Oops. We thought that was encrypted...
The data on a laptop stolen from a Department of Motor Vehicles office was not encrypted after all.
And the hits just keep coming: The data on a laptop stolen from a Department of Motor Vehicles in North Las Vegas was not encrypted after all, according to an Associated Press report.
That leaves the personal information, including social-security numbers, of 8,900 people in the hands of unknown thieves. Coming after several high-profile data leaks--including ChoicePoint, Bank of America, and LexisNexis--it's disappointing, but smacks of inevitability.
Slowly but surely, we are working our way towards a new balance: Soon, the number of people whose information has been stolen will outnumber the people whose information is safe. Well, let's just call it "yet to be stolen."