Boeing employee fired after laptop stolen
Company cites breech of policy requiring use of encryption software when sensitive information is downloaded.
Boeing announced last week it fired an employee who it said violated company policy by downloading sensitive information onto a laptop without using encryption technology. Boeing took the action after learning the laptop, which contained personal information about 382,000 Boeing employees and retirees, had been stolen from a car. The theft of the laptop put those whose information was on the machine at risk for identity theft.
The theft marked the third time in roughly a year in which a laptop containing sensitive personal information about Boeing employees and other individuals was stolen. A laptop stolen in April contained personal information on about 3,600 people, and one stolen in late 2005 contained information on 161,000.