Beverage maker Coca-Cola on Friday said company laptops had been stolen from its headquarters in Atlanta and could have compromised information of about 74,000 people. Coca-Cola said the laptops were stolen by a former employee responsible for maintenance and disposal of equipment. On December 10 Coca-Cola learned that personal information was stored on the laptops after recovering them.
The theft of the unspecified number of laptops containing personal information on 74,000 individuals – included variously social security numbers, driving license details, salaries, and ethnicity; but fewer than ten credit card numbers. The data on the laptops was not encrypted in any way. Data loss prevention, it would appear, was not in operation.
The company claims to have now regained possession of the laptops, and says it has no evidence that any of the personal data has been misused. Coca-Cola is arranging free credit monitoring for the victims of the incident.