Employers rushing to stem data theft tide

Employees face consequences
On June 2, grocery retailer Royal Ahold NV said contractor Electronic Data Systems Corp. lost a laptop with personal information on an undisclosed number of retirees and former workers of Ahold companies, including grocery chains Stop & Shop and Giant Food.

The EDS worker was asked to check the laptop on a flight because the plane's storage bins were full, according to EDS spokesman Kevin Lightfoot. When the flight arrived, the laptop never reappeared. The employee was disciplined for violating company policy by checking the computer as luggage, Lightfoot said.

Since the incident, EDS has reminded its employees about rules on handling laptops.

"You have to work with your employees to make sure this information is protected," Lightfoot said.

In January, Ameriprise Financial, an investment advisory company, said the internal account identification numbers of 158,000 clients were lost when a laptop was stolen from an employee's car. The employee was supposed to have encrypted the data, which was on two files, but had not, according to Ameriprise spokesman Steven Connolly. The worker was fired.

The VA plans to recall every laptop to make sure the security programs are up to date. The data on the laptop taken from the suburban Washington home were in a form difficult for an outsider to use, and authorities believe thieves may have erased the information before selling the hardware.

But that doesn't satisfy August Woerner, an 80-year-old World War II veteran from Westerly, R.I. He received a letter from the VA saying his data may be on the laptop because of a claim he filed several years ago at a VA medical center.

Woerner takes every precaution he can to shield personal information — he checks his credit rating online regularly, shreds financial documents and monitors the balance of his credit card nearly every day. Despite his diligence, he is convinced someone will steal his identity soon.

"I do the best I can, but I can't very well fight this theft," said Woerner. "That data should not be readily available by someone simply walking it out of a building."

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