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hurleyp
join:2000-06-20
Ottawa, ON

hurleyp

Member

Another USB key full of personal info goes missing

Press release from the Montfort Hospital in Ottawa:

»hopitalmontfort.com/pres ··· wsID=200

"A non-secure USB key containing certain personal patient health information was recently lost. The information stored on the key was gathered in October 2012 for payment purposes, and contained patient names, summary data on the type of service provided, the date of service, and the health service provider code. No other health or personal information, such as health card numbers, diagnoses, mailing addresses or bank information, was on the key."

One report says this could affect up to 25,000 patients.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

2 recommendations

Blackbird

Premium Member

And the critical words, stated yet again, are: "A non-secure USB key..." If the data were encrypted, this would be largely a non-issue, as it would be in the nearly countless other incidents of lost, hacked, or stolen storage media. Only when the custodians of such data are held genuinely responsible for its security will the consequences of such loss/theft begin to ease. The question remains how long it will be before that happens...
Expand your moderator at work

ashrc4
Premium Member
join:2009-02-06
australia

ashrc4 to hurleyp

Premium Member

to hurleyp

Re: Another USB key full of personal info goes missing

You mean it dosen't constitute a cyber war?/theft.....outrageous

Cthen
Premium Member
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI

Cthen to hurleyp

Premium Member

to hurleyp
What is information like that doing on a USB stick anyways?

Oh, it happened in Canada, no need for an explanation.
Rojo31
join:2009-04-14
New York, NY

1 recommendation

Rojo31 to hurleyp

Member

to hurleyp
We must start holding these morons personally accountable for their stupidity. Thousands put at risk, yet where is the downside for his carelessness? Felony, minimum five years imprisonment would be a good start. That'll straighten the rest of them up quick.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer to Cthen

Premium Member

to Cthen
said by Cthen:

What is information like that doing on a USB stick anyways?

Perhaps there was a network problem that prevented printing monthly statements on a local network printer ("The information stored on the key was gathered in October 2012 for payment purposes"), so someone took the data to Staples to have the statements printed?

Not a good idea for sensitive information, but considering how often such things are outsourced (and off-shored) anyway...