LifeLock

Starbucks announced yesterday that a laptop containing the personal information of 97,000 employees was stolen October 29. Employees’ names, addresses and Social Security numbers were part of the stolen data.

That’s more than half of Starbucks’ 172,000 employees left jittery over the threat of identity theft.

Russell Walker, Starbucks’ vice president of Enterprise Security, told the affected employees that the corporation will provide them with a year of credit monitoring in a letter notifying them of the data breach.

Credit monitoring alerts consumers after changes in their credit files have taken place.

Also in the letter was a mention that the corporation sees this as an opportunity to educate their employees about methods to protect their own personal information, though the letter didn’t suggest that they avoid employment with companies that have irresponsible data management histories and policies.

Walker also said, “We also continue our work to prevent future incidents from occurring. In fact, we are currently implementing encryption solutions where appropriate.”

Does that mean the data of 97,000 employees wasn’t encrypted? Does that mean Starbucks is just getting wise to the importance of encrypting the data or 97,000 employees’ personal information before it’s carried away on a laptop?

Lost and stolen laptops are the most common cause of data breaches.

Starbucks experienced another grande data breach in 2006 when they lost four unused laptops from their Seattle headquarters. The laptops contained the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 10,000 of their then-current U.S. employees, and another 50,000 U.S. employees who had formerly worked for them. Eighty Canadian employees and contractors were also affected.

Employee data is the most commonly lost information in data breaches. Visit LifeLock.com for more information on how they can help protect your finances, credit and your name.

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