University of Florida laptop stolen with personal data

A computer containing payroll, parking permit and other personal information of more than 8,300 current and former employees and students was stolen last month from an employee's rental car in San Francisco.

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Gainesville Guardian) September 2, 2010 -- A laptop containing the personal information of more than 8,300 current and former employees and students of P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School was stolen last month in San Francisco, California the University of Florida (UF) announced August 31.

The computer contained employee payroll, employee parking permit and student information dating back to 2000. It included names, Social Security numbers, and in some cases, driver's license numbers.

The laptop was stolen July 23 from a P.K. Yonge employee's rental car while she was on vacation in San Francisco, according to a police report.

The files were protected with passwords, but school officials do not know if the information was accessed. UF reported that no credit card information or academic or medical records were on the computer.

In an attempt to safeguard against such incidents in the future, P.K. Yonge is installing encryption software on laptops containing sensitive data.

Officials mailed letters to 841 people this week to notify them about the breach. More letters are expected to be mailed next week once names and addresses are matched with Social Security and driver's license numbers.

School officials do not have contact information for everyone with information on the laptop.

Link: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100902/GUARDIAN/9021021/1002

Source: DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report