Anheuser-Busch alerts N.H. residents that stolen laptop contained personal data
Brewer confirms that 2,250 employees and dependents from state are affected
August 1, 2008 12:00 PM ETComputerworld - About 2,250 New Hampshire residents have been notified that their personal information was stored on a laptop computer taken by thieves that burgled an Anheuser-Busch Co. office in Missouri in June.
The brewer said the laptop contained encrypted personal data, including names, addresses, case notes from a company employee assistance program, Social Security numbers, birth dates, ethnicities and marital status, of current and former employees and their dependents.
The company confirmed that information on residents of other states was also contained in the laptop, but declined to elaborate. The laptop was password-protected, it said.
The company notified New Hampshire employees and dependents of the data breach via mail after the company alerted the New Hampshire state attorney general about the incident, as required by state law.
In the July 21 letter to New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, Lisa Joley, vice president and general counsel at Anheuser-Busch, disclosed details of the burglary and told of plans to notify affected employees and dependents who live in the state.
Contacted by telephone, Joley declined to comment on the case. Anheuser-Busch said that five Hewlett-Packard laptop machines, including one containing the personal data, were stolen from a company office in Sunset Hills, Mo., during the weekend of June 6 to 8. The theft is being investigated by the Sunset Hills Police Department.
Tim Farrell, vice president of corporate human resources at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement that the company is cooperating in the investigation. "At this time, there is no evidence that the theft has resulted in any unauthorized disclosure, fraudulent credit card applications or other identity theft crimes," Farrell said. "We have taken precautions by notifying all affected individuals and offering free credit monitoring from Equifax Personal Solutions for one year."
Thomas McQuillan, a technology consultant and principal of Quill Consulting LLC in Grand Rapids, Mich., said that while government agencies typically must fully disclose details of data breaches, private companies may do internal investigations or work with police, so they may have to be more close-mouthed about such incidents, he said.
"The majority of breaches are probably happening in the private sector, but they're just not being reported," McQuillan said.
Anheuser-Busch
Additional Resources



Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.
White Papers & Webcasts
Share our Strength
Download Now
Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!
Top 10 Things to Know about Data Protection
Download Now
Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!
Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...
Ponemon Study: The Business Risk of a Lost Laptop
Download Now
Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.
Airport Insecurity: The Case of Lost Laptops
Download Now
Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...
