Posted on 04/16/2010 1:12:16 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
The data kitty, in what was believed to be the largest-ever case of student-loan data theft, may have been recovered.
More details have emerged how the data of 3.3 million borrowers was compromised when their personal data was stolen the weekend of March 20th from the St. Paul headquarters of Educational Credit Management Corp., a non-profit guarantor of federally-backed student loans.
Information released by the Minnesota Department of Safety about the investigation, further highlight that, indeed, the incident was deemed “simple, old-fashioned theft” rather than the work of intricate hacking.
Two safes containing approximately 650 CDs and floppy disks containing the borrower data were found within 48 hours of the burglary and the data on said disks did not appear to be compromised, officials say. The safes weighed approximately 200 pounds each, according to Jill Oliveira, a spokeswoman with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Minneapolis Police have had the safes in custody since March 22, but only now are releasing details after examining the evidence.
(snip)
...David Hawn, ECMC’s chief business-development officer previously stated. He also said the company didn’t believe the data theft was connected with recent student-loan legislative overhaul.
(snip)
So how exactly did a non-employee exit the offices with two, 200-pound safes full of data?
“Honestly, I don’t know,” says Richard Boyle, President and CEO of ECMC. Details of the investigation are still being withheld.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
I smell a Rat and some dirty tricks in this whole mess.
And yes, I am one of the affected borrowers.
Same here.
WOW! I sure feel a LOT better that it was Student Loan Stuff and not our medical records...cause they aren’t massively computerized!WHEW!......
Uh, uh, uh....But this would NEVER happen with Obozocare!
I find that statement in and of itself to be suspicious.
ECMC....probably one of the only companies my son does not have a student loan with. Sorry to hear you were affected.
ECMC is only a guarantor, i.e., it "guarantees" that the loan will be repaid, whatever that means.
But yeah, it does suck that I was affected.
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