A Chronology of Data Breaches

Posted April 20, 2005
Updated May 14, 2008


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A Chronology of Data Breaches

Skip the introductory text and go directly to the listing of data breaches below.

What does the Chronology of Data Breaches contain?

The data breaches noted below have been reported because the personal information compromised includes data elements useful to identity thieves, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and driver's license numbers. Some breaches that do NOT expose such sensitive information have been included in order to underscore the variety and frequency of data breaches. However, we have not included the number of records involved in such breaches in the total because we want this compilation to reflect breaches that expose individuals to identity theft as well as breaches that qualify for disclosure under state laws. The breaches posted below include only those reported in the United States. They do not include incidents in other countries.

What does the Total Number indicate?

The running total we maintain at the end of the Chronology represents the approximate number of *records* that have been compromised due to security breaches, not necessarily the number of *individuals* affected. Breaches for specific years are noted below -- 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Some individuals may be the victims of more than one breach, which would affect the totals.

In reality, the number given below should be much larger. For many of the breaches listed, the number of records is unknown.

How often is the Chronology updated?

We usually update this list twice each week.

Where do you obtain information about the data breaches that are reported on this Web page?

Most of the breaches summarized below on this page have been obtained from the Attrition-Dataloss list-serve.

Attrition also provides an open source database of its data breach records, called the Data Loss Database - Open Source, or DLDOS. It is a flat comma-separated value file that can be imported into a database or spreadsheet program for your own data analysis. Visit attrition.org/dataloss/dataloss.csv.

What should I do if my personal information has been compromised in a data breach?

For tips on what to do if your personal information has been exposed due to a security breach, read our guide at www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17b-securitybreach.htm.

Are there resources for businesses and other organizations on how to avoid having sensitive data breached?

Learn about security and privacy protection practices for your workplace.

What should I do if my business or organization experiences a security breach?

The following resources guide businesses who have experienced a security breach through the notification process and in working with law enforcement.

Do states have laws that require those entities that experience a data breach to notify those affected?

Yes. The catalyst for reporting data breaches to the affected individuals has been the California law that requires notice of security breaches. It is the first of its kind in the nation, implemented July 2003.

More than 3/4 of states have since passed laws requiring that individuals be notified of security breaches. For a list of states enacting security breach and freeze laws, visit these Web sites:

Congress is considering several security breach notice bills in 2007. Consumers Union lists them here:
www.consumersunion.org/finance/DataPrivacy2007.htm

Has anyone analyzed this and other data breach listings in order to compile statistics and arrive at other observations? Have any analyses of security breach laws been published?

Are there other resources with additional information about security breaches?


Chronology of Data Breaches
Go to Breaches for 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2008

DATE MADE PUBLIC
NAME(Location)
TYPE OF BREACH
NUMBER
OF RECORDS
2005      
Jan. 10, 2005 George Mason University
(Fairfax, VA)		 Names, photos, and Social Security numbers of 32,000 students and staff were compromised because of a hacker attack on the university's main ID server. 32,000
Jan. 18, 2005 Univ. of CA, San Diego
(San Diego, CA)		 A hacker breached the security of two University computers that stored the Social Security numbers and names of students and alumni of UCSD Extension. 3,500
Jan. 22, 2005 University of Northern Colorado
(Greeley, CO)		 A hard drive was apparently stolen. It contained information on current and former University employees and their beneficiaries -- name, date of birth, SSN, address, bank account and routing number.. 30,000
Feb. 12, 2005 Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC)
(San Diego, CA)		 On Jan. 25 thieves broke into a SAIC facility and stole computers containing names, SSNs, and other personal information of past and current employees. Stolen information included names, NNS, addresses, phone numbers and records of financial transactions. 45,000 employees
Feb. 15, 2005
ChoicePoint
(Alpharetta, GA)

Bogus accounts established by ID thieves. The initial number of affected records was estimated at 145,000 but was later revised to 163,000.
UPDATE (1/26/06): ChoicePoint settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $10 million in civil penalties and $5 million for consumer redress.
UPDATE (12/06/06): The FTC announced that victims of identity theft as a result of the data breach who had out-of-pocket expenses can now be reimbursed. The claims deadline is Feb. 4, 2007.
UPDATE (06/24/07): Starting Dec. 2006, the FTC began mailing claims forms to victims of the breach. Its Web site provides information about the claims process. Deadline is Aug. 18, 2007. Victims can be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses resulting from identity theft connected to the breach. Call (888) 884-8772, or email cpredress@ftc.gov.
UPDATE (11/04/07): Since its 2005 data security incident, ChoicePoint has implemented enhancements to its privacy and information security framework including the establishment of an Office of Privacy, Ethics and Compliance to reinforce the responsible use and protection of information at ChoicePoint through policies and procedures, audit and compliance, and outreach and education. Visit www.privacyatchoicepoint.com.
UPDATE (1/27/08): Has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a class action lawsuit

163,000

 

 
Feb. 18, 2005 Univ. of Chicago Hospital
(Chicago, IL) 		Dishonest insider 85
Feb. 25 , 2005
Bank of America
(Charlotte, NC)
Lost backup tape
1,200,000
Feb. 25, 2005
PayMaxx
(Miramar, FL)
Exposed online
25,000
March 8, 2005
DSW/Retail Ventures
(Columbus, OH)
Hacking
100,000
March 10, 2005
LexisNexis
(Dayton, OH)
Passwords compromised
UPDATE (06/30/06): Last week, five men were arrested in connection with this breach.

32,000

Additional
280,000
March 11, 2005
Univ. of CA, Berkeley
(Berkeley, CA)
Stolen laptop
98,400
March 11, 2005 Kaiser Permanente
(Oakland, CA)		 A disgruntled employee posted informaton on her blog noting that Kaiser Permanente included private patient information on systems diagrams posted on the Web.
UPDATE (6/21/2005): The California Department of Managed Health Care fined Kaiser $200,000 for exposing the confidential health information.		 140
March 11, 2005
Boston College
(Boston, MA)
Hacking
120,000
March 12, 2005
NV Dept. of Motor Vehicle
Stolen computer. UPDATE: The computer was later recovered.
[8,900]
Not included
in total below
March 20, 2005 Northwestern Univ.
(Evanston, IL) 		Hacking 21,000
March 20, 2005
Univ. of NV., Las Vegas
(Las Vegas, NV)
Hacking
5,000
March 22, 2005
Calif. State Univ.
(Chico, CA)
Hacking
59,000
March 23, 2005
Univ. of CA.
(San Francisco, CA)
Hacking
7,000
March 25, 2005 Purdue University
(West Lafayette, IN)		 Computers in the College of Liberal Arts' Theater Dept. were hacked, exposing personal information of employees, students, graduates, and business affiliates. 1,200
(not included in total because news stories are not clear if SSNs or financial information were exposed)
April ?, 2005 Georgia DMV Dishonest insider 465,000
April 5, 2005 MCI
(Ashburn, VA) 		Stolen laptop 16,500
April 5, 2005 Univ. of CA, Davis
(Davis, CA) 		The names and Social Security numbers of students, faculty, visiting speakers and staff may have been compromised when a hacker accessed a main computer. 1,100
April 6, 2005 University of California, San Francisco A server in the accounting and personnel departments was hacked. It contained information on 7,000 students, faculty, and staff members. The affected individuals were notified March 23. 7,000
April 8, 2005 Eastern National Hacker 15,000
April 8, 2005
San Jose Med. Group
(San Jose, CA)
Stolen computer
UPDATE (10/10/07): A former branch manager at the San Jose Medical Group has been sentenced to almost two years in prison for stealing medical records for about 187,000 patients. The accused pleaded guilty in May to one count of health care-related theft after he stole computer equipment from his former employer, including a DVD that contained patients' names, Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses and other information.
187,000
April 11, 2005
Tufts University
(Boston, MA)
Hacking
106,000
April 14, 2005
Polo Ralph Lauren/HSBC
(New York, NY)
Hacking
UPDATE (07/10/07): U.S. Secret Service agents found Ralph Polo Lauren customers' credit card numbers in the hands of Eastern European cyber thieves who created high-quality counterfeit credit cards. Victims are from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Canada, among other places, Several Cuban nationals in Florida were arrested with more than 200,000 credit card account numbers.
180,000
April 14, 2005 Calif. Fastrack Dishonest Insider 4,500
April 15, 2005 CA Dept. of Health Services Stolen laptop 21,600
April 18, 2005
DSW/ Retail Ventures
(Columbus, OH)
Hacking
Additional
1,300,000
April 20, 2005
Ameritrade
(Bellevue, NE)
Lost backup tape
200,000
April 21, 2005 Carnegie Mellon Univ.
(Pittsburg, PA) 		Hacking 19,000
April 26, 2005 Mich. State Univ's Wharton Center Hacking 40,000
April 26, 2005 Christus St. Joseph's Hospital
(Houston, TX) 		Stolen computer 19,000
April 28, 2005 Georgia Southern Univ. Hacking "tens of
thousands"
April 28, 2005 Wachovia,
Bank of America,
PNC Financial Services Group and
Commerce Bancorp 		Dishonest insiders 676,000
April 29, 2005 Oklahoma State Univ. Missing laptop 37,000
May 2, 2005 Time Warner
(New York, NY) 		Lost backup tapes 600,000
May 4, 2005 CO. Health Dept. Stolen laptop 1,600
(families)
May 5, 2005 Purdue Univ.
(West Lafayette, IN) 		Hacking 11,360
May 7, 2005 Dept. of Justice
(Washington, D.C.) 		Stolen laptop 80,000
May 11, 2005 Stanford Univ.
(Stanford, CA) 		Hacking 9,900
May 12, 2005 Hinsdale Central High School
(Hinsdale, IL) 		Hacking 2,400
May 16, 2005 Westborough Bank
(Westborough, MA) 		Dishonest insider 750
May 18, 2005 Jackson Comm. College
(MI)		 Hacking 8,000
May 18, 2005 Univ. of Iowa Hacking 30,000
May 19, 2005 Valdosta State Univ.
(GA) 		Hacking 40,000
May 25, 2005 North Carolina Div. of Motor Vehicles
(Greensboro, NC)		 On Feb. 10, an employee downloaded addresses of 3.8 million people but was detected and stopped before being able to retrieve more sensitive information such as driver's license numbers. None
May 26, 2005 Duke Univ.
(Durham, NC) 		Hacking 5,500
May 27, 2005 Cleveland State Univ.
(Cleveland, OH).		 Stolen laptop
UPDATE (12/24): CSU found the stolen laptop 		[44,420]
Not included
in total below
May 28, 2005 Merlin Data Services
(Kalispell, MT) 		Bogus acct. set up 9,000
May 30, 2005 Motorola Computers stolen Unknown
June 6, 2005 CitiFinancial Lost backup tapes 3,900,000
June 10, 2005 Fed. Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Not disclosed 6,000
June 16, 2005
 CardSystems Hacking 40,000,000
June 17, 2005 Kent State Univ. Stolen laptop 1,400
June 18, 2005 Univ. of Hawaii Dishonest Insider 150,000
June 22, 2005 Eastman Kodak Stolen laptop 5,800
June 22, 2005 East Carolina Univ. Hacking 250
June 25, 2005 Univ. of CT (UCONN) Hacking 72,000
June 28, 2005 Lucas Cty. Children Services (OH) Exposed by email 900
June 29, 2005 Bank of America Stolen laptop 18,000
June 30, 2005 Ohio State Univ. Med. Ctr. Stolen laptop 15,000
July 1, 2005 Univ. of CA, San Diego Hacking 3,300
July 6, 2005 City National Bank Lost backup tapes Unknown
July 7, 2005 Mich. State Univ. Hacking 27,000
July 19, 2005 Univ. of Southern Calif. (USC) Hacking 270,000
possibly accessed; "dozens"exposed
July 21, 2005 Univ. of Colorado-Boulder Hacking
UPDATE (08/20/2005) The number of students affected was increased from an estimate of 42,000 to 49,000. 		49,000
July 30, 2005 San Diego Co. Employees Retirement Assoc. Hacking 33,000
July 30, 2005 Calif. State Univ., Dominguez Hills Hacking 9,613
July 31, 2005 Cal Poly-Pomona Hacking 31,077
Aug. 2, 2005 Univ. of Colorado Hacking 36,000
Aug. 9, 2005 Sonoma State Univ. Hacking 61,709
Aug. 9, 2005 Univ. of Utah Hacking 100,000
Aug. 10, 2005 Univ. of North Texas Hacking 39,000
Aug. 17, 2005 Calif. State University, Stanislaus Hacking 900
Aug. 19, 2005 Univ. of Colorado Hacking 49,000
Aug. 22, 2005 Air Force Hacking 33,300
Aug. 27, 2005 Univ. of Florida, Health Sciences Center/ChartOne Stolen Laptop 3,851
Aug. 30, 2005 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
(Dallas, TX) 		Stolen laptop (Aug. 8) containing personal and financial account information of customers of its private bank. Unknown
Aug. 30, 2005 Calif. State University, Chancellor's Office Hacking 154
Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa Student Loan
(W. Des Moines) 		Compact disk containing personal information, including SSNs, was lost when shipped by private courier. 165,000
Sept. 10, 2005 Kent State Univ. Stolen computers 100,000
Sept. 15, 2005 Miami Univ. Exposed online 21,762
Sept. 16, 2005 ChoicePoint 
(2nd notice, see 2/15/05)
(Alpharetta, GA)

ID thieves accessed; also misuse of IDs & passwords.

[Total later revised to 163,000 -- see 2/15/05 above]
Sept. 17, 2005 North Fork Bank, NY Stolen laptop (7/24/05) with mortgage data 9,000
Sept. 19, 2005 Children's Health Council, San Jose CA Stolen backup tape 5,000 - 6,000
Sept. 22, 2005 City University of New York Exposed online 350

Sept. 23,
2005

Bank of America Stolen laptop with info of Visa Buxx users (debit cards) Not disclosed
Sept. 28, 2005 RBC Dain Rauscher Illegitimate access to customer data by former employee 100+ customers' records compromised out of 300,000
Sept. 29, 2005 Univ. of Georgia Hacking At least 1,600
Oct. 12, 2005 Ohio State Univ. Medical Center Exposed online. Appointment information including SSN, DOB, address, phone no., medical no., appointment reason, physician.

2,800
Oct. 15, 2005 Montclair State Univ. Exposed online 9,100
Oct. 21, 2005 Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Hawaii Lost backup tape 130,000
Nov. 1, 2005 Univ. of Tenn. Medical Center Stolen laptop 3,800
Nov. 4, 2005 Keck School of Medicine, USC Stolen computer 50,000
Nov. 5, 2005 Safeway, Hawaii Stolen laptop 1,400 in Hawaii, perhaps more elsewhere
Nov. 8, 2005 ChoicePoint
(Alpharetta, GA) 		Bogus accounts established by ID thieves. Total affected now reaches 163,000
(See Feb. 15 & Sept. 16)
[Total later revised to 163,000 -- see 2/15/05 above]
Nov. 9, 2005 TransUnion Stolen computer 3,623
Nov. 11, 2005 Georgia Tech
Ofc. of Enrollment Services 		Stolen computer,
Theft 10/16/05 		13,000
Nov. 11, 2005 Scottrade Troy Group Hacking Unknown
Nov. 19, 2005 Boeing Stolen laptop with HR data incl. SSNs and bank account info.
161,000
Dec. 1, 2005 Firstrust Bank Stolen laptop 100,000
Dec. 1, 2005 Univ. of San Diego
(San Diego, CA) 		Hacking. Faculty, students and employee tax forms containing SSNs 7,800
Dec. 2, 2005 Cornell Univ. Hacking. Names, addresses, SSNs, bank names and acct. numbers. 900
Dec. 6, 2005 WA Employment Security Dept. Stolen laptop. Names, SSNs and earnings of former employees. 530
Dec. 7, 2005 Idaho State University, Office of Institutional Research
(Pocatello, ID)
Contact Information Technology Services, (208) 282-2872 		ISU discovered a security breach in a server containing archival information about students, faculty, and staff, including names, SSNs, birthdates, and grades. Unknown
Dec. 12, 2005 Sam's Club/Wal-Mart Exposed credit card data at gas stations. Unknown
Dec. 16, 2005 La Salle Bank, ABN AMRO Mortgage Group
Backup tape with residential mortgage customers lost in shipment by DHL, containing SSNs and account information.
UPDATE (12/20/05): DHL found the lost tape.
[2,000,000]
Not included in total below.
Dec. 16, 2005 Colorado Tech. Univ. Email erroneously sent containing names, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and
class schedules.		 1,200
Dec. 20, 2005 Guidance Software, Inc. Hacking. Customer credit card numbers.
UPDATE (4/3/07): The FTC came to a settlement agreement and final consent order against Guidance Software.		 3,800
Dec. 22, 2005 Ford Motor Co. Stolen computer. Names and SSNs of current and former employees. 70,000
Dec. 25, 2005 Iowa State Univ. Hacking. Credit card information and Social Security numbers. 5,500
Dec. 25, 2005
 Ameriprise Financial Inc.
(Minneapolis, MN)
(877) 267-7408 		A laptop was stolen from an employee's car Christmas eve. It contained customers' names and Social Security numbers and in some cases, Ameriprise account information.
UPDATE (08/06): The laptop was recovered by local law enforcement in the community where it was stolen.
UPDATE (12/11/06): The company settled with the Massachusetts securities regulator in the office of the Secretary of State. Ameriprise agreed to hire an independent consultant to review its policies and procedures for employees' and contractors' use of laptops containing personal information. Ameriprise will pay the state regulator $25,000 for the cost of the investigation. 		260,000
2005
[Exact date unknown] 		U.S. Dept. of Veteran's Affairs
(Washington, D.C.) 		A laptop being stored in the trunk of a car was stolen in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2 people later reported identity fraud problems. 66
2006 NAME
(Location)		 TYPE OF BREACH NUMBER OF RECORDS
Jan. 1, 2006 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Squirrel Hill Family Medicine 6 Stolen computers. Names, Social Security numbers, birthdates 700
Jan. 2, 2006 H&R Block SSNs exposed in 40-digit number string on mailing label Unknown
Jan. 9, 2006 Atlantis Hotel - Kerzner Int'l Dishonest insider or hacking. Names, addresses, credit card details, Social Security numbers, driver's licence numbers and/or bank account data. 55,000
Jan. 12, 2006 People's Bank Lost computer tape containing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and checking account numbers. 90,000
Jan. 17, 2006 City of San Diego, Water & Sewer Dept.
(San Diego, CA) 		Dishonest employee accessed customer account files, including SSNs, and committed identity theft on some individuals. Unknown
Jan. 20, 2006 Univ. Place Conference Center & Hotel, Indiana Univ. Hacking. Reservation information including credit card account number compromised. Unknown
Jan. 21, 2006 California Army National Guard Stolen briefcase with personal information of National Guardsmen including a "seniority roster," Social Security numbers and dates of birth. "hundreds of officers"
Jan. 23, 2006 Univ. of Notre Dame Hackers accessed Social Security numbers, credit card information and check images of school donors. Unknown
Jan. 24, 2006 Univ. of WA Medical Center Stolen laptops containing names, Social Security numbers, maiden names, birth dates, diagnoses and other personal data. 1,600
Jan. 25, 2006 Providence Home Services
(Portland, OR) 		Stolen backup tapes and disks containing Social Security numbers, clinical and demographic information. In a small number of cases, patient financial data was stolen.
UPDATE:  (9/26/06)
Providence Health System and the Oregon Attorney General have filed a settlement agreement.  Providence will provide affected patients with free credit monitoring, offer credit restoration to patients who are victims of identity fraud, and reimburse patients for direct losses that result from the data breach.  The company must also enhance its security programs. 		365,000
Jan. 27, 2006 State of RI web site (www.RI.gov) Hackers obtained credit card information in conjunction with names and addresses.
 4,117
Jan. 31, 2006 Boston Globe and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette Inadvertently exposed. Credit and debit card information along with routing information for personal checks printed on recycled paper used in wrapping newspaper bundles for distribution. 240,000 potentially exposed
Feb. 1, 2006 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Inadvertently exposed. SSNs of members printed on the mailing labels of envelopes with information about a new insurance plan. 600
Feb. 4, 2006 FedEx Inadvertently exposed. W-2 forms included other workers' tax information such as SSNs and salaries. 8,500
Feb. 9, 2006 Unknown retail merchants, apparently OfficeMax and perhaps others. Hacking. Debit card accounts exposed involving bank and credit union accounts nationwide (including CitiBank, BofA, WaMu, Wells Fargo).
[3/13/06 Crime ring arrested.] 		200,000, although total number is unknown.
Feb. 9, 2006 Honeywell International Exposed online. Personal information of current and former employees including Social Security numbers and bank account information posted on an Internet Web site. 19,000
Feb. 13, 2006 Ernst & Young
(UK)		 Laptop stolen from employee's car with customers' personal information including Social Security numbers. 38,000 BP employees in addition to Sun, Cisco and IBM employees.
Feb. 15, 2006 Dept. of Agriculture Inadvertently exposed Social Security and tax identification numbers in FOIA request. 350,000
Feb. 15, 2006 Old Dominion Univ. Exposed online. Instructor posted a class roster containing names and Social Security numbers to a web site. 601
Feb. 16, 2006 Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Jacksonville, FL		 Contractor sent names and Social Security numbers of current and former employees, vendors and contractors to his home computer in violation of company policies.A judge today ordered a former computer consultant to reimburse the Jacksonville-based health insurer $580,000 for expenses related to his theft . 27,000
Feb. 17, 2006 Calif. Dept. of Corrections, Pelican Bay
(Sacramento, CA) 		Inmates gained access to files containing employees' Social Security numbers, birth dates and pension account information stored in warehouse. Unknown
Feb. 17, 2006 Mount St. Mary's Hospital (1 of 10 hospitals with patient info. stolen)
(Lewiston, NY)
 Two laptops containing date of birth, address and Social Security numbers of patients was stolen in an armed robbery in the New Jersey. 17,000
Feb. 18, 2006 Univ. of Northern Iowa Hacking. Laptop computer holding W-2 forms of student employees and faculty was illegally accessed. 6,000
Feb. 23, 2006 Deloitte & Touche (McAfee employee information) External auditor lost a CD with names, Social Security numbers and stock holdings in McAfee of current and former McAfee employees. 9,290
Mar. 1, 2006 Medco Health Solutions
(Columbus, OH)		 Stolen laptop containing Social Security numbers for State of Ohio employees and their dependents, as well as their birth dates and, in some cases, prescription drug histories. 4,600
Mar. 1, 2006 OH Secretary of State's Office SSNs, dates of birth, and other personal data of citizens routinely posted on a State web site as part of standard business practice. Unknown
Mar. 2, 2006 Olympic Funding
(Chicago, IL) 		3 hard drives containing clients names, Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers stolen during break in. Unknown
Mar. 2, 2006 Los Angeles Cty. Dept. of Social Services
(Los Angeles, CA) 		File boxes containing names, dependents, Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, medical information, employer, W-2, and date of birth were left unattended and unshredded. [Potentially 2,000,000, but number unknown]
Not included in number below.
Mar. 2, 2006 Hamilton County Clerk of Courts
(OH)		 SSNs, other personal data of residents posted on county Web site, were stolen and used to commit identity theft.
UPDATE (9/28/06): An identity thief was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crimes. She stole 100 identities and nearly $500,000. The Web site now blocks access to court documents containing personal information. 		[1,300,000]
Not included in number below.
Mar. 3, 2006 Metropolitan State College
(Denver, CO) 		Stolen laptop containing names and Social Security numbers of students who registered for Metropolitan State courses between the 1996 fall semester and the 2005 summer semester. 93,000
Mar. 5, 2006 Georgetown Univ.
(Washington, D.C.) 		Hacking. Personal information including names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of District seniors served by the Office on Aging. 41,000
Mar. 8, 2006 Verizon Communications
(New York, NY) 		2 stolen laptops containing employees' personal information including Social Security numbers. "Significant number"
Mar. 8, 2006 iBill
(Deerfield Beach, FL) 		Dishonest insider or possibly malicious software linked to iBill used to post names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses, Internet IP addresses, logins and passwords, credit card types and purchase amount online. Credit card account numbers, expiration dates, security codes, and SSNs were NOT included, but in our opinion the affected individuals could be vulnerable to social engineering to obtain such information. [17,781,462]
Not included in total below.
Mar. 11, 2006 CA Dept. of Consumer Affairs (DCA)
(Sacramento, CA) 		Mail theft. Applications of DCA licensees or prospective licensees for CA state boards and commissions were stolen. The forms include full or partial Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, and potentially payment checks.
"A small number"
Mar. 14, 2006 General Motors
(Detroit, MI) 		Dishonest insider keep Social Security numbers of co-workers to perpetrate identity theft. 100
Mar. 14
2006 		Buffalo Bisons and Choice One Online
(Buffalo, NY)		 Hacker accessed sensitive financial information including credit card numbers names, passwords of customers who ordered items online. Unknown
Mar. 15,
2006		 Ernst & Young
(UK)		 Laptop lost containing the names, dates of birth, genders, family sizes, Social Security numbers and tax identifiers for current and previous IBM, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Nokia and BP employees exposed. Unknown
Mar. 16,
2006		 Bananas.com
(San Rafael, CA)

Hacker accessed names, addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers of customers.

274
Mar. 23,
2006 		Fidelity Investments
(Boston, MA) 		Stolen laptop containing names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other information of 196,000 Hewlett Packard, Compaq and DEC retirement account customers was stolen. 196,000
Mar. 24,
2006 		CA State Employment Development Division
(Sacramento, CA)
Computer glitch sends state Employment Development Division 1099 tax forms containing Social Security numbers and income information to the wrong addresses, potentially exposing those taxpayers to identity theft. 64,000
Mar. 24,
2006 		Vermont State Colleges (VT) Laptop stolen containing Social Security numbers and payroll data of students, faculty and staff associated with the five-college system from as long ago as 2000. 14,000
Mar. 30,
2006 		Marines
(Monterey, CA) 		Portable drive lost that contains personal information used for research on re-enlistment bonuses. 207,750

Mar. 30,
2006

Georgia Technology Authority
(Atlanta, GA) 		Hacker exploited security flaw to gain access to confidential information including Social Security numbers and bank-account details of state pensioners. 573,000
Mar. 30,
2006 		Conn. Technical High School System
(Middletown, CT) 		Social Security numbers of students and faculty mistakenly distributed via email. 1,250
April 1, 2006 Con Edison
(New York)		 Con Edison shipped 2 cartridge tapes to JPMorgan Chase in upstate Binghamton so it could input data on behalf of the NY Dept. of Taxation and Finance. One tape was apparently lost containing employees' W-2 data, including names, addresses, SSNs, taxes paid and salaries. 15,000 Con Edison employees
April 6,
2006 		Progressive Casualty Insurance
(Mayfield Village, OH) 		Dishonest insider accessed confidential information, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and property addresses on foreclosure properties she was interested in buying. 13
April 7,
2006 		DiscountDomain
Registry.com
(Brooklyn, NY) 		Exposed online. Domain registrants' personal information including usernames, passwords and credit card numbers were accessible online. "thousands of domain name registrations"
April 9,
2006 		University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
(Newark, NJ)		 Hackers accessed Social Security numbers, loan information, and other confidential financial information of students and alumni. 1,850
April 12,
2006 		Ross-Simons
(Providence, RI)		 Security breach exposed account and personal information of those who applied for its private label credit card. Information exposed includes private label credit card numbers and other personal information of applicants. Unknown
April 14, 2006 NewTech Imaging
(Honolulu, HI) 		Records containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of more than 40,000 members of Voluntary Employees Benefit Association of Hawaiiwere illegally reproduced at a copying business before they were to be put onto a compact disc for the State. Police later found the data on a computer that had been confiscated as part of a drug investigation. 40,000
April 14,
2006 		Univ. of South Carolina
(Columbia, SC) 		Social Security numbers of students were mistakenly e-mailed to classmates. 1,400
April 15, 2006 Scott County, IA The Social Security numbers of people who obtained mortgages in the early 1990s are visible in documents posted on the county's website. The county will redact the information at the individuals' request. Unknown
April 21, 2006 University of Alaska, Fairbanks
(Fairbanks, AK) 		A hacker accessed names, Social Security numbers, and partial e-mail addresses of current and former students, faculty, and staff. 38,941
April 21, 2006 Boeing
(Seattle, WA) 		A laptop was taken from a Boeing human resources employee at Sea-Tac airport. It contained SSNs and other personal information, including personnel information from the 2000 acquisition of Hughes Space and Communications 3,600 current and former employees
April 21,
2006 		Ohio University
Innovation Center
(Athens, OH) 		a server containing data including e-mails, patent and intellectual property files, and 35 Social Security numbers associated with parking passes was compromised. Unknown
April 24,
2006 		University of Texas' McCombs School of Business
(Austin, TX)
Hackers accessed records containing names, biographical information and, in some cases, Social Security numbers and dates of birth of current and prospective students, alumni, faculty members, corporate recruiters and staff members. 197,000
April 24,
2006 		Ohio University
(Athens, OH)

Hackers accessed a computer system of the school's alumni relations department that included biographical information and 137,000 Social Security numbers of alum.

UPDATE (8/30/07) :
An Ohio judge has granted a motion to dismiss a case against Ohio University (OU) regarding security breaches of the school's computer systems that compromised alumni data. The two alumni who filed the lawsuit wanted OU to pay for credit monitoring services for everyone whose data were compromised. The judge said the pair had not proven that they had suffered damages for which they could be compensated.

 300,000
April 26,
2006 		Purdue University
(West Lafayette, IN) 		Hacker accessed personal information including Social Security numbers of current and former graduate students, applicants to graduate school, and a small number of applicants for undergraduate scholarships. 1,351
April 26,
2006 		Aetna -- health insurance records for employees of 2 members, including Omni Hotels and the Dept. of Defense NAF
(Hartford, CT) 		Laptop containing personal information including names, addresses and Social Security numbers of Dept. of Defense (35,253) and Omni Hotel employees (3,000) was stolen from an Aetna employee's car. 38,000
April 27,
2006		 MasterCard
(Potentially UK only) 		Though MasterCard refused to say how the breach occurred, fraudsters stole the credit card details of holders in a major security breach. [2,000]
Not included in total below.
April 27,
2006 		Long Island Rail
Road
(Jamaica, NY)		 Data tapes containing personal information including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and salary figures of "virtually everyone" who worked for the agency was lost by delivery contractor Iron Mountain while enroute. Data tapes belonging to the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs may also have been affected. 17,000
April 28,
2006 		Ohio's Secretary of State
(Cleveland, OH)
The names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of potentially millions of registered voters in Ohio were included on CD-ROMs distributed to 20 political campaign operations for spring primary election races. The records of about 7.7 million registered voters are listed on the CDs, but it's unknown how many records contained SSNs, which were not supposed to have been included on the CDs.
UPDATE (9/15/06): A news report said that some SSNs still remain on the agency's Web site. 		"Potentially millions of registered voters"
April 28,
2006 		Dept. of Defense
(Washington, DC)		 Hacker accessed a Tricare
Management Activity (TMA) public server containing personal information about military employees.		 Unknown
May 2,
2006 		Georgia State Government
(Atlanta, GA) 		Government surplus computers that sold before their hard drives were erased contained credit card numbers, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of Georgia citizens. Unknown
May 4,
2006 		Idaho Power Co.
(Boise, ID)		 Four company hard drives were sold on eBay containing hundreds of thousands of confidential company documents, employee names and Social Security numbers, and confidential memos to the company's CEO. Unknown
May 4,
2006 		Ohio University
Hudson Health Center
(Athens, OH)		 Names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and medical information were accessed in records of students dating back to 2001, plus faculty, workers and regional campus students. 60,000
May 2006 Ohio University
(Athens, OH) 		A breach was discovered on a computer that housed IRS 1099 forms for vendors and independent contractors for calendar years 2004 and 2005. 2,480
May 2006 Ohio University
(Athens, OH)		 A breach of a computer that hosted a variety of Web-based forms, including some that processed on-line business transactions. Although this computer was not set up to store personal information, investigators did discover files that contained fragments of personal information, including Social Security numbers. The data is fragmentary and it is not certain if the compromised information can be traced to individuals. Also found on the computer were 12 credit card numbers that were used for event registration. Unknown
May 5,
2006 		U.S. Dept. of Veteran's Affairs
(Washington, D.C.) 		A data tape disappeared from a VA facility in Indianapolis, IN that contained information on legal cases involving U.S. veterans and included veterans' Social Security numbers, dates of birth and legal documents.
UPDATE (10/11/06):
The VA's Office of the General Counsel is offering identity theft protection services to those affected by the missing tape.
16,500
May 5,
2006 		Wells Fargo
(San Francisco, CA) 		Computer containing names, addresses, Social Security numbers and mortgage loan deposit numbers of existing and prospective customers may have been stolen while being delivered from one bank facility to another. Unknown
May 12,
2006		 Mercantile Potomac Bank
(Gaithersburg, MD)		 Laptop containing confidential information about customers, including Social Security numbers and account numbers was stolen when a bank employee removed it from the premises, in violation of the bank's policies. The computer did not contain customer passwords, personal identification numbers (PIN numbers) or account expiration dates. 48,000
May 19,
2006 		American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
(New York, NY) 		An unencrypted hard drive containing names, addresses and Social Security numbers of AICPA members was lost when it was shipped back to the organization by a computer repair company.
330,000
[Updated 6/16/06]
May 19,
2006		 Unknown retail merchant Visa, MasterCard, and other debit and credit card numbers from banks across the country were stolen when a national retailer's database was breached. No names, Social Security numbers or other personal identification were taken. Unknown
May 22,
2006 		U.S. Dept. of Veteran's Affairs
(Washington, DC)
(800) 827-1000		 On May 3, data of all American veterans who were discharged since 1975 including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and in many cases phone numbers and addresses, were stolen from a VA employee's home. Theft of the laptop and computer storage device included data of 26.5 milliion veterans. The data did not contain medical or financial information, but may have disability numerical rankings.
UPDATE: An additional 2.1 million active and reserve service members were added to the total number of affected individuals June 1st.
UPDATE (6/