[ISN] Ernst & Young loses four more laptops

[InfoSec News]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/26/ey_laptops/

[E&Y may be number two in revenue and employees, but it appears 
to be number one when it comes to losing laptops...  - WK]


By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View
26th February 2006 

Ernst and Young appears set on establishing a laptop loss record in 
February. The accounting giant has lost four more systems, according 
to a report in the Miami Herald.

A group of Ernst and Young auditors toddled off for lunch on Feb. 9, 
leaving their laptops in an office building conference room. According 
to security footage, two men entered the conference room a couple of 
minutes after the Ernst and Young staffers left and walked off with 
four Dell laptops valued at close to $8,000, the paper reported [1].

This theft follows a higher-profile incident in which an Ernst and 
Young employee lost his laptop containing the social security numbers 
and other personal information of customers. One such customer 
happened to be Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy who was told that 
his social security number had been compromised - an incident first 
reported here [2].

The laptop with McNealy's data was stolen from an employee's car, 
according to Ernst and Young.

It's unclear what type of security Ernst and Young had on the four 
laptops pinched in Miami. It maintains that the laptop containing 
McNealy's information was password protected.

Ernst and Young has failed to issue a public statement about these 
breaches despite being a major advocate of transparency in such issues 
in its role as an auditor and corporate advisor. ®

[1] http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/cities_neighborhoods/weston/13947682.htm
[2] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/25/ernst_young_mcnealy/