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<b>Online Exclusive:</b> U.S. Transportation Department Loses Two Laptops
Twice in one week, the U.S. Department of Transportation ('DOT') disclosed that one of its employees in Florida had a laptop with confidential information stolen.
The first situation that was announced, which is considered more serious, involved the theft of a special agent's laptop from his car. The laptop contained names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and addresses of about 133,000 Florida residents. The information was unencrypted, and the theft occurred in July. DOT is offering a $10,000 reward for return of the laptop.
Specifically, the laptop contained personally identifying information about 86,000 commercial driver's license holders in the Miami area, 40,000 licensed pilots in Florida, and 9500 personal and commercial license holders in the Tampa area.
According to news accounts, which DOT would not confirm, the special agent was using the laptop to work at home. The agent did not obtain encryption software that DOT installed on its desktop computers and made available to all agency-issued laptops.
In the second situation, the laptop belonging to an agent in Miami was stolen from a locked room ' ironically, during an anti-fraud conference in Orlando. 'The police report does indicate that there were case files on the computer,' said acting Deputy Inspector General Theodore P. Alves. 'The police report also indicates that they were not encrypted, although the computer was password-protected.'
The second theft occurred in April, but Alves said that the DOT Office of Inspector General did not learn until early August that the computer possibly contained case files. Previously, supervisors had been told only that it contained non-personal information.
Twice in one week, the U.S. Department of Transportation ('DOT') disclosed that one of its employees in Florida had a laptop with confidential information stolen.
The first situation that was announced, which is considered more serious, involved the theft of a special agent's laptop from his car. The laptop contained names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and addresses of about 133,000 Florida residents. The information was unencrypted, and the theft occurred in July. DOT is offering a $10,000 reward for return of the laptop.
Specifically, the laptop contained personally identifying information about 86,000 commercial driver's license holders in the Miami area, 40,000 licensed pilots in Florida, and 9500 personal and commercial license holders in the Tampa area.
According to news accounts, which DOT would not confirm, the special agent was using the laptop to work at home. The agent did not obtain encryption software that DOT installed on its desktop computers and made available to all agency-issued laptops.
In the second situation, the laptop belonging to an agent in Miami was stolen from a locked room ' ironically, during an anti-fraud conference in Orlando. 'The police report does indicate that there were case files on the computer,' said acting Deputy Inspector General Theodore P. Alves. 'The police report also indicates that they were not encrypted, although the computer was password-protected.'
The second theft occurred in April, but Alves said that the DOT Office of Inspector General did not learn until early August that the computer possibly contained case files. Previously, supervisors had been told only that it contained non-personal information.
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