A church in California had its computers stolen along with a handful of other electronics. The computers were full of personal information, and it looks like the use of drive encryption software like AlertBoot was foregone: other crimes after this particular incident could be traced back to the information on the stolen computers. It's the second post this week that shows that thieves' MOs have changed for the worse.
A church in California had its computers stolen along with a handful of other electronics. The computers were full of personal information, and it looks like the use of drive encryption software like AlertBoot was foregone: other crimes after this particular incident could be traced back to the information on the stolen computers.
It's the second post this week that shows that thieves' MOs have changed for the worse.
Thieves broke in to the Lutheran Church of Prayer last week, and made off with a bunch of electronics, which included computers. The computers contained personal information of church employees and of the congregation. At least one employee's home was burglarized as well, and "another employee's financial accounts were tampered with." Furthermore, someone tried to cash a check from the church's account. Whether this was a counterfeit check, or a real check (i.e., stuff other than electronics was stolen) with a forged signature, has not been reported. I should note that counterfeit checks are pretty easy to make nowadays--or so I've been told.
Thieves broke in to the Lutheran Church of Prayer last week, and made off with a bunch of electronics, which included computers. The computers contained personal information of church employees and of the congregation.
At least one employee's home was burglarized as well, and "another employee's financial accounts were tampered with." Furthermore, someone tried to cash a check from the church's account.
Whether this was a counterfeit check, or a real check (i.e., stuff other than electronics was stolen) with a forged signature, has not been reported. I should note that counterfeit checks are pretty easy to make nowadays--or so I've been told.
A quick turnaround. This is what any police force across the world will say thieves are interested in when a bunch of stuff is stolen, and devices with sensitive information happen to be included. Because computers or hard drives were not specifically targeted, the idea is that the thieves were interested in "hardware" and other goods they could get their hands on, so the chances of a data breach are that much lower--the goods will be sold as quickly as possible. It confounds me why the police would think this way. It may have been true, say, ten years ago. But today, even the police note that such stolen hardware are "wiped clean of the data" and then sold on on-line. In fact, it's not unusual for police to state something along the lines of "in instances such as these, the thieves are looking for a quick turnaround, so they'll wipe the computer clean and sell them as quickly as possible." If you know how to wipe a computer, it means you know how to use it. There's little additional effort in skimming through a computer for personal information--which can also be sold on-line. Heck, you can do this while you're waiting for someone to e-mail you about the goods. Call it "synergy," if you like.
A quick turnaround. This is what any police force across the world will say thieves are interested in when a bunch of stuff is stolen, and devices with sensitive information happen to be included.
Because computers or hard drives were not specifically targeted, the idea is that the thieves were interested in "hardware" and other goods they could get their hands on, so the chances of a data breach are that much lower--the goods will be sold as quickly as possible.
It confounds me why the police would think this way. It may have been true, say, ten years ago. But today, even the police note that such stolen hardware are "wiped clean of the data" and then sold on on-line. In fact, it's not unusual for police to state something along the lines of "in instances such as these, the thieves are looking for a quick turnaround, so they'll wipe the computer clean and sell them as quickly as possible."
If you know how to wipe a computer, it means you know how to use it. There's little additional effort in skimming through a computer for personal information--which can also be sold on-line. Heck, you can do this while you're waiting for someone to e-mail you about the goods.
Call it "synergy," if you like.
In hindsight, it's obvious the church could have made use of disk encryption on their computers. With encryption in place, the thieves wouldn't have been able to access the contents, meaning there wouldn't have been further ramifications from the original crime. Would password-protection have worked? Possibly; but I wouldn't bet my employees' and congregations' personal information on it.
In hindsight, it's obvious the church could have made use of disk encryption on their computers. With encryption in place, the thieves wouldn't have been able to access the contents, meaning there wouldn't have been further ramifications from the original crime.
Would password-protection have worked? Possibly; but I wouldn't bet my employees' and congregations' personal information on it.
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