Stokes County Schools laptop missing after Spring Break
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
4/14/08
Organization:
Stokes County Schools
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
West Stokes High School
South Stokes High School
North Stokes High School
Victims:
Students
Number Affected:
400 - 800
Types of Data:
"names, test scores and Social Security numbers"
Breach Description:
"STOKES COUNTY, N.C. -- A school computer containing the names, test scores and Social Security numbers of students from three Stokes County high schools was stolen from a locked closet, authorities said."
Reference URL:
WXII Channel 12
Report Credit:
WXII Channel 12 News
Response:
From the online source cited above:
STOKES COUNTY, N.C. -- A school computer containing the names, test scores and Social Security numbers of students from three Stokes County high schools was stolen from a locked closet, authorities said.
[Evan] This is the third breach affecting secondary schools in April alone. The others were 'Breach affects "every student enrolled at Joliet West High School"' and 'Students breach Williamsville Central School District security'.
The school system sent home a letter to parents last week notifying them of the theft, which affected between 400 to 800 students at West, South and North Stokes high schools.
"Wednesday after we returned from our spring break, a teacher notified us that she had misplaced (the) laptop computer," said school system superintendent Dr. Stewart Hobbs.
[Evan] This is one of the reasons why laptop computers required extra care and control.
The computer was used for scoring exams in the career and technical courses, the school system said.
[Evan] What I don't fully understand is why Social Security numbers are necessary to score exams?
And though the computer contained personal information, Hobbs said he doesn't think the information can be accessed.
"All information stored on the computer is protected by two separate security systems, each of which requires a password," the letter stated.
[Evan] Two "separate security systems"? What does this mean? I assume that one "security system" is the Windows logon password, but what is the other?
"Any time any type of computer, especially if it has student information that's missing, this is of importance to us," Hobbs said.
Commentary:
The facts surrounding this breach are scarce. It seems as though the school uses Social Security numbers as student identifiers as opposed to self-generated IDs. If true, then this is a poor choice. We could speculate on other matters such as laptop encryption, physical security, and other information security issues, but it would only be speculation. The point of the matter is that we have another unnecessary exposure of personal information.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:4/14/08
Organization:
Stokes County Schools
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
West Stokes High School
South Stokes High School
North Stokes High School
Victims:
Students
Number Affected:
400 - 800
Types of Data:
"names, test scores and Social Security numbers"
Breach Description:
"STOKES COUNTY, N.C. -- A school computer containing the names, test scores and Social Security numbers of students from three Stokes County high schools was stolen from a locked closet, authorities said."
Reference URL:
WXII Channel 12
Report Credit:
WXII Channel 12 News
Response:
From the online source cited above:
STOKES COUNTY, N.C. -- A school computer containing the names, test scores and Social Security numbers of students from three Stokes County high schools was stolen from a locked closet, authorities said.
[Evan] This is the third breach affecting secondary schools in April alone. The others were 'Breach affects "every student enrolled at Joliet West High School"' and 'Students breach Williamsville Central School District security'.
The school system sent home a letter to parents last week notifying them of the theft, which affected between 400 to 800 students at West, South and North Stokes high schools.
"Wednesday after we returned from our spring break, a teacher notified us that she had misplaced (the) laptop computer," said school system superintendent Dr. Stewart Hobbs.
[Evan] This is one of the reasons why laptop computers required extra care and control.
The computer was used for scoring exams in the career and technical courses, the school system said.
[Evan] What I don't fully understand is why Social Security numbers are necessary to score exams?
And though the computer contained personal information, Hobbs said he doesn't think the information can be accessed.
"All information stored on the computer is protected by two separate security systems, each of which requires a password," the letter stated.
[Evan] Two "separate security systems"? What does this mean? I assume that one "security system" is the Windows logon password, but what is the other?
"Any time any type of computer, especially if it has student information that's missing, this is of importance to us," Hobbs said.
Commentary:
The facts surrounding this breach are scarce. It seems as though the school uses Social Security numbers as student identifiers as opposed to self-generated IDs. If true, then this is a poor choice. We could speculate on other matters such as laptop encryption, physical security, and other information security issues, but it would only be speculation. The point of the matter is that we have another unnecessary exposure of personal information.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posts Atom 1.0
Comments