Mobile storage device stolen from Kirkwood Community College in Iowa
A stolen mobile storage device belonging to Kirkwood Community College in Iowa was retrieved, but school officials cannot determine whether sensitive information was copied from it.How many victims? 1,600.
What type of personal information? Names and Social Security numbers for certain individuals in Iowa’s welfare-reform program, PROMISE JOBS.
What happened? The device was stolen by a visitor to the school’s employment office on June 4. A school employee quickly recognized it was missing and notified police and the device was returned less than three hours later.
James Lee Mumford, 23, of Coralville, Iowa was charged with fifth-degree theft for the crime.
Details: The police investigation is underway but a computer expert could not determine whether the information on the data storage device had been copied off it.
What was the response? The college is providing affected individuals with free credit monitoring for a year. In addition, Kirkwood has banned the use of any portable data storage devices in its skills to employment division and is conducting training sessions on data security, the school told The Gazette.
Source: Gazetteonline.com, The Gazette, “Kirkwood offers free credit monitoring to 1,600 after storage device stolen,” June 12, 2009.
