to the location who stood watch as a wrecker hauled the dumpster to police headquarters."

"No word from police yet about what they will do with the sensitive files or whether anyone will face charges. So far, no word from Invision HR Staffing Group about how so many of its files ended up in the trash."

Commentary:
I can relate to this breach.  This past weekend I was going through some old financial documents trying to determine what I need to keep and what I need to throw away.  At the end of this exercise I was left with a pile of papers three feet high!  Rather than securely shredding each of the left over documents, I could just toss them in the garbage.  Not a good idea, eh?  I admit that manually shredding can be a hassle, but it is a must.  Another option is to outsource it.

A human resources/staffing organization should know better than to discard information this way.  Nicolas Campbell sums this breach up nicely, ""It's just shocking that they just had complete disregard for everybody else's information,"  Shame. Shame.  

Past Breaches:
Unknown