This will fall into the category of “you can’t be serious!“. Nevertheless, various news sources have confirmed that the stolen Ohio data was the responsibility of an intern:

“…Under protocol in place since 2002, a first backup storage device is kept at a temporary work site for a state office along with the computer system that holds all the employee information, and a second backup device is given to employees on a rotating basis to take home for safekeeping, officials said.

Strickland said it was inappropriate for an intern to be designated that responsibility, and he ordered an end to the practice of employees taking the devices home. State Budget Director Pari Sabety said the device now would be stored in another location in a locked, fireproof box.”

link: Data on 64,000 Ohio State Workers Stolen

That employee was a college senior who was doing an internship. That constituted part of security procedures.

Ohio will provide identity theft protection for one year for its employees. The estimated costs is stated at six hundred sixty thousand dollars ($660,000). Perhaps the unions involved will demand a more extended coverage. In that case, with the number of employees involved, the monitoring costs will soar.

Perhaps Ohio, along with all other administrations, need a thorough review of security procedures. Having an intern take home sensitive state data is beyond bewildering.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: intern, security, ohio, state workers, data base, governor strickland, privacy, identity theft, monitoring