An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
It’s Not Just The Company That Suffers
Computer Theft Adds Up To $7 Million For Blue Cross Of Tennessee
The theft of 57 computers — most of them destined to be scrapped — doesn’t sound like big news. But according to a news report, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee is learning just how costly a single break-in can be.
In a story that appeared yesterday in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, officials at Blue Cross of Tennessee offered details on the aftermath of a computer theft — and a glimpse of the internal costs associated with the cleanup effort.
The break-in, which occurred in October, netted criminals some 57 computers stored in a vacated office building. Most of the computers were no longer in use, awaiting return to the vendor for their ultimate disposal, the report says.
But because the lost hard drives had not yet been erased, Blue Cross of Tennessee is now tasked with finding out what data was contained on them so that employees and customers can be notified of the loss of any personal information. Altogether, the theft might have compromised the records of more than 500,000 Americans, officials told the Times Free Press.
So far, Blue Cross of Tennessee has spent some $7 million on the breach, bringing in as many as 700 employees and contractors to analyze backup files and determine what data might have been lost, according to the report. The company might have to spend “millions more” to finish the job, it says.
“It was like water torture last fall,” Blue Cross vice president Ron Harr told the Times Free Press. “Every piece of information that came in was worse.”
Now this is one of those news things that cast blame on everyone. First, the criminals. “Thou shalt not steal” meant just that. If it doesn’t belong to you, you are not entitled to it. It’s that simple. Second, the company. Why were they storing the computers in a ‘vacated office building’? Was there no security? I’m fairly sure that all that info they failed to erase in a timely manner BEFORE stashing the computers was related to their customers, and such. $7 million is nothing to sneeze at y’know, even if it is a large health insurance company. And seriously, do you really believe this won’t result in higher premiums?
The moral of the story? Don’t steal. Theft adds to the cost of any product. When you decide to sue a company because you broke a fingernail, you are costing your fellow citizens. When you steal from store, the prices have to go up, to provide security so it won’t happen again. When you commit fraud, with an insurance company, you are stealing from those who truly do need the aid. And when you break into a building to steal, not just computers, but all the information that was stored on those computers, you hurt the insured.
I’m not real sure what happened to our society, but I don’t like it. Are there so many without a conscience now that people just blow off the harm done to others? Have we no shame anymore?
H/T: Commenter Eric
Can you repeat the second to last paragraph over and over? This lesson should have been taught at home by mothers and fathers. Do you think the movement to destroy traditional families and their values has anything to do with the last paragraph? And of course, because of BCBS’s stupidity, we who do buy our own insurance and would not have thought once of having someone else pay, will end up with increases on the premiums. I hope the whole IT department was canned!
Since the freeway came by our sleepy little town, we now have to lock the doors to the church. Want a single, one way, express ticket to hell? Steal from a church.