It seems totally bizarre to us that some of the most sensitive data on earth quite often is carried around on standard laptops that could be easily lost or stolen.
Make no mistake ― this happens more than most of us realize. Don’t be under the naive illusion that sensitive data about each and every one of us is safely under lock and key at all times ― or, at least, behind firewalls and passwords. It just isn’t.
So, we’ve gathered for you of the most embarrassing ― and sobering, perhaps ― laptop losses of all time. It’s not so much how the laptop was stolen or lost that’s embarrassing, but rather what data was stored on said computers that elevates these stories. Should that data find its way into the wrong hands … well, we don’t want to posit what could happen then.
Truth, as they say, is indeed stranger than fiction. If you made this stuff up, people would tell you it just wasn’t believable
1. Royal Navy
Imagine if you lost detailed information on everyone who had applied to join the armed forces over the past 10 years. What if other information was included in the database, such as the passport numbers, medical histories, national insurance numbers and bank details of more than 3,500 people?
Then, suppose the data wasn’t even encrypted ― meaning, of course, that anyone who found this laptop wouldn’t have to work very hard to get to it.
You might feel pretty embarrassed, we imagine.
The way to avoid this might be to not leave a laptop in the back of your car. That’s what happened Jan. 9, 2008, in Birmingham, U.K., when a Royal Navy Officer left the laptop in his car and it was promptly stolen.
The Ministry Of Defence has been rather cagey about the details of the theft and tried to keep the story under wraps. Too bad for them, it was leaked to an unmerciful public, prompting the MOD to issue a statement saying they were treating the theft “with the utmost seriousness.”
We should hope so.
2. Daily Mail
Whenever the government slips up, loses data and embarrasses themselves, the Daily Mail wastes no time in splashing the details of the security breaches across its pages – online and in print – pointing out how the government is not paying adequate attention to security matters.
In fact, the Daily Mail is scathingly blunt with its condemnation what it cites as the government putting its citizens’ security at risk.
So imagine how embarrassing it was in 2008 for the Daily Mail when editors had to admit that one of their own laptops had been stolen. And that said laptop contained personal information on thousands of members of the news organization’s staff and freelancers, including their bank account numbers and sort codes in addition to the more standard names and addresses.
It would be funny if it didn’t put so many people’s financial security at risk. The Daily Mail reported the theft to police and apologized to all concerned, but that’s small consolation for those at risk due to the Daily Mail’s lack of attention to security.
3. Special Air Service Details
Anyone who knows anything about the British SAS ― Special Air Service ― knows it is shrouded in secrecy. The SAS is a specialist regiment of highly skilled soldiers trained in commando techniques. The soldiers generally are used in secret operations, quite often against terrorist groups.
So imagine their embarrassment when, in April, a laptop containing the names of SAS officers along with details of their top-secret training exercises (including counter-terrorism manoeuvres) was stolen.
Did we mention the data was not encrypted? Or that the laptop’s loss was not discovered until a routine audit? In other words, no one is quite sure when or how it went missing.
The Shadow Defence Secretary said “any loss of data of this nature is deeply concerning.” As they say on the Internet, “orly?”
4. Duchess of York
While the security level of this loss might not be quite so serious, it’s still rather embarrassing.
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York had her own laptop stolen in 2008. The computer had actually been taken to a photographic studio in order to download personal photographs of the Duchess, her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, when it was stolen. Imagine how much those photographs would fetch on the market?
But what else was on Fergie’s laptop? If it’s anything like the average laptop, there might be juicy e-mails, personal writings and other files that might compromise the safety or privacy of members of the Royal family.
Well, at least she knows where it was stolen from and when.
5. VeriSign
In July 2007 a laptop containing personal information on VeriSign employees was stolen from an employee’s car.
Yes, another theft from a car. Do you leave your laptop in your car? We certainly don’t.
The VeriSign computer contained employees names and addresses, social security numbers, birthdates, telephone numbers and salaries. For those who don’t know, VeriSign manages the use and sale of dot-com and dot-net domain names and – wait for it ― offers security certification for websites.
VeriSign wrote in its apology letter that the laptop required “a username and password to log on to the Windows application. To our knowledge the thieves do not have the password.”
Well, that’ll stop any seasoned hacker, right? A Windows username and password?
Apparently, the employee concerned has “left” the company. Oh, well, that’ll make everything OK.
6. Liechtenstein Tax Whistleblower
Last year, a former employee at the Liechtenstein bank, which is owned by the Liechtenstein Royal Family, decided to spice up his life.
Heinrich Kieber, a 43-year-old data entry clerk, not only took sensitive information on 1,400 clients from the bank and stored it on discs, he then sold the information to tax authorities in various countries including the U.K., the U.S. and Germany.
His actions sparked a major tax evasion investigation. In the UK alone the Inland Revenue may prosecute more than 300 people in order to reclaim ￡300 million in unpaid taxes as a result of the information handed over by the whistleblower.
However, given the illegal manner in which Kieber obtained the information, he’s now wanted by Interpol for theft and forgery.
Some of the wealthiest people in the world use the Liechtenstein bank because of the bank’s policy on secrecy. At least this time, it wasn’t because someone left the data unencrypted on a laptop in his car.
7. Runaway VA laptop
The final embarrassment on the list is the most famous runaway laptop in the U.S. It’s merely a runaway because it went missing for about two months after being stolen before making an appearance again.
The computer and hard drive was stolen from the home of an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It contained details on no less than 26.5 million veterans and GIs. (Must have had a very large storage capacity, no?)
The employee, of course, was fired for taking the laptop home, though it appears he had permission to do it. Gotta have a scapegoat, right?
The laptop was stolen May 3rd and turned up two months later on the black market only four miles away. The purchaser bought both the laptop and the hard drive off the back of a truck, but when he saw posters advertising a $50,000 reward, he promptly turned them in.
The FBI ran forensic tests on the computer and hard drive and determined the data had not been accessed.
That sound people throughout the D.C. Metropolitan area heard shortly thereafter was a huge sigh of relief.
As for where the computer was during the intervening months? It’s not telling.
