If the idea that separate breaches of security, by either outright theft or network intrusion, led to over eight million records being exposed shocks you, you are not alone. San Diego based Identity Theft Resource Center tracked over one hundred information disclosure cases alone in the first part of 2008, resulting in the heart stopping figure.
(Img: J. Anderson)8 million plus records were otherwise disclosed, or outright lost during the first three months of 2008
On the ITRC’s report, Hannaford came out on top with 4.2 million records exposed. Also on the list are Advance Auto Parts, Compass Bank, Iron Mountain, and Davidson Companies, totaling a combined 1.9 million records.
The ITRC said that this is not a new problem; the disclosures made by the companies recently are mostly the result of pressure or new laws. “Our sense is that two things are happening - the criminal population is stealing more data from companies AND that we are hearing more about the breaches. ITRC has been tracking breaches since 2001. One thing we absolutely can say is that this is NOT a new problem.”
Sometimes data exposure contains two elements that qualify it as a severe risk. The first is theft, where a laptop was stolen, or portable drive with private documents or information. The second is intrusion where attackers use Malware (as was the case in the Hannaford incident) or cracking techniques to circumvent network security.
Mishandling of information, policy breakdown, human intervention, or no real security can all lead to the type of “personal information disclosure” you see in the news lately. The report issued by the ITRC shows that most of the incidents were the result of lost or stolen laptops, hard drives or thumb drives. In addition, insider access and the inadvertent posting of sensitive data to a Web site or through e-mail also were cited frequently throughout the report.
View the report and the totals here:http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/lib_survey/ITRC_2008_Breach_List.shtml
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