Lost Computer Exposes Data of 22,000 at Intuit

Add another big company to the list of those affected by the burglary at Colt Express, an HR outsourcing firm that was robbed earlier this year.

In a report published earlier today by privacy watchdog site PogoWasRight.org, an Intuit spokesperson conceded that Intuit, maker of popular personal financial software and a subsidiary of Microsoft, lost data in the theft.

The compromise affects some 22,000 people, including Intuit employees, former employees, and their dependents who were enrolled in the company's health benefits plans between August 1997 and January 2002, the spokesperson said. The unencrypted personal data involved names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and birth dates.

Although the burglary took place over Memorial Day weekend, the Intuit employees were not informed until this past week. The company says that when it was notified of the breach, it began its own investigation. When officials recognized the scope of the problem, they hired a firm to help them with the notification process, the spokesperson said.

Some 20 firms have reported the loss of data as a result of the burglary. Only 10 of those firms have reported any numbers, and Colt isn't telling how big the breach is, but Intuit's report brings the total known number of affected to approximately 75,000, according to PogoWasRight.org.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading