Equifax employee data stolen

An Equifax laptop containing Social Security numbers and other data on 2,500 employees was stolen in England a few weeks ago. Equifax reported that the employee violated company policy by storing the data on his hard drive. The article doesn’t mention any type of password protection or encryption on the laptop. In a similar case, ING experienced a similar theft when a laptop containing 13,000 employee records was stolen last week.

The data theft incidents highlight the lack of security at many large financial institutions. Banks and credit bureaus may tout their online encryption systems but often overlook the simplest and most common risks. Along with data stored on laptops, companies may also have lax regulations concerning employee access to sensitive records, the disposal of files and the storage of printed records. These small, low-tech loopholes often pose the most danger.

Hopefully these data theft incidents will help companies like Equifax and ING increase their data security measures. There’s nothing like becoming an identity theft victim yourself to increase your awareness of these crimes. 

What do you think about the Equifax data theft? Does your employer do a good job of keeping your records safe? Share your feedback in the comments section below.

Tagged as: credit blog, data breach, data theft, employee records, equifax data theft, file deletion, financial insitutions, identity theft, identity theft victims, ING data theft, laptop data, laptop theft, printed records, security regulations

Emily Peters