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WHO'S HAD
COMPUTERS STOLEN ????
Information we receive from our customers we hold as confidential.
These are actual news articles that were published in newspapers that
anyone can see. These articles illustrate the increasing problem of
computer theft across the country :
Computer Theft Stories right out of the papers:
| Educational
Computer Crime Stories |
"In less than three years, thieves
have drained the Los Angeles school system of more than $16 million
in computer equipment, forcing many facilities to cancel computer curriculum altogether.
..."
"Los Angeles Times"; Washington Edition (06/13/96).P.A1
(Tamaki, Julie;Folmar, Kate) |
". . . Three undergraduate
students may face disciplinary action in connection with multiple thefts of computers from
MIT laboratories, according to Campus Police. "As a ballpark figure, about $70,000.00 of computer equipment is involved", said the Police
Chief.. . . "
"Students Accused of Computer Theft", The Tech, Friday
April 12, 1991, Vol. 111, no. 19 |
". . . Yale University reported
one individual who stole in excess of $1 million in computer
parts . . ."
"Chip burglar guts 64 computers at Carnegie Mellon"; Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette: Feb 19, 1996; Vol. 69, no. 203. (Note : None of the 64 computers at CMU
mentioned in this article were protected by LightGard. Another type of security system was
compromised) |
| ". . . More than $70,000.00 worth of computers and related equipment were stolen
from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) university
police said (UCPD). . . . over 30 computers were taken from labs, offices, classrooms.
Many of the students and faculty have been disrupted because of the lost research data. .
. " "School
Adjusts to Major Computer Theft", Daily Bruin, Crime by Brooke Bridgford. |
". . . Between 11 p.m., Nov 5, and
8 a.m., Nov 6 a Personal System II, Model 30 IBM computer, IBM monitor, and 30 computer
disks were stolen from the Director's office of Williams Hall. Entry was gained by cutting
a hole through the wall. The hardware is valued at $1,600.00. The
software is valued at $1,500.00. The data on the software is
valued at $75,000.00, based on the man-hours necessary to
replicate it. . . "
"Campus Crimeline"; The Round Up: Monday, November 1991. |
". . . Computer thieves will cost $400,000.00 this year, officials say [at University of Michigan] .
. . The thefts are mostly internal and there are usually no signs of forced entry. . . .
In terms of dollars, computers are the top loss at U-M. . ."
"Light Fingers hit U-M hard"; Detroit Free Press: Aug 5, 1991 |
" . . . Already, the dollar loss
this year in stolen Macintosh, IBM and Next Inc. computers is equal to last year's total -
more than $140,000.00, police said. . . Who is taking the
computers is difficult for police to pinpoint because the computers are easily resold
anywhere. . . "
"Computers still targets at Stanford"; Times Tribune: Jul 19,
1990. |
| Corporate
Computer Crime Stories |
". . . A thief has stolen a hard
drive from Levi Strauss' headquarters in San Francisco containing sensitive data. The drive contains the birth dates, Social Security numbers and names
of thousands of Levi Employees. Company officials are not currently sure whether the drive
was stolen for the data it contains or simply for the hardware. Levi has warned 20,000 of
its US workers that their personal information may be in the hands of criminals. The data
could be used to access the employee's personal bank information or to apply for
fraudulent credit cards. . . . Fraudulent credit-card numbers are worth about $5,000.00 on
the street, and a criminal gang could apply for two illegal cards in each name. The theft of the $200 hard drive could be a potential $200 million dollar
crime if you had a smart criminal. . . "
"Levi Strauss Caught With Its Pants Down", Computer World, May
5, 1997 v31 n18 p.(s) Sharon Machlis. |
"One desktop
computer stolen earlier this month from Visa International's San Mateo, Calif.,
data-processing center could cost the company more than $6 million and cause headaches for
hundreds of thousands of credit-card holders nationwide. The computer contained
information on 314,000 credit-card accounts. . Visa has agreed to cover the costs of
reissuing the cards, up to $20 per account, which could total nearly $6.3
million."
"Computer's Theft May Cost Visa More Than $6 Million"; Wall Street
Journal, Tuesday, Nov 19, 1996. |
". . . The prestigious Palo Alto
law firm of Cooley Godward LLD has tightened up internal security after an employee was allegedly able to steal 210 of the firm's computers
and sell them over a one-year period. Duraid Altai, 39 is charged with stealing 90 IBM
ThinkPad's and 120 Hewlett-Packard Vectras, worth more than $1
million. Altai is believed to have placed 19 classified ads in the San Francisco
Chronicle between Sept 95 and Sept 96 to sell the computers. Only four of the 210
computers have been recovered."
"More than 200 Computers Stolen From Law Firm", Police Report by
Don Kazak. Publication Date: Wed. Oct 8, 1997. |
" Investigators arrested three
former IBM employees and a Georgia businessman in connection with the theft of more than $20 million worth of computer parts form a Poughkeepsie, NY IBM
plant. The suspects reportedly transported more than 3000 stolen memory cards by truck to
Connecticut then sold them to black marketers. They are accused of laundering more than
$700,000.00 in profits from the illegal sales through computer companies in Georgia, New
York and Maryland.. . "
"U.S. Indicts 3 in Parts Theft from IBM", New York Times
(01/20/95) P.D4 (McKinley, James C. Jr.) |
" . . . Officials at the World Trade Center have reported that the computer files showing the
layout of the building's new high-tech security system have been stolen. The theft
has prompted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to alert the Joint Terrorist
Task Force. The facility's new security command center project is part of the Port
Authorities attempt to shore up security at the building after the 1993 terrorist bombing.
. "
"World Trade Center Security Files Stolen", Baltimore Sun
(04/20/95) P. 14A |
". . . Authorities in Boulder, CO
have arrested Andrew Brian Schrader for allegedly stealing $60
million worth of highly sensitive information from the computer systems of Hauser
Chemical Research, Inc. . . Susan Maynard, Hauser's director of human resources,
reportedly contacted the suspect, a former technical writer at Hauser, soon after the
theft and warned him that the chemical firm could go out of business if the security of
the stolen information was compromised. Police said Schrader admitted he took the data
intentionally because he thought he might be able to use it in his new job with a computer
software company. . ."
"Stolen Hauser Computer Data Valued at $60 Million", Journal of
Commerce (11/29/93) P.11A |
" . . . Armed robbers took at
least $5 million in computer chips and memory boards in a
daring heist at an Irvine electronics distributor Tuesday night, the largest in a series
of thefts prompted by the soaring value of high-tech parts . . . "
"$5 Million in computer chips stolen"; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
May 18, 1995. |
" . . . The AEA (American
Electronics Association) quotes a survey from the Engineering and Safety Service of the
American Insurance Service Group that losses from chip thefts
totaled $8 billion last year and will grow to $200 billion by the year 2000. . .
"
"Computer-chip thieves: Thanks for the Memory"; Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette: May 25, 1995. |
" . . . one insurance company lost
more than $1 million in ATs from its storefront offices, even
though some were bolted to desktop locks. Thieves cut the tops off the desks and hauled
the PCs away "in less than three minutes" . .
"Reporter's Notebook: Eradicating 'Crime-Oids";PC Week: Aug
14, 1989, Vol. 6, No.32. |
"According to FBI Reports, 1 of every 14 notebook computers sold last year in the United States was
reported missing. "We estimate that over 100 laptops a
business day go missing in downtown Toronto" said Ben Kayfetz, president of
Security Solutions of Canada Inc. What makes the thefts so damaging, say experts, is the
fact that companies are losing the important information stored on
the machines along with their high cost".
"High-Tech Heists Spark Search for Solutions", Toronto Globe and Mail (10/08/97)
P. B10 (Rowan, Geoffrey). |
" Some 75% of companies have been
victims of computer crime, with an average loss of $401,600.00.
The most common types of computer crime are hardware theft and computer viruses. . . .
"
"Computer Crime", Nation's Business, Nov 1997 v85 n11 p18(8) |
" . . . the time and cost to
restore 20 MB of critical business information : sales and marketing, 19 days, $17,000.00 : accounting data, 21 days, $19,000.00
: production and operations, 32 days, $28,000.00 : research
and development, 42 days, $98,000.00. . . "
"Lost Data Can Cost Over $100,000"; INFO Security Product News:
March/April, 1990' Vol. 1, No. 1. |
| Government
Computer Crime Stories |
" . . . Data on a machine can be
worth substantially more than the hardware itself if the thief knows about it. A laptop stolen from the British Defense Ministry in the early 90's
had the entire Desert Storm war plan on it. The theft caused
a furor among NATO allies, Wade said. But it is believed that data was never used and the
computer was stolen simply as hardware.. . "
"Levi Strauss Caught With Its Pants Down", Computer World, May
5, 1997 v31 n18 p.(s) Sharon Machlis. |
" . . . On Feb. 20, 1989, U.S. Amy
Specialist Four Michael Peri, then 21, slipped into East Germany toting a stolen laptop computer and four disks containing classified information
about the deployment of tanks and helicopters along the boundary between the two
Germanys. . . Foreign intelligence agencies routinely target computer systems. . . "
"USAF computer crime unit flies solo"; ComputerWorld: Oct 22,
1990, Vol. XXIV, No. 43. |
" . . . Apple Computer's Inc.'s
Reston, VA - based Federal Government Operations office was broken into . . . and $79,637.70 worth of computer gear and storage drives were removed .
. . hard disk drives taken from office contained 'confidential' data. . . "
"Thieves Break Into Apple Office"; Federal Computer Week :
Sept 7, 1987. |
" . . . Burglars last week removed
Macintosh computer equipment valued at $51,300.00 from a Mac
store . . . computer and hard drives stolen were those used by its salesmen who handled
the company's federal accounts. . . "
"Macs 'Hot' Item in D.C. Area"; Federal Computer Week: Sept
14, 1987. |
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