Here is more info on the lost courier tapes from IBM. The ones that were not encrypted.
From MSNBC:
The incident surfaced in recent weeks when IBM’s human-resources department wrote to affected workers — primarily former employees — to inform them. The letter said the tapes held archival information “such as your Social Security number, your dates of employment with IBM, birth date, contact information such as your address, and your IBM work history.”
IBM also advertised in a local newspaper to ask for the return of the tapes.
Even one backup tape likely has room for information on thousands of employees or customer accounts. McNeese would not reveal how many tapes were gone or how many employees or clients were affected. He said some of the tapes were cloaked by encryption, but not all of them.
Now, why would some of the tapes be encrypted but not others? IBM is a company that thrives on process. It strikes me as odd that there would be some with data in the clear.
[tags]IBM Data Lost, Encryption, Personal Data, ID Theft[/tags]