Coke Suffers Breach After Employee ‘Borrows’ 55 Retired Laptops
Coca-Cola announced it recovered 55 previously stolen laptops taken over a six year period by an employee responsible for the disposal of the equipment. The breach affected 70,000 current and former North American employees.
— Wall Street Journal
TRICARE Hit with $4.9 Billion Suit Following Breach
Following the loss of a backup data tape, TRICARE is hit with a $4.9 billion lawsuit. The suit alleges that TRICARE and its subcontractor SAIC have been negligent. They failed to respond to “recurring, systemic, and fundamental deficiencies in its information security.”
— Health Data Management
Theft of Hard Drives Costs BlueCross $17 Million
Initially assumed to be a glitch in some soon-to-be-discarded computer equipment, the theft of 57 hard drives has already cost BlueCross $17 million, plus $1.5 million penalty.
— BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
Vendor loses data tapes, costs hospital $750k
South Shore Hospital pays a hefty $750K because failed to protect patient information. Outsourcing is not equal to managing.
— InformationWeek
Hospital Employee Stole Surplus Computers
An employee of OhioHealth stole computers from an inventory storage facility that contained patient health information. The employee tried to clean the hard drives and resell them at local computer store.
— The Columbus Dispatch
Employee steals 10 laptops, sells to several pawn shops
Police in New Jersey arrest employee of Nutley Board of Education for stealing at least 10 laptops and 2 desktops. Computers were recovered from several area pawn shops.
— NORTHJERSEY.COM
Copy Machines Retain Secrets on Their Hard Drives
CBS News revealed that most copy machines built since 2002 contain hard drives that store an image of documents copied, scanned or e-mailed. Their investigation also revealed how retired copiers are prime target for for hackers and identity thieves to exploit.
— CBS News
Confidential Lockheed Martin Data Bought on Used Computer
Highly sensitive details of a key US missile defense system have been found on the hard drive of a computer that was disposed of in California.
— Guardian News and Media
New Jersey Employee Pleads Guilty in Computer Disposal Corruption Scheme
New Jersey state employee pleaded guilty to official misconduct for his role in a scheme in which he and co-workers stole and sold computer equipment. Officials obtained information that the employee was taking illegal payments from a recycling company in return for helping the company to secure more valuable equipment in auctions of surplus state computer equipment.
— newjerseynewsroom.com
Recycler connected to Anonymous is charged in hacking ring
Employee at computer recycler is connected to Anonymous, charged in hacking ring. The employee, responsible for testing retired computers, is charged with two counts of computer intrusion.
— Toledo Blade
Chain-of-Custody Does Not Matter…It’s the Process, Stupid!
What has more value, an armored bank truck, or a van delivering old computers to a disposal vendor? An armored truck may hold millions of dollars. An old computer on the other hand, if lost, may mean millions in liability.
— The ITAM Review
City’s Computer Disposal Program Might Pose Data-Theft Risks
City could be placing sensitive data in danger of theft when it retires old computers. Technicians keep no record of what they have taken out of service and sent for destruction.
— The Columbus Dispatch
Homeland Security Employee Caught Stealing Laptops
An FBI investigation catches an employee with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security stealing and selling two laptops to an undercover agent in Nashville.
— Nashvillecitypaper.com
Recycled Government Computers Found in Ghana
Obsolete government computers had been sent to recycler, then resold to another company for re-use. A spokeswoman said that they were trying to find out the name of the company, but added: “Where it goes once it’s in their hands is nothing to do with us.”
— Times Newspapers
Reporters Find Northrop Grumman Data in African Marketplace
A team of journalists investigating the global electronic waste business bought a computer hard drive containing sensitive documents belonging to Northrop Grumman. The company had hired an outside vendor to dispose of the PC, but is not sure how the drive ended up in a Ghana market.
— PC World
Dumping Allegations Made After Electronics Recycling Event
Humane Society and Make-A-Wish Foundation deal with negative public relations after their electronics recycler is exposed by an environmental group for dumping e-waste in Vietnam.
— WTAE Channel 4 Action News
Analysis – Data Disposal Methods Found Wanting
The Cayman Islands government deserves credit for publishing a very informative analysis. A 39–page report titled ‘The Appropriate Disposal of Electronic Data Storage Containers’ is worth a read. It revealed exactly where how computers containing sensitive information could have easily wound up in the wrong hands. The reports findings should serve as lessons learned for any organization concerned about ITAD data security.
— Cayman Free Press
Florida City Rejects Recycler’s Excuses
Hats off to Jacksonville! goes back to drawing board over e-waste. With no assurance Jacksonville’s discarded electronics would be handled earth-friendly, the city now seeks a new recycler. The city’s lawyers want to be sure Jacksonville’s waste isn’t part of a global trade that ships electronics overseas.
— The Florida Times-Union
ITAD Aficionado blog!
This is a collection of comments, rants, musings, and links to articles that will interest anyone serious about ITAD.
The views expressed are opinions of individuals and not necessarily those of Retire-IT (unless they make a lot of sense, and then we would like to take some credit).
