Controlling Board Being Asked for Money to Pay for Fallout

Jun 18, 02:20 PM

Current Headlines: By Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Jun. 18--The Strickland administration plans to ask the state Controlling Board today to release initial funds to pay for the state's response to last week's theft of a data-rich computer backup tape.

The request is expected to include $660,000 for free identity-theft protection services for state employees and their dependents and $50,000 to hire a computer expert, Matt Curtin, to review the state's analysis of what data is on the stolen tape, Budget Director J. Pari Sabety said.

Sabety said there also could be money requested for the independent review of the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System's security, ordered by Gov. Ted Strickland. The amount has not been determined.

Meanwhile, Strickland said yesterday that some additional personal information is on the stolen tape, but he could not say when the review will be done because there are a few complex files remaining to be analyzed.

"Our review of the information obviously will continue until we have determined, with Mr. Curtin's assistance, that we have identified every piece of sensitive information contained in the device," Strickland said at a Statehouse news conference, his third in as many days on the issue.

Curtin is founder of Interhack Corp., a Columbus-based information-security company.

Strickland announced Friday that a backup storage tape was stolen June 10 from the unlocked car of a state intern who had taken it home for safekeeping.

The governor repeated yesterday that there is no evidence the tape has been accessed, and it is highly unlikely that it would be because of the knowledge and equipment needed.

But the state has confirmed that the tape contains the names and Social Security numbers of all 64,467 non-university state employees. If they were enrolled in the state's pharmacy-benefits management program, their address and phone numbers also are included, as well as the names and Social Security numbers of 75,532 dependents.

Among the other sensitive data on the tape is bank-account numbers for school districts, local governments and Medicaid providers who received electronic fund transfers from the state, as well as for state employees and vendors who receive expense reimbursements through electronic transfers.

Yesterday, Strickland announced that the tape also contains information related to uncashed payment notifications for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients. The information includes recipient names, payment amounts and identification numbers.

The tape also includes the names and federal tax identification number of vendors who receive payments from the state that are withheld from employee paychecks, although only 16 of the 1,200 records contain banking information, Strickland said.

Mike Van Buskirk, president of the Ohio Bankers League, said he considers the risk of the banking information being misused if it falls into the wrong hands "fairly remote."

But he encouraged school districts, local governments, state employees and others who think they may be affected to contact their banks to discuss the security of their accounts.

He said individuals also can contact credit-reporting agencies to be flagged for the risk of identity theft, and the Department of Commerce also is notifying all state financial institutions about the situation.

State employees are being encouraged to access the free identity-theft protection services being offered to them and their dependents at http://ohio.gov/idprotect/.

The state has a contract with Texas-based Debix to provide the service for one year at a cost of $9.75 per employee or dependent, said Ron Sylvester, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

He said the state is setting aside $660,000 to start but doesn't expect all employees or their dependents will sign up for the service, so the final cost may be less.

The Highway Patrol has established a post-office box for anonymous tips about the theft at P.O. Box 361901, Columbus, OH 43236. There's also a tip line at 1-877-OHSINTEL or (614) 799-3555.

mniquette@dispatch.com

-- State response; how to keep your data safe A4

-----

To see more of The Columbus Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbusdispatch.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.