Information Security News: Arrest made in DOT laptop theft

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/42653-1.html

By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff
11/21/06

Law enforcement officials arrested a suspect in the theft of a laptop 
belonging to a Transportation Departments Office of Inspector General in 
the same restaurant parking lot near Miami from which the laptop was 
taken, according to an OIG status report released today.

The laptop taken in July contained sensitive, personally identifiable 
information for 133,000 pilots, commercial truck drivers and individual 
drivers license holders in Florida.

Authorities have not recovered the laptop.

An identity risk management company reviewed the personal data involved 
and found no indication of data misuse, the report said.

Transportation awarded a contract to ID Analytics Inc. of San Diego to 
provide data breach analysis services to determine over time whether the 
personal information of the thousands of license holders is exploited.

The agency has launched an investigation with the Miami-Dade Police 
Department. Investigators found a small theft ring that stole laptops at 
and near the restaurant, loaded new operating systems and then sold the 
computers on the used computer market, primarily to high school 
students, the report said.

An investigation continues in the theft of another Transportation OIG 
laptop in April during a conference in Orlando, Fla. The laptop was 
taken from a secure room at the conference facility.

"No credit fraud has resulted from the theft of either laptop, and based 
on our investigation to date, we believe that the risk of credit fraud 
in the future is very low," the report said.


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