http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstory/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0741_BC_ComputerSecurity&&news&newsflash-topstory By CHARLES WOLFE The Associated Press 2/6/03 5:34 PM FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- A state computer put up for sale as surplus contained confidential files naming thousands of people with AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, the state auditor said Thursday. "This is significant data. It's a lot of information with lots of names and things like (the numbers of) sexual partners of those who are diagnosed with AIDS," Auditor Ed Hatchett said. "It's a terrible security breach." The computer, which had been awaiting sale at the state's surplus-property office, never left state custody, Hatchett said. It was one of eight computers the auditor's office had randomly selected from a consignment that was being offered to state agencies and nonprofit groups. Hatchett's office, which routinely conducts such checks, paid $25 each for the computers, which would have been offered to the public if they had gone unsold. Health Services Secretary Marcia Morgan said the computer, used from 1995 to 1999, came from an agency she oversees involved with counseling on sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Morgan said the computer's hard drive was thought to have been wiped clean when it was shipped off for sale late last year. She has ordered an internal investigation into the breach. B.J. Bellamy, the auditor's chief information officer, said the hard drive appeared to contain several thousand individual files. Sex partners of the individuals are counted but not named, he said. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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