Security Breach: Nearly 50,000 Patient Records Compromised

According to news sources, patient information from nearly 50,000 patients of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center was jeopardized in a data security breach announced on April 11, 2008. The breach included names, phone numbers, addresses and social security numbers. The Wall Street Journal reported on its health care blog that postal officials searching an identity theft ring in Atlanta have identified 221 documents which came from the hospital.

According to a spokesperson hospital officials are in the process of contacting thousands of patients and New York Presbyterian is offering affected patients credit monitoring services. IdentityTruth is reaching out to hospital patients to provide them the option of comprehensive identity theft prevention coverage at a discounted rate, since credit monitoring alone does not prevent identity theft. IdentityTruth’s technology helps to predict possible fraud and delivers ongoing alerts about any changes to the individual’s credit and identity profile. IdentityTruth’s comprehensive service is especially important to protect consumers in cases such as this, where social security numbers were compromised.

Data Breaches a Growing Problem for Consumers

The New York Presbyterian Hospital breach is part of a growing wave of data breaches which are putting consumers at risk for identity theft. In the case of the Presbyterian Hospital case news reports are highlighting a possible link to an organized identity theft ring. Incidents such as these highlight a disturbing truth for consumers: even if you are careful, you are not safe since businesses, health care organizations and government agencies which hold your sensitive data are increasingly at risk of data breaches.

IdentityTruth invites consumers to learn more by viewing the identity theft timeline—which shows that identity theft starts long before something shows up on your credit report.

Data Breach: Pfizer - 13,000 Employee Records Compromised

According to news sources preliminary reports indicate that in May 2008 pharmaceutical giant Pfizer suffered a data security breach involving a stolen laptop that contained 13,000 employee records. While it appears that social security numbers were not involved, names, home addresses, telephone numbers, employee ID numbers, job titles and salary information may have been compromised in this security breach.

Pfizer has reported a number of breaches over the past year, including a breach earlier this year also affecting employees. According to news sources Pfizer has sent more than 65,000 data breach notifications over the past twelve months.

If you are a Pfizer employee and suspect that your information was stolen during this or another security breach, you need to take action now to prevent identity theft. Whether the breach occurred last week or last year, your personal information is in criminal hands and could be used at any time for identity theft. Typical credit monitoring only reports theft after damage has been done. Only through proactive, preventative identity monitoring can you be sure that your identity, assets, and credit are safe.

At the IdentityTruth website, you can learn about the latest advancements in identity theft prevention and use online tools to instantly check to see if your identity has been compromised.

Don't wait – take action today and stop identity theft before damage occurs!

Data Security Breach: State Street Bank - 45,000 Records Compromised

According to news sources, a division of State Street Corporation suffered a security data breach involving 45,000 customer and employee records. The loss occurred when a laptop storing the information was stolen from a vendor hired by Investors Financial Services, which was acquired by State Street in 2007.

The data contained on the stolen laptop included names, addresses, dates of birth and, in some cases, Social Security numbers. State Street claims that there is no evidence that the stolen data has been misused and noted that this is the first case of data theft in its history.

However, this security breach does highlight vulnerabilities associated with the loss of physical equipment — which is still a risk, no matter how stringent a firm’s online security protocols.

Data Breaches a Growing Problem for Consumers

Financial services breaches are of particular concern to consumers given the sensitive nature of the information stored by these institutions. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recently noted that the Social Security and account numbers of as many as 4.5 million customers were compromised when a vendor working for Bank of New York Mellon lost unencrypted backup storage tapes.

The loss of physical assets, as highlighted in these cases, is a reminder that consumers may be at risk for identity theft—even if they are careful with management of their own statements and documents.

Learn more about how identity theft actually happens: view the identity theft timeline. In this brief overview, you’ll learn that identity scams usually start long before something shows up on your credit card statements.