More University Data Stolen

Yet another case of data theft or loss at a college or university. While many schools focus on firewalls, closing ports, and limiting what employees can do on the network, they seem to neglect the most common threat to data - lost or stolen laptops or data drives. Also read my earlier posts on data theft:

• More Data Theft - Yikes!
  
• Whole Lotta Breaches Goin' On
  
• Time for a College CPO?
  
• Lost Flash Drive = 15,000 Identities at Risk
  
• Another Example of User Data at Risk
  
• Stolen Laptop = Stolen Data
  
• How Safe is Your Data?
  

Computer With Personal Information of Cornell U. Students and Professors Stolen:

A laptop containing the names and Social Security numbers of some 45,000 Cornell University students and faculty members has been stolen, The Cornell Daily Sun reports. The computer was stolen earlier this month, when a university employee was correcting file-processing transmission errors and left the computer unattended. In a press release, the university said it will offer a year’s worth of free credit reports, credit monitoring, and identity-theft protection to anyone affected. On a separate Web page, the university said it would not provide any additional information on the theft, as local police are investigating the incident.