http://charlotte.com/123/story/83747.html By Rick Rothacker rrothacker (at) charlotteobserver.com April 13, 2007 A stolen Bank of America Corp. laptop has resulted in lost personal information of current, former and retired employees, according to a letter sent this week to those affected. The letter said a "limited" number of people were affected, but the Charlotte bank on Thursday would not provide a number. Employees at various levels of the company were affected, spokesman Scott Silvestri said. The lost data included names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. There is no sign the information has been misused, according to an April 10 letter obtained by the Observer. The bank is offering a free credit monitoring service for two years to those affected. The bank employs more than 203,000 worldwide, including about 15,000 in the Charlotte area. A former employee who received the letter Thursday said he appreciated the warning. "It's not the kind of letter you want to get," said the former employee, who did not want his name used because of the sensitivity of the matter. "But it's nice they let me know." The lost laptop comes amid rising concern about the theft of personal information and its potential misuse. Scammers can use stolen data to open new accounts or tap existing ones. According to the letter, the laptop was stolen when an employee was a "victim of a recent break-in." Silvestri said he could not provide further information because the crime is under investigation. Reports of data breaches are becoming commonplace, especially with new laws that require notification to government officials and sometimes the victims. Last month, N.C. officials said new laws enacted since late 2005 had resulted in the notification of 103 personal-data security breaches in little more than a year. Bank of America's best known breach came in 2005 when it lost data tapes holding customer information for 1.2 million federal employees. Lately, heisted laptops have become a common culprit. In January, the N.C. Department of Revenue said a computer containing files on 30,000 taxpayers was stolen from the car of an employee. Last year, a laptop computer containing the Social Security numbers of 17.5 million veterans was stolen from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs analyst near Washington. In the letter, Bank of America said it was taking steps to "strengthen practices for the handling and storage of associate data to avoid future occurrences." Silvestri said the stolen laptop had "information protection features." If Your Info Was Lost The bank said it has sent letters to all those affected. The notice advises regular reviews of credit reports and account statements over the next two years. __________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org
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