Credit Monitoring Service Offered by Educational Testing Service after Laptop Stolen

Over a month later, Educational Testing Services (ETS) in Maryland finally notified the attorney general of a missing laptop containing personal information of several of it’s clients.

The laptop was stolen, and it’s hard drive contained names and social security numbers collected by the company. After the laptop was reported missing the next day, the IT department loaded the hard drive backup to find out what information was at risk.

If you were contacted by letter, that your name and social security number were on the laptop’s hard drive then you are at risk for identity theft. ETS has supplied those clients with information to sign up with Experian’s Triple Advantage Premium credit monitoring service to allow them to catch suspicious and fraudulent use of their information.

Credit Protection Advised as Credit Card Data Stolen from Honeybaked Ham

An Indianapolis HoneyBaked Ham store located at 65th Street and Keystone Avenue was a victim of theft on Christmas Eve. After hours, someone broke in and stole a computer server that stored credit-card information of their customers. It is unknown how many customers have their information at risk, but the company urges all customers that have used a credit card or debit card at this location to contact their credit card companies and alert them of the situation. We would recommend closing those accounts and opening new ones.

The information stored on the computer server did not include names or addresses, so the company is unable to contact all the customers directly to notify them of the situation. Please inform anyone who shopped here that their private information may have been exposed and refer them here to learn more about credit protection.

Indiana Department of Administration Briefly Exposes Employees Information Online

Almost 9,000 social security numbers of current and former state employees of the Indiana Department of Administration were exposed online for approximately two hours.

A department employee noticed the files, and immediately notified officials. By the time the information was pulled, four companies had had access to the files.

The Indiana Department of Administration obtained sworn affidavits for three of the companies, and have subpoenaed an internet service provider to access the information of the fourth entity that accessed the files.

A similar incident happened in May of 2007 when Social Security numbers of women of minority-owned businesses were posted on the department’s web site. According to the department they are doing everything they can to keep data safer and more protected from data breaches.

As the data breach was brief, identity theft is less likely but employees should still consider enrolling in a credit monitoring service to keep an eye for fraudulent transactions on their credit report.

Closed Circuit City Store Dumps Personal Information in Trash

A week after the Coweta County, Georgia Circuit City closed its doors to the public, previous employees found documents containing personal information that could lead to identity theft back by the dumpster. It is unknown if the information was of its customers or its employees, or perhaps both. Authorities were notified of the information behind the store and they plan to take the documents they have found and have them shred. At this point, authorities are unsure if anyone else saw the documents behind the closed store.

Circuit City is not releasing any further information, at least not yet. Employees or customers of this store may want to take the precautionary measure of a credit report monitoring service to ensure the no illegal transactions are occurring on their credit report.

Credit Monitoring Encouraged by SRA International After Data Breach

Maryland company SRA International, Inc.’s information technology services department recently discovered a virus on the company’s network. It is believed that this virus may have allowed one to compromise the data on their systems, which include the personnel data of current and former employees, such as names, contact information, health information and social security numbers.

At this point, the company is investigating the source of the virus and the information technology service team is working on removing the virus and increasing security on their systems. It does not appear as though any of the information has been misused, but SRA International, Inc. is contacting former and current employees to notify them of the possible security breach. They encourage those affected to monitor their credit for fraudulent or suspicious activity. You can compare credit monitoring services here.

Citi Habitats Leaves Clients Personal Information Blowing in the Wind

Citi Habitats, a real estate firm in New York, is currently under speculation after a lady living in the Upper West Side of NY found blocks and blocks of personal information scattered on the ground on her way to work.

Papers including copies of 401k statements, income reports, social security numbers, tax returns, and other personal information. This information, if in the wrong hands, could lead to some serious identity theft.

Clients of the company are appalled at how their information was handled. These papers, due to the sensitive information they contain, should have been shredded and not just thrown away. The company believes that during the reconstruction of one of their offices, the papers were mistakenly trashed instead of shredded as they should have been.

The company sent employees out to clean up the mess, but even hours later, there were still pieces of paper found blocks away from the initial scattered site. It is unknown if all papers were found but this seems unlikely.

At this point, it is unknown how many were affected by this irresponsible handling of personal data. Previous clients of Citi Habitats should take steps to protect their identity immediately either themselves or through an identity protection company.

Personal Information Exposed By Military in Two Seperate Breaches

Yes, it’s true, even the miliatry exposes the personal information of soldiers and other personal. Here are two recent examples of offshore data breaches that could result in identity theft.

US Department of Defense MP3 Data Breach

Imagine buying an MP3 player at the thrift store, only to find on the drive numerous files from the military containing sensitive information.

This is what happened to one New Zealand man. After purchasing the MP3 player, he plugged it into his computer and found over 60 files holding the personal data of American Soldiers, including social security numbers, employment information and other information that could be used against the US if in the wrong hands, including mission briefings.

Even though the information appears to be old, dating back to around 2005, some of the phone numbers are still in use and if the information got into the wrong hands, could be devastating to those involved. It is unknown how many records are at risk.

Chris Ogle, the 29-year-old who purchased the MP3 player, said he would be happy to turn it over to US officials when requested.

United States State Department – US Consulate

After purchasing a file cabinet at an auction in Jerusalem, one Israeli lady found hundreds of files stored inside, containing bank account information, social security numbers, and other sensitive information belonging to the United States Marine Corps and containing information on them as well as State Department employees stationed in Israel.

At first United States Officials denied that any file cabinets were sold in auction, but later they reneged and acknowledged the sale. The CIA is investigating this security failure, and it is unknown at this time exactly how many people’s personal information was included in this file cabinet.

Though it seems that in both cases the sensitive information landed in the hands of honest people it is unclear if anyone else had temporary hold of it. It is strongly advised for those informed that their private information was exposed to buy identity theft protection.

Heartland Payment Systems Compromises Millions of Debit and Credit Cards

Unless you use cash for all of your purchases, you may be at risk from a large security hack at one of the largest credit card processors. Heartland Payment Systems data breach may be the first breach to expose over 100 million Americans.

Heartland Payment Systems, considered the fifth largest payment processing company, found “malicious software” on their systems that have compromised data in their systems. This company, based in Princeton, New Jersey, processes Visa and MasterCard transactions.

The president and CFO of Heartland Payment Systems, Robert H.B. Baldwin Jr., said during an interview that the breach did not involve “merchant data, cardholders’ Social Security numbers, unencrypted personal identification numbers, addresses or telephone numbers.” Debit and credit card numbers were exposed. Baldwin went on to state “We understand that this incident may be the result of a widespread global cyber fraud operation, and we are cooperating closely with the United States Secret Service and Department of Justice.”

At this time, authorities are working with the company to investigate the source of the security breach, and in the meantime, Heartland Payment Systems is upping its’ security levels to ensure a situation like this does not happen again. Affected individuals should cancel existing debit and credit cards and replace them with new ones. Enrolling in a credit protection service is also a great idea.

Flu Shot at Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Causes Concern for Identity Theft

If you are one of 11,000 people who received a flu shot from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department last fall, it’s time to take a look at your credit report.

Jameelah Jossiah, 24, a former employee of the billing department had stolen names, social security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information from the health department in West Virgina. He was charged with computer fraud after trying to make a large purchase at the South Charleston Wal-Mart with one of the stolen card numbers. After a search of his home, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department found handwritten lists of personal information on other flu-shot recipients.

Even though all 11,000 flu-shot recipients were not on these lists, they don’t want to take any chances. Letters have gone out notifying all those who may have been affected. In the meantime, Jossiah was arrested and released on a $10,000 bond.

Due to the nature of the information involved it is highly recommended that all those affected consider a credit protection service to protect their good names and credit. Identity thieves routinely buy and sell this type of private information over illegal black market internet sites.

Express EMS Services Garbage Can Result in Identity Theft

In Houston, Texas, an EMS service had thrown away important paperwork with sensitive, personal information in a dumpster behind a dollar store. This information was discovered by a dumpster diver, and he notified the local news station regarding his find.

Included in this paperwork were medicare and social security numbers–information that can easily be utilized to commit identity theft.

The company, Express EMS Services, was an ambulance company that was in business until sometime in 2006. They are no longer at the listed location or any other contact addresses, and it’s phone has since been disconnected.

It is unknown how many are affected by this lack of security on the company’s behalf. It is advised, though, that if you had ever used the ambulance service in the past, that you sign up for credit monitoring and/or flag your accounts with fraud alerts, paying special attention to your credit reports for the next several months. Fraud Alerts can also be placed by companies like LifeLock, TrustedID and Debix who also have other services including insurance or a guarantee.

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