Memorial Blood Center Data Breach affects 268,000

Who Breached: Memorial Blood Centers
Number Affected: 268,000
Information breached: Social Security Numbers
How: laptop theft

268,000 blood donors in Minnesota and Wisconsin are at risk for identity theft after a laptop was stolen on November 28 from a Memorial Blood Center blood drive. The data represents about half of the Memorial donor base and dates back to the opening of the center in 1948. The laptop was password protected and had unspecified ’security devices’ installed.

Letters have been sent to the affected donors, who are cautioned to look for unusual activity in their banking and to watch their credit reports carefully. The crime was caught on camera and the police are investigating. Without laptop recovery software, the chances of recovering the laptop are very slim.

Starting this week, Memorial Blood Centers will no longer ask for Social Security Numbers.

Via SC Magazine’s Breach Blog, Star Tribune Tags: memorial blood center, data breach, data theft, laptop theft, laptop security, identity theft, health security