[Dataloss] Child support data may be at risk

[Dissent]

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-idtheft30mar30,1,5712063.story?coll=la-headlines-technology

In the weeks after three laptops went missing from a Los Angeles 
County Child Support Services office, officials sent letters to 
243,000 clients in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, 
warning that their personal information ­ including Social Security 
numbers ­ might be at risk.

The computers were stored at the secured Child Support Services 
Department headquarters in the City of Commerce but went missing 
sometime during the weekend of Feb. 24, officials said. One of the 
laptops, which sat in a docking station on an employee's desk, was 
ordinarily used by a staffer to access client data in the 
department's regional computer system.

The agency locates divorced parents who are delinquent in providing 
financial support to their children. It also establishes paternity 
and collects and distributes child support payments to families.

An investigation by child support officials found that the missing 
computers probably contained fewer than 1,000 records. But the 
department notified all 243,000 people potentially affected by the 
breach so they could take precautions to protect their private information.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating the 
incident as an apparent theft.

"We really had questions about whether we should send the letter, to 
be honest," said department director Philip Browning. "The likelihood 
of somebody being able to use that information for identity theft is 
so remote, it seems like an abundance of caution."

The potentially compromised last names and Social Security numbers of 
an estimated 275 Los Angeles County child support clients, plus 600 
from Orange and San Diego counties, were the most serious concerns, 
Browning said.

Of the 243,000, about 130,500 Social Security numbers ­ most without 
names attached ­ could be compromised, said Al Brusewitz, the 
county's chief information security officer. About 12,000 
individuals' names and addresses could be made available, and more 
than 101,000 child support case numbers could be affected.

Agency officials stressed that sensitive information is almost always 
saved to the department server rather than on computer hard drives.

"There is a very strong possibility that there was no personal 
information of any of our paid participants in the laptops," said 
department special assistant Lisa Garrett.

[...]

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