FAA employees and retirees and JetDirect employees were not the only aviation employees being notified of a breach recently. Parsons Infrastructure and Technology Group Inc., the engineering and construction firm that was awarded Technical Support Services Contract III (TSSC III) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had its own data protection woes.
According to a January 29th letter (pdf) submitted by ID Experts to the New Hampshire Attorney General on their behalf, two packages containing two USB’s and a computer tape were stolen from the TSSC III program office building located in Washington, D.C. on December 24th. Unencrypted personal information on the devices included names and Social Security numbers. The packages, which were subsequently retrieved, had been opened, although Parsons reports that the devices were reportedly still intact in the packages.
An FAQ on the incident, posted to ID Experts’ web site, provides additional details that the theft occurred on December 24 after the packages had been left in an unsecured environment. The theft was not detected until December 29th.
Parsons did not respond to a request for information as to how many individuals had data on the devices, and how they managed to recover the stolen package.