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January 23, 2008
Data Breach Hits Home

Just got a note in the mail from T. Rowe Price, telling me that in connection with my retirement account I have with them, several laptop computers (should we just start calling laptops hacktops?) were stolen from the offices of one of their vendors, and as the letter states, on the laptop "specific information is provided regarding participants who left the company during the 2005 plan year and certain participants who left in other years."

So employees who left in 2005 are at risk, along with ones that left in other years (which pretty much encompass everyone else who left the company). Pretty specifically unspecific, I'd say.

The letter goes on to say, "As a former employee, your address, data of birth, or other personally identifiable information was not included in the records. However, your name and Social Security number are believed to be on the hard drives of these stolen computers."

Why does that kind of feel like someone's told me, Congratulations, you've just won 50 dollars, now give us 100 dollars to collect. But all ends pretty good, in fact, because at the end of the letter, T. Rowe offers me a free years subscription to a credit checking service, as well as $25,000 in identity theft insurance.

Geez, I sure hope this whole letter is not from some hacker looking for me to jump on his fake credit checking site and give away all my info. Now wouldn't that be something?