DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

Audit finds confidential data on NJ state computers sent to auction

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Dissent

Angela Delli Santi reports:

Taxpayers’ Social Security numbers, confidential child abuse reports and personnel reviews of New Jersey workers nearly went to the highest bidder after the state sent surplus computers out for auction.

Nearly 80 percent of surplus computers in a comptroller’s office sample had not been scrubbed of data before being shipped to a warehouse, according to an audit released Wednesday.

Read more form the AP in the Orlando Sentinel.

Related:
Office of the Comptroller press release, March 9, 2011 (pdf)
Audit Report (pdf), March 9, 2011 (pdf)

From the report (p. 6):

As part of our audit research process, in January 2010 we obtained six hard drives and one laptop computer from the Warehouse. Despite the State’s degaussing requirements, one of the hard drives contained a list of children placed outside the parental home, and the laptop contained numerous files of a State judge, including:

  • the judge’s life insurance trust agreement, his tax returns for three years and a final mortgage payment letter that included the address of the property and the account number;
  • two documents with the judge’s Social Security number;
  • a “confidential fax” to the New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program concerning an attorney’s “personal emotional problems”; and
  • non-public memoranda by the judge concerning potential impropriety by two lawyers

Note that as I have often pointed out, medical data resides on systems that are not under federal medical privacy laws like HIPAA. In this case, here’s what investigators found on one drive (p.10):

More than 230 files related to State investigative case screenings and reports of child abuse, endangerment and neglect. Many of the reports contained the names and addresses of the children. The files also included a child fatality report, child immunization records and a child health evaluation.

There was a vast amount of personal, sensitive, and confidential information on these computers.

Will any heads over this major security FAIL? If not, why not?


Related:

  • Two more entities have folded after ransomware attacks
  • British institutions to be banned from paying ransoms to Russian hackers
  • Global hack on Microsoft product hits U.S., state agencies, researchers say
  • Inquiry launched after identities of SAS soldiers leaked in fresh data breach
  • Michigan ‘ATM jackpotting’: Florida men allegedly forced machines to dispense $107K
  • Government will 'robustly defend' compensation claims from Afghans put at risk by data breach
Category: Commentaries and AnalysesExposureOf NoteU.S.

Post navigation

← Rogue Penn Mutual employee may have accessed and disclosed customer personal and financial information
Ca: Bureaucrats who violated veteran's privacy get ‘slap on the wrist’ →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • PowerSchool commits to strengthened breach measures following engagement with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Hungarian police arrest suspect in cyberattacks on independent media
  • Two more entities have folded after ransomware attacks
  • British institutions to be banned from paying ransoms to Russian hackers
  • Data breach feared after cyberattack on AMEOS hospitals in Germany
  • Microsoft Releases Urgent Patch for SharePoint RCE Flaw Exploited in Ongoing Cyber Attacks
  • Global hack on Microsoft product hits U.S., state agencies, researchers say
  • Inquiry launched after identities of SAS soldiers leaked in fresh data breach
  • UK sanctions Russian cyber spies accused of facilitating murders
  • Michigan ‘ATM jackpotting’: Florida men allegedly forced machines to dispense $107K

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • British government reportedlu set to back down on secret iCloud backdoor after US pressure
  • Idaho agrees not to prosecute doctors for out-of-state abortion referrals
  • As companies race to add AI, terms of service changes are going to freak a lot of people out. Think twice before granting consent!
  • Uganda orders Google to register as a data-controller within 30 days after landmark privacy ruling
  • Meta investors, Zuckerberg reach settlement to end $8 billion trial over Facebook privacy violations
  • ICE is gaining access to trove of Medicaid records, adding new peril for immigrants
  • Microsoft can’t protect French data from US government access

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.