(Indiana State Univ) Laptop with students' info stolen

[Newsjock]

Source: Terre Haute Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — A password-protected laptop computer containing personal information for an estimated 2,500 or more current and former Indiana State University students was stolen during the weekend, the university reported Tuesday.

While there is no evidence to suggest that password security was breached, the university is taking the precaution of notifying all affected students for whom it has current contact information.

The laptop contained data for students who took economics classes from 1997 through the spring semester 2008, estimated at more than 2,500 individuals. The information includes names, grades, e-mail addresses and student identification numbers. Beginning in 2003, use of Social Security numbers as student ID numbers was discontinued in favor of university-specific identification numbers.

... The theft occurred Saturday while the professor was traveling in southern Indiana.

... When asked if the faculty member whose laptop was stolen had violated university policy, Dave Taylor, director of media relations, responded, “It would appear so.”

Read more: http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_197221932.html

[Captain Angry]

1. One of these days, people are going to use the technology that is available.

There should have been a terminal services client on that notebook, and no data. Period.

I got to have 3 years of credit report protection after my information was in a notebook that was stolen. This notebook had pension data for 125,000 people on it.

What kind of meeting would require that kind of data?

Come on.

[aspergris]

2. It's also an abomination

That the Uni used a frigging SOCIAL SECURITY # as an identification #. That is not acceptable. When the social security act was passed, that was a big fear - that it would become a de facto identification #. It is not supposed to be, and too many organizations use it as such

[hobbit709]

3. "Password protected" is meaningless to anyone who knows how to access the drive

[Thor_MN]

4. Laptops as prestige

Too many clueless management people see having a laptop as a sign of their position. I have known way too many people who insisted that they needed a laptop, which almost never left their office. These are the people that wind up losing data. They wind up getting scheduled into an off site meeting, find the leather laptop bag they had to have, remove the two inches of dust, pack up the laptop and head off to the meeting. They forget it at the restaurant at lunch, because they are not used to carrying it around. After it gets taken by an opportunist, they remember all the data they brought down onto the hard drive.

[dysfunctional press]

5. shouldn't there be some kind of law against putting that kind of info on laptops?

just a thought.

[RainDog]

6. The same thing happened a month or so ago at IU Bloomington

The computer that was stolen had alumni information on it. I know b/c I got a letter informing me about this fact.