Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) Places Personal Information for Thousands of Employees at Risk for Identity (ID) Theft

On Friday May 18, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) acknowledged that a CD-Rom computer data disk containing the personal information including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and salary information for several thousand employees and Lucent retirees and their dependents has been lost while being shipped via courier.   Alcatel-Lucent has stated the data only affects employees of Lucent Technologies before the merger with Alcatel.  The company is offering one (1) year of free identity theft protection and credit monitoring for affected employees.

Every week we read or hear news stories about data loses incurred by organizations of all sizes.  Most headlines fail to highlight the steps organizations can take to safeguard the information they are entrusted with.  In this case, Alcatel-Lucent made an error in judgment in failing to implement basic information security technologies, such as data encryption, to protect the personal information on employees stored on any computer media leaving their facilities.   This incident illustrates the fact that even technology savvy organizations can fail to protect sensitive information by ignoring the proper use of information security controls such as data encryption.

It is time for organizations to make the security and protection of sensitive information a forethought and not an afterthought. 

Alcatel Press Release
Alcatel-Lucent Notifies Employees and Retirees of Former Lucent Technologies of Missing Computer Disk Containing Personal Information