Laptop Stolen from NTID with Personal Information of Thousands of Us

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Ntid stolen laptop

From the newsroom of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, Sunday, August 31, 2008 .....

Laptop with personal data stolen from National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Justina Wang
Staff writer

A laptop stolen Monday contained the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of about 12,700 applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and another 1,100 people at Rochester Institute of Technology.

RIT officials said they notified the campus community about the incident Saturday in an e-mail message. Letters had been mailed to people directly affected by the incident.

The laptop belonged to an employee and was stolen from an office at NTID, officials said in a media statement.

The laptop contained the personal information of applicants to NTID dating back to 1968. People at RIT who are not affiliated with NTID are affected because their personal information was being used as part of a control group in an internal study, officials said in a separate statement on the school's web site.

"RIT cannot confirm if anyone has accessed this information," the media statement reads. "Currently, we have no indication of any criminal activity regarding the personal information."

A toll-free hotline has been set up for people whose information is at risk. RIT's public safety department and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office are investigating the incident.

"RIT values protecting everyone's confidential information," the media statement says."... We deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this caused the affected individuals."

The hotline — (866) 624-8330, which can be called through a relay service — will be available from Tuesday through Sept. 26. The hotline will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

RIT is also suggesting that people who were affected call the fraud departments of a major credit bureau to place a fraud alert on their credit files. If fraud is found, people should notify police and call RIT Public Safety at (585) 475-2853. The school has compiled answers to frequently asked questions on this incident on its Web site, RIT - Rochester Institute of Technology.

If you are Ntid student, you better buy cable lock for laptop computer.
 
They ought fire that person for losing that laptop.. Why would they be so stupid to carry all these personal data on laptop?? They should leave it on main secured server which can access by laptop via VPN. That way if laptop get stolen or lost, no personal data would be on it.
 
RichardDeaf said:
They ought fire that person for losing that laptop.. Why would they be so stupid to carry all these personal data on laptop?? They should leave it on main secured server which can access by laptop via VPN. That way if laptop get stolen or lost, no personal data would be on it.
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Well as it stated:

The laptop belonged to an employee and was stolen from an office at NTID, officials said in a media statement.
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I'm not to thrilled with hearing that information either. Thanks for bringing it to our attention on this forum.
 
darkage said:
Oh Sh*t, I am alumni of NTID/RIT.

I hope that bad person will format HD then re-install new OS.
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Or he/she will may dig out personal information of appliciants like SSN, birth date, and etc only if the laptop is not supplied with password protection. I hope it will not happen!

Hopefully it will be found and returned to the victim and the thief will be dealt with justice.
 
Yes, I agree with you, and NTID IT dept should be held responsible for this as well.

RichardDeaf said:
They ought fire that person for losing that laptop.. Why would they be so stupid to carry all these personal data on laptop?? They should leave it on main secured server which can access by laptop via VPN. That way if laptop get stolen or lost, no personal data would be on it.
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RIT - University News :shock:

The RIT pages says that there was a laptop stolen from NTID with the names, birth dates and social security numbers of 12700 people who applied to NTID, dating back to 1968 and the 1100 people there now. See the page for advice and a hotline you can call from September 2 to 26 about this.

Why did they keep such stuff on a laptop? It should be on a secure system. :roll:

One of the people who has property to rent wants a credit report for me to move in. At least I got one a few days ago with nothing bad on it to show to them and I could show them the page too.
 
oh well. Expect to get 2000$ cell phone bills from malaysia and miss out on your tax refund checks for the next 20 years.
 
diehardbiker said:
Yes, I agree with you, and NTID IT dept should be held responsible for this as well.
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The IT department should be made accountable. All personal sensitive information is not to be stored on a Laptop or even a thumb drive as a condition of employment.
 
Well... I heard from 2000 thru friends about laptop steal problem then why mostly new students (2001-2008) still bring the laptop without security to RIT in first place?
 
The Highlander said:
Well... I heard from 2000 thru friends about laptop steal problem then why mostly new students (2001-2008) still bring the laptop without security to RIT in first place?
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Was the stolen laptop an office one? Then it's stupid of the office to put such stuff on a laptop that can be carried away. Was it someone at the office deciding to put the information on a personal laptop? Then it's stupid of the person to do that.
 
Laptop with personal information of more than 13,000 people apparently stolen from RI

Laptop with personal information of more than 13,000 people apparently stolen from RIT | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

A recently stolen laptop contained the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of about 12,700 applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and another 1,100 people at Rochester Institute of Technology, RIT officials said this morning in an e-mail message to the campus community.

The laptop belonged to an employee and was stolen on Monday from an office at NTID, officials said in another message on the university Web site. People at RIT, who are not affiliated with NTID, are affected because their personal information was being used as part of a control group in an internal study, officials said.

Letters were mailed to people affected, and a toll-free hotline has been set up. RIT’s public safety department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident. RIT officials said in their message that they don’t know whether the personal information has been accessed.

In the online message, officials said, “We share the concern and frustration that this incident has caused for our community, which is why we established a hotline, launched a thorough investigation, and have issued notifications.”

The hotline — (866) 624-8330, which can be called through a relay service — will be available from Tuesday through Sept. 26. Hotline hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

RIT is also suggesting that people who were affected call the fraud departments of a major credit bureau to place a fraud alert on their credit files. If fraud is found, people should notify police and call RIT Public Safety at (585) 475-2853.
 
Mod's Note:

Two other thread's are merged.
 
Yeah, that's darn very stupid of them putting such sensitive personal information into one laptop unlocked in their office especially including all the enrolls since 1968!

I was a student there for a brief of time before returning back to Gallaudet so obviously, I must make some calls to ensure that my personal info is being put on the alert asap. :mad2:

NTID/RIT is a technical school so for the sake they must know better than that, jeeez!
 
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