Hundreds of names and SSNs were compromised before the company became aware of the problem. The perpetrator was long gone and his own identity information proved to be false.  Just another reminder that companies need to screen temps as thoroughly as regular employees.

Another significant breach occurred at a branch office of a large accounting office one weekend. Thieves accessed the firm's computer network and paper files. Interestingly, while some internal locks were jimmied open, the external doors, which used a keypad entry system, showed no signs of tampering.

As it turned out, all of the branch offices had the same keypad code. They also all used their buildings' housekeeping service, which was outsourced to the lowest bidder. And, as the housekeeping service routinely sent different staff to clean the offices, an unknown number of individuals outside of the firm had access to the firm's key pad code. Neither the firm nor building management knew who was entering the offices each evening. As it turns out, the housekeeping service used by the building didn't keep good records either. No one ever did background checks on the housekeeping firm nor the individual housekeepers.

It can be surprising how many firms that take their employment security seriously fail to consider the risks posed by contractors and others who have access to their facilities both during and after office hours. Background checks might have prevented this breach.

Our friends at Networking Results provided a quick primer for employers related to network security. I encourage you to take a look at it and make sure you are enforcing these basic disciplines in your company.