A laptop containing personal information on more than half amillion New York state workers has been found after it disappeared from the offices of a third-partydata management company.
In a statement the company — Chicago-based CS Stars — said thelaptop belonging to the New York Special Funds ConservationCommittee “has been found and secured.”
Al Modugno, a spokesman for CS Stars, said he was notified ofthe laptop’s recovery, though he would not comment further onwhether it had been lost or stolen, adding that the incident isstill being probed by law enforcement authorities.
“That’s part of what the FBI is still investigating,” Modugnosaid. “I can’t really give you any more detail on that.”
Modugno said the FBI told CS Stars that the agency is reasonablycertain that there was no improper use of any of the data stored onthe laptop.
The FBI has the laptop and is still analyzing it, he said.
The laptop contains the names, addresses and Social Securitynumbers of about 540,000 state employees.
The New York Special Funds Conservation Committee is anon-profit organization that deals with special funds related tothe New York State Worker’s Compensation Board.
John Sullivan, a spokesman for the board, said his agency hadbeen notified that the laptop was found.
CS Stars mailed letters to the 540,000 people whose data mighthave been affected by the incident, according to the company.
Each of the affected workers was offered credit monitoringservices for 12 months and US$25,000 in identity theft insurance,Modugno said.
The delay between the disappearance of the laptop and themailing of the letters occurred because the CS Stars employee whodetermined that the laptop was missing didn’t report it to hiscompany, Modugno said.
An internal investigation verified that the machine was missing,then the state agency was notified of the problem, he said.
