Jane Lerner reports:
Former and current Nyack Hospital employees, as well as their spouses and children, are at risk of identity theft because a computer hard drive containing personal information was stolen from the hospital, officials said.
Sensitive data, including names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, were stored on a hard drive in the hospital’s Human Resources Department, President David Freed told current and former workers in a letter obtained by The Journal News.
[…]
The theft is related to the June 23 flash flood that dumped more than 4 inches of rain in Nyack in less than a half-hour and left parts of the hospital under water.
According to Freed’s letter, the Human Resources Department had to be relocated because of the flood. When workers returned to the original office July 6, after repairs were made, the theft was discovered.
Orangetown police are investigating, Lt. James Brown said.
Read more on LoHud.com
In response to Jane Lerner’s article, “Nyack Hospital Workers Warned After Sensitive Data Stolen” I am outraged at the lack of security afforded my and my spouse’s confidential, personal information that Nyack Hospital failed to safeguard. The theft was not caused by the June 23, 2011 flood; it was caused by Nyack Hospital’s failure to secure the computer, its hard drive and the employee confidential information that the hospital was entrusted to protect! Safeguarding this information is critical to protecting our identity and personal savings from theft.
Dr. David Freed erroneously claimed in a memo to employees on July 19, 2011, nearly two weeks after the theft was discovered, that the “hospital takes the security of personal information seriously.” Freed further stated that employees should “take preventive measure now to help prevent any misuse of your information.” How far from the truth that is. What preventive measures did he take? None!
According to Lerner’s article “it is easy to imagine a door propped open to allow better air flow as contractors and outside contractors” worked in the damaged Human Resources office. They had direct access to the room where the computer was left unattended, unsecured and exposed to any thief from within or off the street for a period of 14 days, which is an inexcusable lack of judgment and common sense. Thus, it was not a secure area as Lt. James Brown had suggested, and employees should have been advised of the theft on Wednesday, July 6, 2011, not Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
Nyack Hospital management failed to take any preventive measures and in a complete breakdown of information security has exposed its employees and their families to, as Lt. John Gould stated, “an identity theft nightmare.” The Nyack Hospital employee under Dr. Freed’s supervision who was responsible for this lapse in judgment and disregard for basic security measures should be held accountable and terminated for this incident.