Time Warner's personal data on 600,000 missing
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Time Warner (TWX) on Monday said computer tapes containing Social Security and other personal information on 600,000 current and former workers are missing.
The media giant said the tapes, which were placed in a truck on March 22, were lost during transport by its data-storage company, Iron Mountain.
Time Warner — owner of America Online, CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. studio — said the tapes include data stretching back to 1986 with details on dependents and beneficiaries, in addition to Social Security numbers. Customers were not affected, Time Warner said.
Though there is no evidence the tapes were accessed or misused, Time Warner did not rule out foul play. The Secret Service is investigating.
The incident comes amid heightened security concerns about personal data that have been lost or stolen. In breaches reported publicly since February, more than 2.5 million records may have been exposed to thieves at data broker ChoicePoint, retailer DSW, news and information broker LexisNexis, the University of California at Berkeley and elsewhere.
The mishaps underscore the trove of personal data floating in cyberspace and the thriving underground market for stolen IDs, law-enforcement officials and privacy experts say. Personal information has become the currency of choice for criminals because the credit system allows anyone with someone's identity information to set up lines of credit until fraud is detected, they say.
"The underground economy is more than just credit cards and bank-account information," says John Watters, CEO of security firm iDefense. "They want your entire information set — passwords, Social Security number, passport, driver's license — to increase their profit potential."
Nearly 10 million Americans were victims of ID theft last year, says the Better Business Bureau. That could rise as more data are available online, security experts say. About 80% of 2,000 consumers surveyed say they are concerned about ID theft online, says security firm Entrust.
Time Warner is the second major company to report losing data. In February, Bank of America said it lost computer data tapes for 1.2 million federal employees, including U.S. senators. The missing tapes contain customer and account information, including some Social Security numbers, from a federal government program using Visa cards for government travel and procurement.
The tapes were lost in late December, during shipment to a backup data center. Federal law-enforcement officials were notified immediately. Bank of America says there is no evidence the tapes or their content were accessed or misused.
Time Warner Inc announced that they are unable to locate a container holding 40 backup tapes. These tapes contain personal information on 600,000 current and former employees back to 1986. This information includes details on dependents and beneficiaries, in addition to Social Security numbers. Customers were not affected, Time Warner said.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating and has not found any evidence that the tapes have been misused. This loss affects most of the 85,000 current employees. The tapes were lost by Iron Mountain Inc., a data storage company, which routinely handles off-site data storage for Time Warner and many other Fortune 500 companies. Time Warner has said that the tapes would require expensive equipment to read them, and that they were encrypted.