More names, Social Security numbers found on stolen computer tape

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<img src=http://www.toledoblade.com/assets/gif/weblink_icon.gif><b><font color=green>VIEW:</font</b> <a href=" http://www.agohio.org/victim/idtheft/index.asp" target="_blank"><b>Ohio AG's identity theft information</b></a>

COLUMBUS - Nearly 67,000 additional names and Social Security numbers were on a sensitive computer backup tape stolen out of a state intern's car in June, bringing the total number of companies, government agencies and people affected by the theft to 1.33 million, according to a report released Monday.

The latest information, previously unreported by the state in its own review, showed the tape contained information on 47,245 additional taxpayers and 19,388 more former state employees, according to the report prepared by Columbus-based Interhack Corp. It also contained banking information of 100 additional businesses and the federal employee ID numbers of 40,088 additional businesses.

Interhack, a computer forensics company, received $100,000 from the state to review the state's work.

The report said 212,000 people were currently enrolled in identity-theft protection services and the projected state cost of enrolling individuals in the program was $2.3 million.

The tape was stolen out of the intern's car when the intern as part of a common practice brought the tape home for safekeeping. Gov. Ted Strickland has repeatedly said accessing the information on the tape would take a high degree of knowledge and special equipment, which Interhack supported in its report.

Interhack said the state generally responded well to the problem, although "throwing out files that should be included was the largest weakness in the process, and was mitigated by our data search and analysis," the report said.

Interhack said it was able to reconstruct 99.89 percent of tape's contents.

Among Interhack's recommendations was a suggestion for the state to create a chief information security officer with the authority to establish standards and guidelines for all state agencies.

Strickland has directed the Department of Administrative Services to prepare recommendations to implement the report's suggestions, said spokesman Keith Dailey.

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