14 DAY TRIAL // A health care company alerted the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office that three backup tapes containing unencrypted personal details of 350 of their members were lost during a UPS transport.
According to the letter sent by the organization to the justice department, ValueOptions (VOI) realized that the package went missing on August 1, 2011. After their internal investigation failed to shed any light in the case of the missing box, they turned to specialized help.
“Upon learning the scope of the data on the tapes, VOI engaged the services of outside counsel Alan Gnessin, who engaged Kroll Solutions to assist in the search for the missing tapes. Kroll's staff includes investigators experienced in such 'missing package' situations,” read the letter.
After the investigators came up empty handed, UPS began their search which also came up with no results.
The 350 individuals affected by this data leak are now exposed to identity theft since the information on the backup tapes consisted of names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers.
While no medical records were contained on the storage units and there's no suspicion that the information was misused in any illegal activities, the company will offer those involved a year of free credit monitoring services.
However, DataBreaches highlights an interesting part of the letter where the organization mentions the exact make and model of the tapes and the devices that are required to access the data on the units.
Even though they claim that the server model is “considered obsolete” and no longer supported by the manufacturer, this doesn't mean that no such devices exist. If the tapes were stolen and the crook read their letter, then he might have hit the jackpot since 350 social security numbers can worth something on the black market.
The company tried to manage the situation as best as possible but the final part is a major no-no.