Reports: Home Depot, Iron Mountain lose sensitive data on Home Services

Jan

Reports: Home Depot, Iron Mountain lose sensitive data

posted by admin in Home Depot

Both Iron Mountain and Home Depot are dealing with the loss of sensitive data that could expose thousands of people to risk.

In the first incident, a laptop containing the personal information of thousands of Home Depot employees is missing after it was stolen from a Massachusetts workers car, according to a media report published Tuesday.

NewsCenter 5 reports that the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer (NYSE: HD) said it is confident that the personal information was not the thiefs target. The laptop was reportedly stolen from the car of a Massachusetts employee while the car was parked at a residence. Home Depot has not identified the city or town where the theft occured, according to the report.

NewsCenter 5 obtained a statement from Home Depot that said the company has no reason to believe that any personal information was accessed or used improperly. The Home Depot has arranged for credit monitoring services for the affected individuals.

The company is currently deploying encryption technology to all laptops, the statement reads. This matter remains under investigation, and we are cooperating with the authorities.

This latest incident of stolen data is another reminder of the need for improved corporate policy and enforcement when it comes to sensitive information, according to Brian Cleary of Aveksa Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based security software firm.

Cleary recommends businesses invest in security technologies and insist that only certain employees can access sensitive information with a secure Web connection. A read-only policy for sensitive data would assure that the information is not stored on portable devices, like laptops, that are prone to theft, he said.

Unfortunately, laptops are targets, said Cleary. People are going to steal them because they are assumed to have a certain street value.

Separately, Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM), the records storage company headquarted in Boston, said an employee error resulted in the recent loss of hundreds of thousands of student and parent Social Security numbers and financial records from Louisiana.

The information, which is from backup records from the TOPS scholarship program and from Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms, dates back to 1998 and was lost during a truck transport from Port Allen to Baton Rouge, the reports state.

Records from the states START Saving Program for college savings accounts also were affected, including the bank account information of many parents, according to reports, which cite the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance.

Officials said foul play is not suspected and the information is compressed, so special software and equipment is needed to access the records.

The Louisiana state Attorney Generals Office has launched an investigation into the incident.

In January, Framingham, Mass.-based fashion retailer The TJX Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TJX) said its computer systems were compromised and customer data was stolen. The security breach affected 45.7 million customers.