According to reports out today, MCI may have lost 16,500 names and Social
Security numbers belonging to current and former employees.
The data loss, according to a Wall Street Journal report, occurred when an
employee’s laptop containing the data was stolen from inside a vehicle
parked in a garage. MCI did not elaborate in the report
on whether or not the data was encrypted, though a spokesperson told the
paper that the laptop was password-protected.
MCI has reportedly notified the individuals whose information
was on the stolen laptop, and there has not been any indication that the
data has resulted in identity theft crimes.
An MCI spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Data loss and the obvious need to properly protect and
encrypt personally identifiable data is an important issue that was recently discussed on Capitol Hill.
Security breaches and other mishaps leading to data loss have garnered a
good number of headlines and headaches over the past year. At the beginning
of this month Time Warner reported it lost the data of up to 600,000 current
and former employees.