[Dataloss] VSC narrows down personal data exposed by laptop theft (fwd)

[lyger]

From: InfoSec News <isn at c4i.org>
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 03:29:37 -0500 (CDT)

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060406/NEWS/604060353/1004/EDUCATION05

By Darren M. Allen
Vermont Press Bureau
April 6, 2006

MONTPELIER - A month after the theft of a laptop computer containing
personal information of thousands of students and employees of the
Vermont State Colleges system, officials are narrowing down the types
of private information that were exposed.

In a system-wide e-mail sent Monday to students, faculty, staff and
alumni of the five state colleges, VSC Chancellor Robert Clarke
emphasized the colleges' assertion that no personal information has
been accessed or compromised from the laptop, which has not been
recovered.

"We have no evidence to date that personal data were actually
retrieved or misused," Clarke said. "The laptop has not been recovered
by law enforcement, so our ongoing information requires working with
staff who may have exchanged e-mails and attachments with teams
including the owner of the stolen laptop."

The concealed laptop was stolen Feb. 28 from the chief information
officer's car while it was parked on the streets of Montreal. The car,
according to Karrin Wilks, the colleges' vice president for academic
and strategic planning, was broken into by someone who also stole a
pair of skis and other visible valuables.

[...]