Data Loss Source: The state of Massachusetts is warning 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage insurance program that their personal information may have been stolen by an identity thief.
Date of Loss: Dec. 15, 2007
Size of Loss: 150,000
Affected Individuals: Members of state Prescription Advantage insurance program
Geographic Focus: Massachusetts
Data contained: Personal information
Additional Notes: Although the thief used information from just a small number of participants in the scheme, state data-breach laws require that the 150,000 people who could have possibly been affected by the breach be contacted.
Additional Information: IDG News

Data Loss Source: Hackers may have infiltrated a non-classified Oak Ridge National Laboratory database containing confidential lab information. The assault was in the form of phony e-mails containing attachments, which when opened allowed hackers to penetrate the lab’s computer security.
Date of Loss: Dec. 6, 2007
Size of Loss: 12,000
Affected Individuals: Every lab visitor between 1990 and 2004.
Geographic Focus: Oak Ridge, TN
Data contained: Names, Social Security numbers and birth dates.
Additional Notes: The lab has sent letters to about 12,000 potential victims. Lab officials believe the attack was part of a larger coordinated attempt to gain access to computer networks at numerous laboratories and other institutions across the country.
Additional Information: eWeek

Data Loss Source: A laptop containing personal information was stolen while in possession of a contractor responsible for scanning the accounting firm’s pension fund documents.
Date of Loss: Dec. 14, 2007
Size of Loss: Unknown
Affected Individuals: Deloitte & Touche partners, principals and employees
Geographic Focus: New York, NY
Data contained: The computer contained confidential data, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other personnel information, such as hire and termination dates.
Additional Notes: The laptop was protected by a password but was not encrypted.
Additional Information: SC Magazine

Data Loss Source: The state of Massachusetts is warning 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage insurance program that their personal information may have been snatched by an identity thief.
Date of Loss: Dec. 1, 2007
Size of Loss: 150,000
Affected Individuals: Insurance customers
Geographic Focus: Massachusetts
Data contained: Personal information
Additional Notes: Although the thief used information from just a small number of participants in the scheme, state data-breach laws require that the 150,000 people who could have possibly been affected by the breach be contacted.
Additional Information: Computer World
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9050438&intsrc=news_ts_head

According to the New York Times, the British government has lost computer disks containing detailed personal information on 25 million Britons, including an unknown number of bank account identifiers, in what analysts say is the biggest privacy breach of the digital era.

The data was lost in October, after two computer disks that contained data on families that receive government financial benefits for children were sent out from a government tax agency unregistered, via a private delivery service. The British government has defended its decision not to disclose the loss for 10 days after it discovered the breach, saying banks had asked for time to put heightened security measures before announcing the breach.

When it comes to numbers, the breach was smaller than several in the United States over the last few years. However, the disks lost in Britain contained detailed personal information on 40 percent of the population. In addition to the bank account numbers, there were names, addresses and national insurance numbers, the British equivalent of Social Security numbers. They also held data on almost every child under 16.

“This particular breach would dwarf anything we’ve seen in the United States in terms of percentage of the population impacted,” said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group based in California.