University Students Need Identity Theft Protection Too

University data breaches happen all the time so it is important to consider protecting your sons and daughters from identity theft as well as yourself. This is especially true because young adults are less likely to protect their personal information. Additionally, they rarely use an identity theft protection service due to the cost associated with them. Consider adding them to your plan. Here are a few recent university data breaches. More will be posted tomorrow.

Cal Poly Pomona
It’s not unusual for one to do a search in Google for their own name. But when this was done, one former student of Cal Poly Pomona found not only himself, but almost 700 other students’ personal information posted online. This information included names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers. Applicants from 2001 are at risk for identity theft, as it is unknown who had access to this data before it was discovered by the student.

The student informed Cal Poly Pomona University of the accessible Excel file containing this information mid-November, and the university immediately removed the data. All the individuals that had information on this file have been notified and alerted of the situation.

WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
Police have made an arrest of a man believed to be connected to the Shepherd Union Building’s mail center at the Weber State University. This man has also attempted to break into an ATM inside the same building, and his vehicle had property belonging to the University.

The surveillance tape shows thieves taking off with over $1,500 in cash, three computers and a postal scale. The break-in also involved stolen rental cards for post office boxes, which may include names, addresses and Social Security numbers of post office box renters.

Some 70 students are being contacted regarding this security breach, and letters have been sent to them listing steps they can take to prevent and respond to possible identity theft that may occur from the loss of this information. Students should consider a credit report monitoring service.

AUSTIN PEAY STATE UNIVERSITY
Austin Peay’s Veteran Upward Bound program in Clarksville, Tennessee, is a college preparedness program for veterans. Their office recently fell victim to theft around 5:30 on December 15th, a Monday morning. The office was ransacked after a window was broken into with a brick, and thieves left with hard drives, computers, keyboards and monitors.

This office equipment is understood to have personal information of some 750 individuals, but is believed to be password protected. Even so, officials sent certified letters to the individuals who may have been affected and provided them information regarding the recent theft and the issue of identity theft.

The building that was broken into was scheduled to be demolished this spring to make room for new dorms, but until then, the building has been boarded up.

Though students often have less credit available to them compared to the average adult an identity thief can still do a lot of damage particularly in regards to new credit opportunities. This is why it is wise to consider using one of the many credit protection services available. Compare them now on our handy chart and get the peace of mind you deserve knowing your identity is protected by one of the best.

Starbucks and Things Remembered Data Breach

Starbucks has been in deep water lately with it’s employees.

After an incident two years ago regarding four misplaced laptops, Starbucks is again the victim of theft. A laptop containing the information of almost 100,000 employees was stolen, and these employees have been notified that personal data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other information are at risk for misuse.

These employees have been encouraged to monitor financial accounts for strange activity, and credit protection services have been offered to protect employee information from being used inappropriately.

Luxottica Group (Things Remembered Retail Store)
Molly Burns, 30, of Glendale, Arizona, is on the run after it was discovered she hacked into the Things Remembered retail computer mainframe and downloaded personal information of almost 60,000 former employees.

The information technology department of Luxottica Retail was able to trace the IP address back to Burns. Her arrest record includes drug and theft charges, and her criminal history is definitely worrisome.

Police have confiscated computers from her apartment, but Burns is on the run.

Those affected may want to buy identity theft protection.

Employee at C-W Agencies and Wawa Convenience Breach Customers Data

C-W Agencies
Nick Belmonte is under investigation for the alleged theft of a computer backup tape. It is thought that one of three tapes was missing after Belmonte left his job. This information is said to be encrypted, but it is believed that programs to decrypt the data are on the tapes themselves.

According to the CEO of C-W Agencies, Brian Page, Belmonte had a sordid past with the computer. He was known as being somewhat untrustworthy with company credit cards and never showed regular attendance at work. Belmonte had ordered a network administrator to bring three back-up tapes to his office so that he could make copies, and the following day, Belmonte emailed in to work stating he was on stress leave. This brought up a red flag for the company, and an investigation ensued.

The information of over 3 million company customers, which includes credit card and bank account data, is at risk. It is thought that this information could be worth more than $10 million. Since this data tape has gone missing, the locks to the computer rooms have been changed and extra precautions are being taken when it comes to company information. If you are one of the unfortunate people notified about this breach it is highly advised you enroll with an identity theft protection service.

WAWA CONVENIENCE STORE
Some customers that purchased gas at the Wawa gas station are being notified by police of a possible risk to their credit scores.

Tony Tucker, 27, an attendant at the gas station, has been arrested after allegedly scanning credit cards with a device in order to use the personal information to commit fraud with the credit card numbers. Tucker was charged with identity theft, and his bail is set at $30,000. The investigation began when another employee found the scanner in a coat pocket, and notified authorities.

It is unknown how long the attendant had been using the scanner, but police are using the information in the scanner to contact possible victims.

Internal Errors May Lead to Identity Theft

Identity theft can occur from so many different sources and one source which is talked about too little is employee or company unintentional errors. Here are some recent examples of how internal errors can lead to identity theft for the unfortunate few involved.

For the second time in two years, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation accidentally posted sensitive information of over a quarter million Florida residents on an accessible webpage. This information was obtainable for most of the month of October.

It is unknown weather any information has been used for identity theft. An employee of the organization Googled his own name and noticed the information. He immediately contacted the agency, who was unaware this information was available to the public.

The information contained on the website included Social Security numbers and personal information of Floridians seeking the services of the agency’s One-Stop Career Centers from 2002 to 2007.

A letter was sent to everyone whose information was posted on the website, and the company is directing them to www.nationalidwatch.org to allow them to search for their names and find if their information had been exposed. It may be better to assume your information was compromised and use a credit monitoring service to monitor your credit report daily so you are immediately notified of any changes.

Those who have found that their information was exposed should strongly consider an identity theft protection service as their means to prevent identity theft from occurring as a result of the breach.

Here is another example of a small breach. Weeks after reporting theft of a laptop from their department, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is reporting yet another mishap made by their agency.

A file cabinet from the Caswell Development Center, a center for people with mental retardation, was sold to a buyer as surplus. Inside this file cabinet were over 55 client files. These were records dated from 1989 to 1994, and none of the clients were still at the clinic. Most files included personal information, one with a client Medicaid number.

The organization is doing their best to contact those affected. It is not known if any information was taken or reviewed by the buyer himself.

Stolen Laptops Increase Risk of Identity Theft

Stolen laptops continue to be a main source of data breaches. Laptop computers are increasingly creating a liability risk with regards to identity theft for companies who allow employees or contractors to have personal and private information of others stored on their laptop and used outside of the work premises. Progress has been slow on this front as data is rarely encrypted on laptops, many are not password protected and if they are can easily be hacked and many companies still don’t have policies in place to deal with this issue. Of course, identity thieves still continue to break into businesses to steal laptops or other computers but usually in these situations there is no carelessness or negligence especially when the data is encrypted.

Here are some recent data breaches that highlight the theft of laptops containing personal information. By recognizing the issue and the extent of the problem it creates regarding identity theft we may be able to effectively deal with it and provide solutions.

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Mid November, the Department of Information Technology (of Maryland) was informed of the loss of two laptop computers. These laptops were stored in secure offices and were stolen from the locations. Currently, the Department of General Services Police are investigating the theft.

One laptop is thought to contain the names and Social Security numbers of over 1300 past employees of the Maryland Department of Environment. Currently, the Department of Information Technology is hardening their policies to protect the organization from further damage to their security.

HEWLETT-PACKARD
In October of 2008, a laptop was stolen in Houston from an HP employee. It was believed initially that there was no personal data on the laptop, but after some research into back-up files, the company realized that the laptop contained information such as Social Security numbers of current and former employees. Since they were unsure of the information on the laptop, they did not notify authorities immediately as they did not know the private data was on the machine.

HP is notifying it’s employees, both past and present, to be aware of the security breach, even though it is understood that the laptop was password protected.

It is said that “several thousand” employees will be affected by this data breach. They are encouraged to keep a close eye on their credit information for any possible identity theft arising from this situation. You can do this by checking your credit report or signing up with a credit monitoring service.

OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
While in Chicago, a hospital employee had a work laptop stolen from his hotel room.
Officials said that they are unsure what information is on the laptop, but can confirm that it did not include Social Security numbers or medical diagnoses or treatments. It is thought that about 900 patient names, telephone numbers, and birth dates may be on the laptop’s hard drive.

This information is password protected, so the hospital is not worried about the information being used for identity theft, but they are “taking all precautions and steps to protect those who may be affected”. It is unclear how.

So what do you do if your personal information was exposed by a stolen laptop?
First of all you have to assess the risk. What information was compromised? Was it password protected? Was it encrypted? In doing so review all company literature on the data breach but read it with a grain of salt. It is best to assess the risk yourself.

Second, enroll with one of the many credit protection services or implement your own identity theft protection plan. There are many different options from fraud alerts to credit monitoring or freezes and we will go over these options in the coming months so please check back regularly.

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