The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued an advisory regarding a hard drive containing personal and financial information of 100,000 current and former employees (including Air Marshalls) that appears to have been lost or stolen….they’re not sure yet. It was found missing from a “controlled area” at the TSA Headquarters Office of Human Capital on May 3, 2007.
The TSA, part of Homeland Security, is the Federal agency responsible for screening all passengers and luggage at all U.S. airports. Due to security issues, they called in the Secret Service and the FBI to investigate.
A letter from Administrator Kip Hawley to Employees, notes that the hard drive contains names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, payroll information, financial allotments, bank account and routing information records of people employed by the agency from January 2002 until August 2005.
The letter states that at this time it is unclear whether the device is still within headquarters or was stolen.
A public statement issued by the TSA notes that “measures are in place to alert TSA if someone attempts to use the hard drive. To date, there is still no evidence to indicate employee data have been compromised.”