Computer Mistake Leaks Sensitive Data

An unintentional mistake by a long-time Mesa County (Colo.) information technology (IT) technician allowed public access to hundreds of thousands of criminal justice records spanning 20 years, including the names and personal details about sheriff’s employees and confidential informants. County officials say the unnamed IT employee no longer works for the county, and that they’re working to identify the extent of the release and how many people accessed the records. Sheriff Stan Hilkey said the employee was part of a team that is integrating various computer systems for the region’s law enforcement agencies. During a file format conversion, the IT worker moved files from the sheriff’s records management system to another computer, which the person believed was secure. However, the computer was linked to the Internet and was not configured to prevent outside access. IT officials said the files were moved in April, and the security breach wasn’t discovered until November 24th. Computer logs show the files were accessed by U.S. and international computers starting in October. Read a story about the breach here, and follow-up on the impact of the release of data here.