A theft of two laptop computers has put a "significant
number" of Verizon Communications' employees at risk of having
their identities stolen, the company said Wednesday.
The computers were pilfered from a company facility and may contain
important personal information, such as Social Security numbers,
according to a report
in The Wall Street Journal. Verizon executives told employees in a
March 1 letter that the theft appears to be "a random criminal
act" and that the laptops were password-protected, according to
the Journal.
Verizon executives told the Journal that both current and former
employees could be at risk. Verizon is offering affected workers free
use of a credit monitoring service to help them watch out for identity
theft.
Other companies that have suffered similar data losses are Bank
of America and ChoicePoint.
