Richard Craver reports:
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that the Surry County Department of Social Services has found a box of client reports that had been thought to be lost.
Earlier in the day, the state agency had said the missing July reports appeared to have been lost in the mail and issued an alert. The agency said the reports, which had been mailed to the county’s Department of Social Services, could have compromised the identities of nearly 1,000 Surry residents.
“Based on the information we’ve been given from the county DSS, it appears the missing records were in the care, custody and control of the U.S. Postal Service this entire time,” said Lori Walston, a spokeswoman for the state agency.
The reports typically have information such as name, Social Security number and certain financial data. The information is used to verify the accuracy of information provided on applications for public assistance, such as Medicaid or food and nutrition services.
Source: Winston-Salem Journal.
So was the mail just very very slow, or did someone not send the reports until later than they thought?
Is this a case where an entity was too quick to report a breach?
Update: More about this incident can be found on Mount Airy News. The state may have been too quick to sound the alert, it seems, as had they gone down to the post office or used the online tracking system, they would have seen that the box had been located already.