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A new survey from iBahn, a provider of secure broadband services for hotels & conference centers, shows that travelers who carry sensitive information carry more than half a million dollars worth of data.

The survey, of 491 laptop or PDA business users, found that most travelers do not carry information of sensitive value on their laptops. However, those that do carry valuable information store an average of $525,000 worth of data.

Highlights from the survey:

• The average value of personal information on a laptop is $330,000
• 39% of respondents have experienced some form of malware, virus or theft
• 32% of respondents rate their travel WiFi connections as somewhat or highly secure

The survey indicates that business travelers who have sensitive information on their laptops or PDAs are putting said data at risk. Though the survey does not include information about how the data devices are secured, the fact that so many laptop computers with sensitive information are connecting to insecure WiFi networks is a serious security issue.

Via NetworkWorld, CIO.com Tags: laptop security, data security, private data, sensitive data, data breach, business travel

Absolute Software announced today that it has attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program. This is the highest level of Microsoft partner certification.

Gold Certified Partners meet Microsoft’s highest standards of technology experience. The program rewards the impact that technology partners have in the marketplace.

“The Microsoft Partner Program brings together technology providers who are passionate about making an impact on the Canadian economy,” said Lora Gernon, Director, Partner Group, Microsoft Canada Co. “Absolute Software, who has achieved Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status, demonstrates commitment to growing Canada’s technology industry by focusing on excellence in the IT security industry.”

The Certification solidifies Absolute’s dedication to security software and opens new opportunities to better network with Microsoft’s extensive Partner network.

Read the announcement here.

Tags: microsoft, gold certified, absolute, absolute software, security, security software

Fidelity National Information (FNI) subsidiary Certegy Check Services has had a data breach as a result of an employee misappropriating data. This was not an outside attack by data thieves, but rather the unlawful act of an employee.

A Certegy employee, who worked on consumer databases, physically removed 2.3 million consumer data records to resell. The former employee sold consumer information to a data broker, who then sold it to a number of direct marketing companies. The employee has now been terminated and is facing charges.

Certegy approached the situation as a possible security breach, knowing only that consumer data was correlating with direct marketing. When their investigations, followed by an outside audit, did not turn up any security breach, the US Secret Service was called in to investigate the matter.

“As a result of this apparent theft, the consumers affected received marketing solicitations from the companies that bought the data,” said Renz Nichols, President of Certegy Check Services. “We have no reason to believe that the theft resulted in any subsequent fraudulent activity or financial damage to the consumer, and we are taking the necessary steps to see that any further use of the data stops.”

The data misappropriated included names, addresses and telephone numbers, along with (in some cases) bank information, for 2.3 million people. Investigations to date have not uncovered any fraudulent activity or identity theft as a result of the breach. Certegy will be notifying all 2.3 million customers to alert them to the breach and have alerted the credit reporting agencies of the incident.

Certegy has exposed one of the important areas of security policies – knowing who has access to what data. Although this employee had access to consumer data to do his job, it was not apparent that the data was being copied. Luckily for Certegy and for the 2.3 million customers, the data only went to direct marketing firms. It could have been much worse.

Via CNN Money ; Tags: certegy, data breach, employee betrayal, data misappropriation, database, consumer data, identity theft, fni

Prince Charles is the latest victim of laptop theft, and is now at risk for ID theft and bank fraud.

A laptop computer belonging to Prince Charles’ Moorepay accountant was stolen from a vehicle earlier this month. The laptop contained Prince Charles’ personal bank details (account number and sort code) and his national insurance number.

Royal sources say that Prince Charles was “reeling” from the security breach and was quite concerned that his personal details could be in the wrong hands.

The laptop was password protected, but there has been no word of any additional security on the laptop. A Moorepay spokesperson said that the theft could “pose a security threat if a technical expert was able to breach the password protection.”

Via tech dirt & People.co.uk Tags: prince charles, laptop theft, prince charles laptop theft, id theft, identity theft, data breach, security breach, moorepay