Up to 40,000 children affected by stolen Department of Economic (in)Security hard drives
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
11/03/08
Organization:
State of Arizona
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Department of Economic Security
Location:
Phoenix, Arizona
Victims:
"Early Intervention Program" applicants and participants (children)
Number Affected:
"Up to 40,000"
Types of Data:
Names, addresses, insurance information, child disability, dates of birth and Social Security numbers
Breach Description:
"PHOENIX (AP) - Several computer hard drives containing personal information for as many as 40,000 children have been stolen from a public storage locker in Phoenix."
Reference URL:
KTVK-TV / azfamily.com
United Press International
KVOA Channel 4
Arizona Daily Star
Report Credit:
KTVK-TV/azfamily.com
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
PHOENIX (AP) - Several computer hard drives containing personal information for as many as 40,000 children have been stolen from a public storage locker in Phoenix.
[Evan] Breaches that affect children are right up there with breaches that affect our veterans in terms of how much it irks me. How many people think that a public storage locker/facility is a safe place to keep sensitive information? I suspect that the locker was protected by a padlock and not much else.
Department of Economic Security spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said Thursday that the agency has sent out warning letters to the children's families informing them of last month's theft.
"The hard drives contained info that might include name, address, insurance info, child disability, date of birth and Social Security number," the letters stated.
This affects anyone who has applied for or been accepted to DES’s "Early Intervention Program" over the past several years.
She said there is no reason to believe the information has been compromised because the hard drives are password protected.
[Evan] Really? DES doesn't believe that the information has been compromised because of the almighty and powerful password protection? They've got to be kidding. I put very little stock into the effectiveness of password protection, and I certainly don't think (by itself) that it is adequate protection for sensitive information. Passwords are typically very easy to circumvent or crack.
"We don't have any reason to believe that DES and our computers were the target of theft," the spokesman said.
[Evan] Does it matter? The fact is that the DES hard drives were stolen.
The state's data security policy requires that data be backed up and stored in an off-site, secured location.
[Evan] Without encryption?
Chrissy Boyajian has her hands full with triplet 2-year old boys, two of whom have learning disabilities. She tells 3TV, "Tyler was diagnosed at 18 months with autism. Jacob is behind in speech."
All has been going well until this weekend when Chrissy received a letter in the mail that was notification of a break-in and possible identity theft.
Boyaijian admits, "I worry about them so much...the both of them, especially Tyler and then to have this happen."
Police said they were seeking two suspects, a man and a woman, who are believed top have stolen the hard drives.
According to police, the suspects were last seen leaving in a white extra cab pick-up truck. If you know anything about this crime you are urged to call police.
In the meantime DES tells 3TV they are re-evaluating their storage procedures.
[Evan] Please.
Commentary:
I would like to see a copy of the letter sent to the victims. I would also like to see DES make significant progress to ensure that this type of breach doesn't happen again.
~40,000 innocent children are victims. Sad.
One last note. Kind of ironic (I think this is the word I want to use); the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) home page is encrypted, but not these hard drives.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:11/03/08
Organization:
State of Arizona
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Department of Economic Security
Location:
Phoenix, Arizona
Victims:
"Early Intervention Program" applicants and participants (children)
Number Affected:
"Up to 40,000"
Types of Data:
Names, addresses, insurance information, child disability, dates of birth and Social Security numbers
Breach Description:
"PHOENIX (AP) - Several computer hard drives containing personal information for as many as 40,000 children have been stolen from a public storage locker in Phoenix."
Reference URL:
KTVK-TV / azfamily.com
United Press International
KVOA Channel 4
Arizona Daily Star
Report Credit:
KTVK-TV/azfamily.com
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
PHOENIX (AP) - Several computer hard drives containing personal information for as many as 40,000 children have been stolen from a public storage locker in Phoenix.
[Evan] Breaches that affect children are right up there with breaches that affect our veterans in terms of how much it irks me. How many people think that a public storage locker/facility is a safe place to keep sensitive information? I suspect that the locker was protected by a padlock and not much else.
Department of Economic Security spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said Thursday that the agency has sent out warning letters to the children's families informing them of last month's theft.
"The hard drives contained info that might include name, address, insurance info, child disability, date of birth and Social Security number," the letters stated.
This affects anyone who has applied for or been accepted to DES’s "Early Intervention Program" over the past several years.
She said there is no reason to believe the information has been compromised because the hard drives are password protected.
[Evan] Really? DES doesn't believe that the information has been compromised because of the almighty and powerful password protection? They've got to be kidding. I put very little stock into the effectiveness of password protection, and I certainly don't think (by itself) that it is adequate protection for sensitive information. Passwords are typically very easy to circumvent or crack.
"We don't have any reason to believe that DES and our computers were the target of theft," the spokesman said.
[Evan] Does it matter? The fact is that the DES hard drives were stolen.
The state's data security policy requires that data be backed up and stored in an off-site, secured location.
[Evan] Without encryption?
Chrissy Boyajian has her hands full with triplet 2-year old boys, two of whom have learning disabilities. She tells 3TV, "Tyler was diagnosed at 18 months with autism. Jacob is behind in speech."
All has been going well until this weekend when Chrissy received a letter in the mail that was notification of a break-in and possible identity theft.
Boyaijian admits, "I worry about them so much...the both of them, especially Tyler and then to have this happen."
Police said they were seeking two suspects, a man and a woman, who are believed top have stolen the hard drives.
According to police, the suspects were last seen leaving in a white extra cab pick-up truck. If you know anything about this crime you are urged to call police.
In the meantime DES tells 3TV they are re-evaluating their storage procedures.
[Evan] Please.
Commentary:
I would like to see a copy of the letter sent to the victims. I would also like to see DES make significant progress to ensure that this type of breach doesn't happen again.
~40,000 innocent children are victims. Sad.
One last note. Kind of ironic (I think this is the word I want to use); the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) home page is encrypted, but not these hard drives.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posted by Evan Francen at 11/7/2008 1:19 PM 
Categories: Poor Business Practice, Stolen Media, State of Arizona, Department of Economic Security (AZ)
Categories: Poor Business Practice, Stolen Media, State of Arizona, Department of Economic Security (AZ)
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