Laptop stolen from The Beijing Center contained applicants’ SSN
December 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Breach Incidents, Business Sector, Theft, U.S.
A laptop stolen from a locked facility at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies on October 15th reportedly contained the names and Social Security Numbers of students who had applied to study abroad in China between 1994 and 2006. The laptop belonged to a recruiter for the center.
According to a notification sent to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and those affected (pdf), following the incident, The Beijing Center securely destroyed all personal information on students no longer actively involved in the center or where there is no need to retain any information. The Center has also changed its security practices so that it no longer stores unencrypted SSN on mobile devices.
In addition to offering those affected credit monitoring services, the center also posted an FAQ about the incident on its web site.