Commerce Department reports loss of 1,137 laptops
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Commerce Department reported that 1,137 laptops have been lost or stolen since 2001, with 249 of them containing some degree of personal data. The department couldn't determine whose data may have been on the machines, of which 672 belonged to the Census Bureau. It wasn't aware of any data having being used improperly, it said Thursday. The findings are from a Commerce Department review covering 15 agencies that use a total of 30,000 laptops. It comes as businesses and governments try to tighten their control over mobile devices after several high-profile incidents concerning theÂ loss of sensitive data. The Census Bureau's laptops -- used for collecting census data in the field -- rarely contain data on more than 100 households, and the data can't be accessed by the surveyors, many of whom are temporary, hourly employees. the department said. However, the Census Bureau also lost 15 handheld computers used to gather survey data. As a result, the department is contacting 558 households. The risk of the data being misused was "extremely low," it said, since the data is encrypted and two passwords are required for access. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which falls under the Commerce Department, lost 325 laptops, three of which had personal data. One of the laptops was stolen after a fire at one of its buildings in Seattle, Washington. The machine contained addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers for 146 employees, the department said. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said the agency plans toÂ strengthen accountability standards, encrypt data on all department laptops and implement two-factor authentication. U.S. government agencies have been stung by hardware losses in recent months. In May, aÂ laptop and external hard drive was stolenÂ from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee containingÂ data on 26.5 million veteransÂ and active-duty military personnel. The laptop was recovered, and two teenagers were arrested in June. Â
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A computer tape containing personal  data of 650,000 customers of about 230 retailers including J.C.  Penney Co  is missing, credit card issuer GE Money said  on Friday.
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The FBI had more than 300 weapons and laptops lost or stolen in just under four years, and some of the computers contained sensitive or classified information, the U.S. Justice Department inspector general said on Monday in a highly critical report.
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Court documents say Dell, Gateway, and other major PC vendors were affected.
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A portable hard drive reported missing by the Department of Veterans Affairs may have held data on 1.8 million veterans and physicians -- far more than the 50,000 people the agency initially said might be affected.
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A computer tape containing personal data of 650,000 customers of about 230 retailers including J.C. Penney Co is missing, credit card issuer GE Money said on Friday.
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By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL  WASHINGTON - The Commerce Department has lost more than 1,100 laptop computers since 2001, most of them assigned to the Census Bureau, officials said Thursday night.  The Census Bureau, the main collector of information about Americans, lost 672 computers.
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General Electric Co. said on Tuesday   that a company laptop containing the names and Social Security   numbers of 50,000 current and former employees was stolen in   early September.
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The United States lost nearly 1.5  million jobs between 1989 and 2003 because of increased trade  with China, according to a report released on Tuesday by a  government watchdog committee.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will investigate the disappearance of $22 million worth of equipment, computers and other items from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Less than 25% of old computers sold or given away by companies have had data removed, a survey suggests.
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Gateway has recalled 14,000 laptop PC batteries in an incident unrelated to the massive 2006 recall of Sony batteries.
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InfoWorld - Although a report indicates the world&#39;s largest PC vendor may be cutting back on some orders to PC manufacturers for the third and fourth quarters of this year, an executive at the company said the problem isn&#39;t in laptop PCs.
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The FBI said that 160 laptop computers were lost or stolen in less than four years, including at least 10 that contained sensitive or classified information -- one of which held "personal identifying information on FBI personnel," according to a report released yesterday.
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For Boeing, laptop thefts are beginning to become somewhat of an epidemic. For the third time in 13 months, one of the company's notebook computers has gone missing, this one containing the names and social security numbers of about 382,000 workers and retirees.
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By Michael Wamble Daily Herald Staff Writer  School officials are updating security procedures after 24 laptop computers were stolen from a Lombard middle school.
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By Douglass K. Daniel  The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 laptop computers since 2001, most of them assigned to the Census Bureau, officials said Thursday night.  The Census Bureau, the main collector of information about Americans, lost 672 computers.